Sumer was a region in Mesopotamia also called Sumeria in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia. This provincial sized region was found in the original Civilization game as a Babylonian city and in later games it was part of Sumerian Civilization in Civilization III. Archaeologists believe this region was first settled between 4500 and 4000 BC. The first permanent city to be established here was Ur in 3400 BC which predates the unification of Egypt in 3100 BC by about 300 years making the founding of Ur the world's first civilization. Around 2270 Sumer was conquered by the Akkadians and the independence of Sumerian Civilization was ended after an estimated 1130 years. On the Civ1 Earth map this means that the tile containing Sumer was unified. This is nearly 100 years less than French Civilization has been around. If the French civilization can make it to the chronological end of the game then the French Civilization will beat this record. Then around 1800 BC this city tile was unified with the one to the north. Around 500 BC the independence of the Mesopotamians was ended by the Persian civilization. The ancient Sumerians and Babylonians are best known for the technologies of Pottery and Writing. Later the Wheel, Bronze making, and Code of Laws.