The word Mesopotamia is Greek for 'between the rivers'; the word was therefore applied to the ancient civilisations of the land between the Tigris and Euphrates: Babylon, Assyria and Iraq. These civilisations built the first cities (circa 3500BC), made revolutionary inventions, such as the wheel, formed early writing and became, by far, the most advanced races on the planet. To put these civilisations into context, around this time the Britons have built Europe's first wooded footpath raised over a marsh (3807-3806BC) and are about to build Stonehenge (circa 3300BC). The earliest surviving piece of literature: the Epic of Gilgamesh, also dates from this time, it contains the life of their famous leader Gilgamesh. The cities were also built around temples, which were the centre of religious life. Priests protected the temples, kept detailed accounts and developed the first writing system. The Royal Cemetery of Ur, dating back to 2500BC and located on the banks of the Euphrates, demonstrates the true advancement of the Sumerian Civlisation. Treasures include ornate musical instruments, wagons, headdresses, beaded jewellery and a goat carved from gold, wood, shell and the gemstone lazuli. The tomb also contains the servants of the royal family, dressed and arranged as they would have been in life (for example the musicians hold the musical instruments), which implies they were drugged before the tomb was closed.

Meanwhile another major civilisation is also developing, the Ancient Egyptians. Traces of the earliest settlers in Egypt date to around 3500BC; the different communities along the river then joined to form the countries upper and lower Egypt. It wasn't until 3100BC before Narmer unified the two into one Egypt for the first time. Around this time the first hieroglyphic script also appeared, but as pictograms, rather than an alphabet. The first pyramid is built at Saqqara around 2700BC, closely followed by the pyramid in Giza, circa 2600BC. The Egyptian Civilisation then continued to develop over the next two thousand years. The Egyptians built many hundreds of temples to their many Gods and Goddesses, including the largest temple ever built by men at the site of Karnak. The afterlife became a vital aspect of Egyptian life with many depictions of the great judgement scene. They have become famous for their practise of mummification and the building of tombs located across the country, but notably in the Valley of the Kings and Queens. The Egyptian culture altered drastically with the invasion and occupation of first the Persians, then the Greeks and finally the Romans, whose influences can still be seen at the sites which remain throughout Egypt today. For many years this ancient world lay hidden to us until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone lead to the deciphering of hieroglyphics and the beginning of the study of almost every aspect of Ancient Egyptian life.

This period of time also saw the rise and fall of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilisations, the Greek Dark Ages, the dynasty of Roman kings and the building of Stonehenge, amongst many other wonders.

For the purpose of this website, this section covers history from 3500BC, the start of these fascinating and amazing civilisations, until the rise of the Romans and Greeks. The Roman Republic and the introduction of Greek democracy began around 500BC and that forms the cut-off point for this section.