Welcome to Iraq

In ancient times the land area now known as modern Iraq was almost equivalent to Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates). This region is known as the Cradle of Civilization, for it was here in about 4000BC that the Sumerian culture flourished. Land was cultivated for the first time, early calendars were used and the first written alphabet was invented here. Ur of the Chaldees was a great and famous Sumerian city, dating from this time. 
After the collapse of this civilization, the people were reunited in 1700BC by King Hammurabi of Babylon, and the country flourished under the name of Babylonia. On Hammurabi's death, the land was under Assyrian rule for about two centuries. It was then restored to its former Babylonian glory under Nebuchadnezzar II, who built the famous Hanging Gardens, and made Babylon the most famous city of the ancient world.