This essay outlines the reasons why the Sumerian civilization has had the most effect on modern culture out of all of the other ancient civilizations.

Western culture has been aided greatly by ancient civilizations. Many people take for granted concepts like the wheel or something as simple as the way they write. Those concepts were invented thousands of years ago by an ancient people to whom much success is owed. The Sumerians, who were particularly innovative inventors, gave modern culture many of those concepts. The Sumerians, whose civilization dawned in Mesopotamia circa 4200 B.C.E., are believed to have been the inventors of the wheel. They also developed the first code of law and one of the first forms of writing. Clearly, the ancient civilization that has had the greatest effect on modern culture is the Sumerian civilization.

Although some may argue that the great achievements of other civilizations overshadow the early Sumerian civilization, those civilizations would not have existed without the help of the Sumerians, the pioneers who took the first steps of progress, allowing other civilizations to follow. The Sumerians formed the very first civilization, and laid the groundwork for many others to come. Other great civilizations, such as the Babylonians, followed the Sumerians in the Fertile Crescent, and would not have been able to do so if the Sumerians had not set the foundation for them, by being the first to create a civilization, allowing others to follow suit.

It is true that some civilizations have built great wonders, but the Sumerians invented wonders of their own that are far more important. They invented two things that modern civilizations could not survive without. Firstly, they invented the wheel. The concept of the wheel is integral to society because without it, no one would be able to move anything except by carrying it or travel except by walking. Secondly, the Sumerians invented the first form of writing. Without a form of writing, no one...