Both, actually. The Denver Post has an informative article about the history of Mesopotamia, “the center of the universe 5,000 years ago” and “the oldest civilization anywhere on this planet.” Mesopotamia is located in the fertile Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, in present-day Iraq. Among many other things, Mesopotamian cultures
produced the first form of writing in the Western world; wheeled vehicles; cultivated and irrigated crops; domesticated livestock; the calendar; mathematics; and astronomers and philosophers who laid the groundwork for future Greek thinkers…Some biblical scholars even suggest it is the site of Adam and Eve’s Garden of Eden and the birthplace of Abraham.
The article goes into some detail about the rich history of the region and the people that inhabited it. After reading the article, it makes the tyrannical regime that Saddam Hussein has created seem that much more despicable. In the wake of W’s call to “defend civilization” against Iraq, I think historian Bradley Parker summarizes the situation best: “It is an ironic twist of fate to stand on the remains of a city in southern Iraq where the civilized world began and realize it could all end right there as well.” I firmly believe that we need to act against Saddam Hussein, but in the process the damage done to the people, history, and archaeology of the region will be more extensive than most people realize…
