Mesopotamia

Imagine a warm, sunny place. The sun shines down and makes my ground feel cozy and happy. Two big, sparkly rivers flow beside me, one on my left and one on my right. Swish, swoosh, goes the water all day long. I am a perfect place for tiny seeds to grow into big green plants and yummy food. I am a very special land. My name is Mesopotamia. It is a big word, but it just means 'the land between the rivers'. That's me.

After I was created a long, long time ago, some very clever people came to live with me. They were called the Sumerians. The Sumerians had so many big ideas. They looked at heavy carts and thought, 'How can we make them roll?'. So they made round wheels. Vroom, vroom. The wheels went round and round and helped the carts go fast. They also loved to grow things. They put tiny seeds in my soft soil and gave them water from my rivers. Soon, yummy gardens grew for everyone to eat. Their biggest idea was about telling stories. They took soft, squishy clay and drew little pictures on it. Each picture was a word. It was the very first writing.

The Sumerians' wonderful ideas were like little birds. They didn't stay in one place. They flew all over the world to help other people. The idea of the wheel rolled to new places. The idea of planting seeds grew in new gardens. And the idea of writing helped everyone share stories. Even though I am a very, very old land, my ideas are still with you today. Every time you see a wheel on a toy car or read a book, you are using a gift from me. I am here to remind you that one small, clever idea can grow up to make the whole world happy.