If ancient Mesopotamia was the birthplace of civilization, then Sumer (located in present-day Kuwait and southern Iraq) was where civilization learned to walk, write, and ride a bike. Admittedly, bikes didn't exist yet, but according to History, the Sumerians likely invented the world's first two-wheeled chariot, the first writing system, mass-produced bricks, the foundations of mathematics, metallurgy, and other world-changing inventions. Sumer is also where Earth's first cities were likely built, per the Ancient History Encyclopedia.
Sumer's capital was Ur, which some believe was home to the biblical patriarch Abraham before he resettled in Canaan. It was also home to patriarchal kings who linked themselves to gods and superhuman figures like Gilgamesh and likened their subjects to children. Ur's royalty commanded so much devotion and obedience that when monarchs died, the members of their court were forced to die, too, in what an anthropologist Dr. Janet Monge compared to "mass murder."
These royal corpses received elaborate burials, the largest example of which was the "Great Death Pit," according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia. Some experts have argued that the guards and servants who were killed on behalf of dead monarchs died "serenely" after drinking poison. But that still sounds awful, and more importantly, there's evidence that these victims were stabbed in the head with a spike, which sounds the opposite of serene.
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