Countless civilizations have risen and fallen over the millennia. But which one is the oldest on record? About 30 years ago, this question seemed to have a straightforward answer. Around 4000 B.C., the earliest phase of the Sumerian culture arose as the oldest civilization in the Mesopotamia region, in what is now mostly Iraq.

The ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the oldest civilization in the world, beginning about 4000 BCE.

The San People of South Africa are officially the oldest civilization known at this time. Moreover, some descendants from this ancient civilization are alive today! The San People and their culture date up to 140,000 years ago, as evidenced by artifacts such as rock paintings and evidence of ritual ceremonies.

While modern civilizations extend to every continent except Antarctica, most scholars place the earliest cradles of civilizations—in other words, where civilizations first emerged—in modern-day Iraq, Egypt, India, China, Peru and Mexico, beginning between approximately 4000 and 3000 B.C.