Sumer was an ancient civilization and historical region situated in southern Mesopotamia and is by many considered the earliest known civilization in the world. The Sumerians called their land: “ki-en-gir”, which could be translated to: “land of the civilized lords”, or “native land”. According to modern archeology, it rose estimated between 4,500 and 4,001 BCE, and it’s ultimate decline was around 1,700 BCE with the rise of Babylonia under Hammurabi.
The original discovery of Sumerian civilization between the Tigris and Euphrates, by archaeologists in the 1870s, was due to the consideration of biblical scriptures about Shinar (a possible variant of the name “Shumer”).