Cultural History
The Iraqi people have an ancient cultural history and civilization. In ancient and medieval times Mesopotamia was the political and cultural centre of many great empires. The ancient Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer is the oldest known civilization in the world, and thus Iraq is widely known as the cradle of civilization. Iraq remained an important centre of civilization for millennia, up until the Abbasid Caliphate (of which Baghdad was the capital), which was the most advanced empire of the medieval world (see Islamic Golden Age).
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