Meaning ‘between two rivers’ in Greek, Mesopotamia, located in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria, is considered the birthplace of civilisation.
Set along the fertile Nile river and at one time extending from today’s Syria to Sudan, the civilisation is most known for its pyramids, tombs and mausoleums and the practice of mummification to prepare corpses for the afterlife.
Unlike other ancient civilisations, the Indus River Valley Civilisation (modern-day India, Afghanistan and Pakistan), does not appear to have been war-torn. Historians and archaeologists instead point to sophisticated, organised city planning, complete with uniform baked-brick homes, a grid structure and drainage, sewage and water supply systems.
Protected by the Himalayan Mountains, Pacific Ocean and Gobi Desert, and situated between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, the earliest Chinese civilisations flourished in isolation from invaders and other foreigners for centuries.
Peru served as the cradle of civilisation to a number of cultures, including the Chavín, Paracas, Nazca, Huari, Moche and Inca. Archaeologists have unearthed evidence of metallurgy, ceramics and advanced medical and agricultural practices from within these groups.
Parts of today’s Mexico and Central America were once home to a number of Indigenous cultures, beginning with the Olmec around 1200 BC, followed by the Zapotec, Maya, Toltec and, ultimately, the Aztecs.