Chapter I: Introductory: the Lands of Sumer and Akkad

Trend of recent archaeological research--The study
of origins--The Neolithic period in the Aegean area,
in the region of the Mediterranean, and in the Nile
Valley--Scarcity of Neolithic remains in Babylonia due
largely to character of the country--Problems raised by
excavations in Persia and Russian Turkestan--Comparison
of the earliest cultural remains in Egypt and
Babylonia--The earliest known inhabitants of South
Babylonian sites--The "Sumerian Controversy" and a
shifting of the problem at issue--Early relations
of Sumerians and Semites--The lands of Sumer and
Akkad--Natural boundaries--Influence of geological
structure--Effect of river deposits--Euphrates
and the Persian Gulf--Comparison of Tigris and
Euphrates--The Shatt en-Nîl and the Shatt el-Kâr--The
early course of Euphrates and a tendency of the
river to break away westward--Changes in the
swamps--Distribution of population and the position
of early cities--Rise and fall of the rivers and the
regulation of the water--Boundary between Sumer and
Akkad--Early names for Babylonia--"The Land" and its
significance--Terminology