Sumer is usually labeled the beginning of civilization. But even Sumerian texts describe knowledge that was inherited, not invented, passed down after a catastrophe rather than created at the start of history. Across cultures, the same pattern appears, advanced societies collapse, survivors preserve fragments of knowledge, and later civilizations rebuild on top of them. When archaeology, flood myths, and ancient records begin to converge, they stop looking like legends and start looking like continuity.
This investigation is ongoing.