Ancient Mesopotamia to Ancient Egypt By Neptune08 Period: 5000 BCE to 3500 BCE Ancient Mesopotamia 4000 BCE Sumers establish large ziggurats located at the center of their cities as religious temples 3500 BCE Lower Mesopotamia starts to become inhabited by Sumerians Period: 800 BCE to 500 BCE Ancient Greece 776 BCE First Olympic Games 399 BCE The philosopher Socrates is condemned to death for extensively questioning his own society