In this episode we investigate why the very first farming civilizations did not appear in Africa which is considered to be the cradle of humankind. We then turn our attention to Mesopotamia and discuss how farming villages started there between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. We look at the first big city of Uruk and then consider some of the reasons for the rise of states. What are states and how do they form? How does an empire differ from a state? We then briefly explore the very first empires: the Akkadian and Assyrian Empires. What were some of the reasons for the rise of these empires, but also what contributed to their collapse. We've drawn quite extensively on the excellent work of the World History Project at the website oerproject.com.