The Sumerians were the first people to migrate to Mesopotamia, they created a great civilization. Beginning around 5,500 years ago, the Sumerians built cities along the rivers in Lower Mesopotamia, specialized, cooperated, and made many advances in technology.his is why Mesopotamia is part of the fertile crescent, an area of land in the Middle East that is rich in fertile soil and crescent-shaped. Ancient Mesopotamia and the Sumerians. The word Mesopotamia comes from Greek words meaning land between the rivers.. The rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates.