The Sumerian language is one of the earliest known written languages, originating in ancient Mesopotamia around 3100 BCE. It was primarily used by the Sumerians, a civilization that developed in the southern part of modern-day Iraq. Sumerian is a language isolate, meaning it has no known relatives, and it was written using cuneiform script on clay tablets. Sumerian was used for various purposes, including administrative, literary, and religious texts. Over time, it gradually fell out of everyday use, replaced by Akkadian, but it continued to be studied and used in religious and scholarly contexts for centuries.