Original: The history of the human occupation of Mesopotamia begins in the Lower Paleolithic period , and ends with either the rise of the Achaemenid Persians in the 6th century BC or the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in the 7th century CE .
Simplified: Ancient Mesopotamia begins in the late 6th millennium BC , and ends with either the rise of the Achaemenid Persians in the 6th century BC or the Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia in the 7th century CE .