The Sumerian language was the first written language in the world, dating back to around 3500 BCE. It was spoken in ancient Sumer, a region of southern Mesopotamia that is now part of Iraq. The Akkadian language, a Semitic language that originated in central and northern Mesopotamia, began to replace Sumerian as the dominant language of the region around 2300 BCE. Although Sumerian continued to be used for religious and literary purposes, Akkadian eventually became the primary language of the region and was used throughout Mesopotamia until the rise of the Assyrians in the 14th century BCE.