General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Cosmos & Neil Degrasse Tyson state that Great Flood occurred in Sumeria & retold as Noah's Ark [View all]nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)another example of a culture that predates the Greeks.
The reason why both Egypt and Sumer are considered mother civilizations is because there is a line of continuity to them from us. (to the constant harping of Greeks by the way, who want to be included in the list, since they are well, Greeks)
Just like in the New World the link to the Olmecs is the mother civilization in North America.
Now if we find stories and writing, that will change. But these pre writing cultures are a bridge to the caves... they are the earliest settlements, but the earliest settlements that are not connected to us. They might be. For all I know Summer arose from their descendants, which is what happened with Teotihuancan in the New World. There is a direct link to the Olmecs.
But that is why as of now these cultures are not considered mother cultures. They are mother cultures to the mother cultures, likely, but that is speculation. We have no evidence of this actually, (And a graduate thesis or two could be written there)