And we've changed in what way?

...the Mesopotamians believed that humankind was initially barbaric and primitive. Civilization, consisting of cities, kingship, arts, sciences and technology, among other things, was a gift from the gods, given to humans by the gods. Once humans received these civilizing elements from the gods, they moved beyond their initial state of primitivism and became civilized. For many of these cultural rudiments, the creator god and god of wisdom Enki is said to have passed them to humans, and the apkallu were often the instruments of this transmission. The Mesopotamians spoke of these cultural components as the me, a term used to quantify in concrete terms their conception of the various aspects of civilization. — Toward a Poetics of Genesis 1-11, page 226

<idle musing>
The cynic in me wants to remark, "Initially barbaric and primitive? What about now?!" But I won't—oh, wait, I just did : )
</idle musing>