Sumerians: A History From Beginning to End

by Henry Freeman

This book will open your eyes and reveal efforts to restore and retain the knowledge, practices, and plant life that hold historical and regional value.

In the race to save antiquities, the story of what impact the Sumerian civilization has had on us—despite the ages and our advancements—is irreplaceable.

As we embark on this journey, we will learn about the resilience, values, culture, history, and kingdoms of the ancient Sumerians that drove this civilization to new heights.

In fact, historians knew nothing about the Sumerians less than a century ago, because previously all excavations were looking for Assyrian historical artifacts, according to Kramer. The discovery of the Sumerians came unexpectedly, which led to controversies.

The controversies still remain. Yet, we know enough to form a general idea about this important civilization, that lies before every other civilization i the world.

To put it in perspective, it turned out that the Sumerian Empire (circa 5000-2000 BCE) predated the Akkad Empire (circa 2400-2200 BCE), the Babylonian Empire (circa 1950-1600 BCE), the Kassite Empire (circa 1550-1100 BCE), and the Assyrian Empire (circa 1400-612 BCE) in the Mesopotamian (modern day Iraq) region.

so here is a rough historical background: all the great empires in Mesopotamia-at once. The author knows how to deal with his subject

Many historians believe that the Sumerian culture and civilization had penetrated as far east as India, as far west as the Mediterranean, as far north as the Caspian Sea, and as far south as Ethiopia.

The Sumerians called themselves Sag-giga (the “black-headed” or “bald-headed” ones) and their southern Mesopotamia land Kengi (“civilized land”) or Kengi-Sumer. Sumer is an Akkadian name, which means land of the civilized kings.

Sumer is an Akkadian name meaning "land of the civilized kings" !

They considered that civilization was a result of the gods’ triumph over chaos. That seems to be one way that we consider being civilized.

a culture becomes a civilization when it has various combinations of elements. These can include extensive food production, codified laws and administration, form of detailed writing, complex social roles, labor specialties and monumental architecture.

However, Thornton, when thinking about the ancient Sumerians, brought up their epic of Gilgamesh, which may be known to many readers. In the epic, he said, the wildman Enkidu becomes civilized by participating in four distinct endeavors. Those endeavors include experiencing human love, putting on clothing, eating non-wild food, and playing sports. He suggests that that is quite a different definition than what civilization currently means.

They became the first people to congregate in cities. They abandoned their tent-dwelling existence. They farmed. They built houses. They developed the first system of writing. They developed laws and codes that delineated rights of property and limited political authority. They constructed irrigation systems and drained canals and marshes.

Apparently, by establishing order, they had become a civilization in their own minds.

they developed writing in the middle of the fourth millennium BCE and learned how to make tools and weapons before 3000 BCE,

With civilization came the beginning of social classes; these social classes were different in the cities than in rural tribal areas. In the cities, there were freemen, who did the bulk of the work and

trading. Priests

In villages, social equality was rarely challenged, while in the cities distinctions between people was essential and expected to be displayed in many fashions and activities.

Sumerian women had more rights than women in many later civilizations.

in “The Uniqueness of Western Civilization” by Ricardo Duchesne, the author argues that even when looking at Sumerian architecture and literature one can see the symbols of the subservience of man to the gods, and that the was the gods that were credited for the achievements of the Sumerian civilization.

However, Western civilization celebrates tales of personal heroism among more individualized cultures of the West, which has led to foundational values and ideals of the West that celebrate the dawn of Western civilization in tales of

such as The Iliad and Beowulf to...

The earliest writing from 3300 BCE involved pictographic script. The Sumerians were the first to develop a written language. By 2800 BCE, the script had evolved into signs, which represented syllables;

So here we are! 2.800 BC the Sumerians used signs representing syllables ... we could say that they invented written language-right?

Trade and economic necessities were likely the biggest motivators for writing.

According to Jane Shuter in “Mesopotamia,” forensic archaeologists who studied the skeletons at Sumerian burial grounds say that they were short and solid. They had thin lips, straight thin noses, and eyes that sloped downward. They suggest that Sumerians were dark-skinned, dark-eyed and dark-haired. As mentioned earlier, the Sumerians referred to themselves as “the dark-haired people.”

typical middle eastern guys

Sumerians thought that uncertainty was most common in man’s life and that they were haunted by insecurity. As a result of not knowing what the gods might bestow on man, they invested little comfort or belief in free will.

No free will, no autonomous individuals ... the community above all

In pursuing their achievements, they did nothing on their own, but were using the talents that were given to them by the gods only to achieve it through the work of their own personal god (as mentioned earlier, each individual had their own personal god similar to a guardian angel). Therefore, being an autonomous individual did not shape the Sumerian worldview as it does many people in modern cultures.

Sumerians built their collection of city-states. The first city was Eridu, widely considered the first city in the world.

the constant threat that the Sumerians faced as a result of natural catastrophe, intercity warfare and foreign invasions was reflected in their pessimistic view of the way in which the gods managed the universe.

city-states fought each other for control of local resources. They also had to unite at times against the persistent threat of barbarian raiding and invasions.

the Sumerians began to build walls to surround their city-states as a practical measure to augment a sense of security and protect their citizens.

Aside from the technical accomplishments of building their city-states, the Sumerians built their societies with pride and felt that their city life made them superior to others.

Women had rights and some managed to become financially independent. They did retain slaves; these included captives taken in battle or criminals who were treated as personal property, but mostly fairly.

Love between friends was not as strong as love between blood relations, according to a Sumerian proverb.

one very valuable contribution that the Sumerians made towards improving their society was the establishment of what are considered to be the first comprehensive set of laws. While many extol the Code of Hammurabi as the earliest known record of laws set forth by a government, that isn’t necessarily true.

the oldest surviving tablet containing a law code that was written circa 2100 BCE. However, Urukagina, who reigned as the ruler of the city-state of Lagash circa 2380-2360 BCE, is credited as providing the first example of legal codes in recorded history, as he combated corruption and created laws that reformed the practices of the rich of the city towards the poor and orphans.

The law was the moral ideal, as to obey these laws was to worship the will of the gods, who were considered the authors of the laws.

By 1750 BCE, King Hammurabi, one of the kings of the Amorites, ended the Sumerian civilization