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The Ancient Sumerians:
Civilization’s Beginnings
Vincent Grekoski
WOH-2012-0002
Professor Dandrow
11/26/2012
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The land of Sumer was the birthplace of civilization. The Sumerians were the first to
develop cities out of villages and with a combination of structure, religion, writing, and culture
created an active community of people working to advance the human race. Although
revolutionary, the Sumerians were still humans in antiquity and had experienced plenty of
conflict, both internal and external. The history of Sumer is very controversial as the
information that we have of them is limited and as a result we are unable to pinpoint during
which exact year an exact event occurred, but we are able to deduce a basic chronological order
of events.
Sumerians arrived in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates around 3500 BC. These
new peoples integrated themselves into already established Ubadian-Semetic villages. These
villages eventually developed into cities with large populations and soon the more aggressive
cities resorted to force in order to take land and feed its people. It was during this time that
kingship was first implemented within a civilization. S. N. Kramer tells us that it was Etana,
king of Kish, that became he “ ‘who stabilized all the lands,’ based upon the Sumerian King List
which implies that under him Kish extended its rule to include some of the neighboring lands as
well which possibly makes him man’s first known empire-builder.”1 Etana began the dynasty of
Kish and was followed by eight more rulers until a king by the name of Meskiaggasher began a
new dynasty in the city of Erech. Erech became dominant although the Kish dynasty still existed
until Mesannepadda of Ur who brought the First Dynasty of Kish to an end, which Georges
Roux states, “is proven by seal impressions found at Ur where Mesannepadda styles himself
‘King of Kish’.”2
1
2
Samuel Noah Kramer. Cradle of Civilization. (New York: Time Incorporated, 1967), 35
Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. (Bungay: The Chaucer Press, 1966),130
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The Erech dynasty worked to expand its influence under Meskiaggasher who was
succeeded by three kings and then Gilgamesh who is made famous by his epic where he quested
in vain for immortality. It was during the reign of Gilgamesh that the city of Ur’s king,
Mesannepadda began to gain control of cities. Ur, Kish, and Erech struggled for control over the
lands in a civil war. Gilgamesh of Erech managed to regain control of the weakened Sumer only
for the Elamites to invade shortly after. The Elamites would remain in control for the next
century until Lugalannemundu of Adab successfully overthrew their rule and reunited Sumer up
until his death when the land was split apart by the city states.
The city of Lagash then became dominant and made the first peace treaty with the city of
Umma. Kramer tells us of how the monument “‘The Stele of the Vultures’ was inscribed with
the peace terms that had brought the war to an end- history’s earliest known diplomatic treaty.”3
The treaty did not last long as Lagash was eventually attacked by Lugalzagezzi of Umma who
successfully burned the temples and took the throne and would remain in power for 25 years
until the appearance of Sargon of Akkad.
Sargon the Great was a king of Kish who was originally cup bearer to a prior Kish ruler,
Ur-Zababa. Sargon launched a surprise attack on the Umma dynasty’s capital of Erech, and then
took the rest of Sumer shortly after. Not only did Sargon and his successors subdue all the
Sumerian city-states, says Roux, but also “conquered the entire Tigris-Euphrates basin as well as
parts of the adjacent countries.”4 Then in south Mesopotamia, in an area called Akkad, Sargon
built the capital of Agade for himself. Sargon’s empire was great, but after his death it weakened
due to revolts that his two sons struggled to control.
3
4
Samuel Noah Kramer. Cradle of Civilization. (New York: Time Incorporated, 1967), 36
Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. (Bungay: The Chaucer Press, 1966),135
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Sargon’s Grandson Naram-Sin came to the throne after the two sons and was a great
warrior king who defeated rebellious rulers and expanded the empire. It was during the rule of
Naram-Sin that the Gutians, a barbaric horde from the east mountains invaded the empire and
took control until Utuhegal, ruler of Erech reclaimed it. He reined for seven years until UrNammu, a general and governor, seized the throne. The line of kings that Ur-Nammu founded at
Ur would be the last dynasty that could be called Sumerian. Ur-Nammu’s dynasty came to an
end with the 5th king Ibi-Sin who had to repel attacks on multiple fronts with the Elamites in the
East, and the Amorites in the west. The Elamites took Ur but were shortly driven out by the
Amorites who made Babylon their capital, marking the end of Sumerian history.
Along with a fascinating history, Sumer contained complex cities in which people
worked and lived. The country of Sumer was divided into city-states. “Each city-state consisted
of a city with its suburbs and satellite towns and villages, and of a certain territory, including
gardens, orchards, palm-groves and fields which belonged to the city or rather, to its gods” says
Roux.5 The Sumerians believed that each of their cities had a single particular god which owned
and protected the city. The priests of the city states would worship the city god at massive
ziggurats or temples located in the center of each city, representing how important religion was
in the times of the Sumerians.
Due to the fact that each city had its own personal god, the popularity of gods tended to
differ from city to city and even from home to home as personal household gods did exist.
Georges Roux tells us that the gods “An, Enlil, and Enki are three male gods that seem to be
dominant in Sumerian religion.”6 An was originally the highest power and acted as a king to the
gods but did not deal with earthly affairs. It was Enlil who separated heaven from earth and
5
6
Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. (Bungay: The Chaucer Press, 1966),120
Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. (Bungay: The Chaucer Press, 1966),90
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became master of humanity. Enki was lord of earth and water which had fertilizing properties.
Religion played such a major role in Sumerian life that its importance rivaled that of the king.
The palace began as almost a bicameral congress. S. N. Kramer states that “the first
political “congress” in man’s recorded history met in solemn session about 3000BC consisting,
not unlike our own congress, of two “houses”: a “senate,” or an assembly of elders; and a “lower
house” or an assembly of arms-bearing male citizens.”7 The position of King was added to the
palace later when there was conflict between cities and a need for military leadership arose. The
kings established a regular army, consisting of “the chariot-the ancient "tank"-as the main
offensive weapon and a heavily armored infantry which attacked in phalanx formation”, Kramer
states.8 This was the first organized military which allowed for the Sumerian city to conquer
many lands and gain great wealth which made the palace an institution of great importance to the
people of Sumer.
As the Temple and Palace were the top institutions in ancient Sumer, the priests and
soldiers became the aristocracy. The middle class became the working men who owned property
with the lower class being slaves and possibly women. Women in ancient times were portrayed
as property. Jean Bottèro tells us that “for a man, marriage was ‘to take possession of one’s
wife-from the same verb (ahazu) commonly understood for the capture of people or the seizure
of any territory or goods.”9
Sumer had no official currency and traded either silver or other materials of equal value
for crafts in the markets that developed near temples. Kramer tells us that“The Sumerian
7
Samuel Noah Kramer. From the Tablets of Sumer. (Indian Hills: The Falcon’s Wing Press, 1956), 26
Samuel Noah Kramer. The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1964), 74
9
Bottèro, Jean. Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Translated by Antonia Nevill. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2001), 114
8
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economy was relatively free and private property was the rule as several documents from about
2500 B.C. have been unearthed in Fara and Bismaya that record real estate sales by private
individuals”.10 The Merchants of ancient Mesopotamia were important people in society as they
traveled between cities and brought back both new rare goods as well as new information on
foreigners. The market was an important development made by the Sumerians but the most
important advancement that the Sumerians are famous for is their Cuneiform writing.
Cuneiform is the oldest known writing form and can be found on tens of thousands of
tablets containing economic and administrative information. The Sumerians not only recorded
business data but also recorded epics and hymns. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the most
famous stories of all time and originated out of Sumer. Kramer explains, “This epic is unique
because in this poem it is man who holds the center of the stage-the man Gilgamesh- who loves
and hates, weeps and rejoices, strives and wearies, hopes and despairs.”11 Being able to read a
story of a human’s journey rather than the more commonly found stories of the gods, allows for a
peek into the activities, worries, and enjoyments of Sumerian life.
The Sumerians were strong people of antiquity who lived during times of constant
warfare between city states and outsiders. It was during this time, when temples would be
constantly destroyed and rebuilt, that the Sumerians created the first cities and empires. They
implemented writing and spread stories of heroic quests, traded with faraway lands, developed
the first cultural hierarchy, and military consisting of soldiers and chariots. Sumer did not last
forever but its legacy did as their innovations laid the foundations for even greater cities and
empires to rise
10
Samuel Noah Kramer. The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1964), 75
11
Samuel Noah Kramer. From the Tablets of Sumer. (Indian Hills: The Falcon’s Wing Press, 1956), 210
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Bibliography
Bottèro, Jean. Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. Translated by Antonia Nevill. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001
Kramer, Samuel Noah. Cradle of Civilization. New York: Time Incorporated, 1967
˗˗˗. From the Tablets of Sumer. Indian Hills: The Falcon’s Wing Press, 1956
˗˗˗. The Sumerians Their History, Culture, and Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1963
Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq. Bungay: The Chaucer Press, 1966