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The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic inhabitants of [[Mesopotamia]], Sumer, by the [[Semitic people|Semitic]] [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadians]]. The Sumerians referred to themselves as ''ùĝ saĝ gíg-ga'' (cuneiform: {{cuneiform|&#x12326;}} {{cuneiform|&#x12295;}} {{cuneiform|&#x1222A;}} {{cuneiform|&#x120B5;}}), phonetically uŋ saŋ giga, literally meaning "the black-headed people".<ref>{{cite book|author=W. Hallo, W. Simpson|year=1971|title=The Ancient Near East|publisher=New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich| page=28}}</ref> The [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] word ''Shumer'' may represent the geographical name in dialect, but the [[phonology|phonological]] development leading to the Akkadian term ''šumerû'' is uncertain.<ref name="Nimrod">{{cite journal|title=Nimrod before and after the Bible|author=K. van der Toorn, P. W. van der Horst|journal=The Harvard Theological Review|year=Jan 1990| volume=83| issue=1| pages=1–29|doi=10.1017/S0017816000005502}}</ref> Hebrew ''[[Shinar]]'', Egyptian ''Sngr'', and Hittite ''Šanhar(a)'', all referring to southern Mesopotamia, could be western variants of ''Shumer''.<ref name="Nimrod"/>

The Sumerian city-states rose to power during the prehistoric [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] and [[Uruk period|Uruk]] periods. Sumerian written history reaches back to the 27th century BC and before, but the historical record remains obscure until the Early Dynastic III period, c. the 23rd century BC, when a now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions. Classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Akkadian Empire in the 23rd century BC. Following the [[Gutian period]], there is a brief Sumerian Renaissance in the 21st century BC, cut short in the 20th century BC by Semitic [[Amorites|Amorite]] invasions. The Amorite "dynasty of [[Isin]]" persisted until c. 1700 BC, when Mesopotamia was united under [[Babylonia]]n rule. The Sumerians were eventually absorbed into the Akkadian (Assyro-Chaldean Babylonian) population.