View source for Sumer

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{{History of Iraq}}
{{redirect|Sumeria}}
'''Sumer''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|uː|m|ər}})<ref group="note">The name is from [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''{{lang|akk-Latn|Šumeru}}''; [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] {{cuneiform|&#x121A0;&#x12097;&#x120A0;}} {{lang|sux-Latn|[[Ki (earth)|ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform)|en]]-ĝir<sub>15</sub>}}, approximately "land of the civilized kings" or "native land". {{lang|sux-Latn|ĝir<sub>15</sub>}} means "native, local", in some contexts is "noble"([http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/epsd/e2182.html ĝir NATIVE (7x: Old Babylonian)] from The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary). Literally, "land of the native (local, noble) lords". Stiebing (1994) has "Land of the Lords of Brightness" (William Stiebing, Ancient Near Eastern History and Culture). Postgate (1994) takes ''en'' as substituting ''eme'' "language", translating "land of the Sumerian heart" ({{cite book|title=Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History| author=John Nicholas Postgate| publisher=Routledge (UK)|year=1994}}. Postgate believes it likely that eme, 'tongue', became en, 'lord', through consonantal assimilation.)</ref> or '''Sumeria''' was one of the ancient [[civilizations]] and historical regions in southern [[Mesopotamia]], modern-day southern [[Iraq]], during the  [[Chalcolithic]] and [[Early Bronze Age]]. Although it was previously thought that the earliest forms of writing in the region do not go back much further than c. 3500 BC, modern historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BC by a non-[[Semitic peoples|Semitic]] people who spoke the [[Sumerian language]] (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html|title=Ancient Mesopotamia. Teaching materials|publisher=Oriental Institute in collaboration with Chicago Web Docent and eCUIP, The Digital Library|access-date=5 March 2015}}</ref><ref>"http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ubai/hd_ubai.htm"</ref><ref>"https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/u/ubaid_culture.aspx"</ref><ref>"http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc63.pdf"</ref> These conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-[[Euphrates|Euphrateans]]" or "[[Ubaid period|Ubaidians]]",<ref name="britannica">{{cite web| url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573176/Sumer |title=Sumer (ancient region, Iraq) |publisher= Britannica.com | work=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |accessdate=2012-03-29}}</ref> and are theorized to have evolved from the [[Samarra culture]] of northern Mesopotamia ([[Assyria]]).<ref>{{Cite journal | url = http://books.google.com/?id=dWuQ70MtnIQC&pg=PA51&dq=samarra+culture#v=snippet&q=%22As%20the%20Samarra%20culture%20spread%20south%2C%20it%20evolved%20into%20the%20Ubaid%20culture%22&f=false | title = Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life | isbn = 978-0-495-81222-7 | author1 = Kleniewski | first1 = Nancy | last2 = Thomas | first2 = Alexander R | date = 2010-03-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url = http://books.google.com/?id=tupSM5y9yEkC&pg=PA139&dq=samarra+culture#v=onepage&q=%22cultural%20descendants%20of%20the%20originating%20Samarran%20culture%22&f=false | title = The Near East: Archaeology in the "Cradle of Civilization" | isbn = 978-0-415-04742-5 | author1 = Maisels | first1 = Charles Keith | year = 1993}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url = http://books.google.com/?id=i7_hcCxJd9AC&pg=PA147&dq=ubaid+samarra#v=snippet&q=%22Ubaid%200%20is%20thus%20clearly%20derived%20from%20the%20earliest%20culture%20to%20move%20into%20lower%20mesopotamia%2C%20the%20Samarra%22&f=false | title = Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China | isbn = 978-0-415-10976-5 | author1 = Maisels | first1 = Charles Keith | year = 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | url = http://books.google.com/?id=zmvNogJO2ZgC&pg=PA505&dq=samarra+culture#v=onepage&q=%22similar%20to%20those%20of%20the%20ubaid%20period%22&f=false | title = A dictionary of archaeology | isbn = 978-0-631-23583-5 | author1 = Shaw | first1 = Ian | last2 = Jameson | first2 = Robert | year = 2002}}</ref> The Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery.<ref name="britannica" /> 

However, some scholars such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language.  It has been suggested by them and others, that the Sumerian language was originally that of the hunter and fisher peoples, who lived in the marshland and the [[Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabia littoral region]], and were part of the [[Ubaid period|Arabian bifacial]] culture.<ref>Margarethe Uepermann (2007), "Structuring the Late Stone Age of Southeastern Arabia" (Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy Volume 3, Issue 2, pages 65–109)</ref> Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before [[Enmebaragesi]] (c. 26th century BC). Professor [[Juris Zarins]] believes the Sumerians were settled along the coast of [[Eastern Arabia]], today's Persian Gulf region, before it flooded at the end of the Ice Age.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hamblin |first=Dora Jane |date=May 1987 |title=Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? |url=http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf |format=PDF |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |publisher= |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages= |doi= |accessdate=8 January 2014}}</ref> Sumerian literature speaks of their homeland being [[Dilmun]].

Sumerian civilization took form in the [[Uruk period]] (4th millennium BC), continuing into the [[Jemdat Nasr period|Jemdat Nasr]] and Early Dynastic periods. During the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians (who spoke a [[language isolate]]) and the Semitic Akkadian speakers, which included widespread [[wikt:bilingualism|bilingualism]].<ref name='Deutscher'>{{cite book|title=Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution of Sentential Complementation|author=Deutscher, Guy|authorlink=Guy Deutscher (linguist)|publisher=[[Oxford University Press|Oxford University Press US]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-19-953222-3|pages=20–21|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XFwUxmCdG94C}}</ref> The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and ''vice versa'') is evident in all areas, from [[lexical borrowing]] on a massive scale, to [[syntactic]], [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]], and [[phonological]] convergence.<ref name='Deutscher'/> This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC as a ''[[Sprachbund]]''.<ref name='Deutscher'/>  Sumer was conquered by the [[Semitic languages|Semitic-speaking]] kings of the [[Akkadian Empire]] around 2270 BC ([[short chronology]]), but Sumerian continued as a sacred language. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] ([[Sumerian Renaissance]]) of the 21st to 20th centuries BC, but the [[Akkadian language]] also remained in use. The Sumerian city of [[Eridu]], on the coast of the [[Persian Gulf]], was the world's first city, where three separate cultures fused — that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been the ancestors of the Sumerians.<ref name="Leick, Gwendolyn 2003">Leick, Gwendolyn (2003), "Mesopotamia, the Invention of the City" (Penguin)</ref>

The irrigated farming together with annual replenishment of soil fertility and the surplus of storable food in temple granaries created by this economy allowed the population of this region to rise to levels never before seen, unlike those found in earlier cultures of [[shifting cultivation|shifting cultivators]]. This much greater population density in turn created and required an extensive labour force and [[division of labour]] with many specialised arts and crafts.  At the same time, historic overuse of the irrigated soils led to progressive [[soil salinity|salinisation]], and a [[Malthus]]ian crisis which led to [[depopulation]] of the Sumerian region over time, leading to its progressive eclipse by the Akkadians of middle [[Mesopotamia]].

Sumer was also the site of early [[history of writing|development of writing]], progressing from a stage of [[proto-writing]] in the mid 4th millennium BC to [[Sumerian cuneiform|writing proper]] in the 3rd millennium BC (see [[Jemdet Nasr period]]).

== Origin of name ==
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"/>

==City-states in Mesopotamia==
{{Further|Cities of the Ancient Near East|Geography of Mesopotamia}}
[[File:Cities of Sumer (en).svg|thumb|240px|Map of Sumer]]
By the late 4th millennium BC, Sumer was divided into about a dozen independent [[city-state]]s, which were divided by canals and boundary stones. Each was centered on a temple dedicated to the particular patron god or goddess of the city and ruled over by a priestly governor ([[ENSI|ensi]]) or by a king ([[LUGAL|lugal]]) who was intimately tied to the city's religious rites.

The five "first" cities said to have exercised [[Sumerian king list|pre-dynastic]] kingship:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
# [[Eridu]] (''Tell Abu Shahrain'')
# [[Bad-tibira]] (probably ''Tell al-Madain'')
# [[Larsa]] (''Tell as-Senkereh'')
# [[Sippar]] (''Tell Abu Habbah'')
# [[Shuruppak]] (''Tell Fara'')
Other principal cities:
<ol start="6">
<li> [[Uruk]] (''Warka'')</li>
<li> [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]] (''Tell Uheimir & Ingharra'')</li>
<li> [[Ur]] (''Tell al-Muqayyar'')</li>
<li> [[Nippur]] (''Afak'')</li>
<li> [[Lagash]] (''Tell al-Hiba'')</li>
<li> [[Girsu]] (''Tello or Telloh'')</li>
<li> [[Umma]] (''Tell Jokha'')</li>
<li> [[Hamazi]] <sup>1</sup></li>
<li> [[Adab (city)|Adab]] (''Tell Bismaya'')</li>
<li> [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] (''Tell Hariri'') <sup>2</sup></li>
<li> [[Akshak]] <sup>1</sup></li>
<li> [[Akkad (city)|Akkad]] <sup>1</sup></li>
<li> [[Isin]] (''Ishan al-Bahriyat'')</li>
</ol>
<small>(<sup>1</sup>location uncertain)</small><br>
<small>(<sup>2</sup>an outlying city in northern Mesopotamia)</small>

Minor cities (from south to north):
# [[Kuara (Sumer)|Kuara]] (''Tell al-Lahm'')
# [[Zabala (Sumer)|Zabala]] (''Tell Ibzeikh'')
# [[Kisurra]] (''Tell Abu Hatab'')
# [[Marad]] (''Tell Wannat es-Sadum'')
# [[Dilbat]] (''Tell ed-Duleim'')
# [[Borsippa]] (''Birs Nimrud'')
# [[Kutha]] (''Tell Ibrahim'')
# [[Der (Sumer)|Der]] (''al-Badra'')
# [[Eshnunna]] (''Tell Asmar'')
# [[Nagar, Syria|Nagar]] (''Tell Brak'') <sup>2</sup>
<small>(<sup>2</sup>an outlying city in northern Mesopotamia)</small>

Apart from Mari, which lies full {{convert|330|km|0|abbr=on}} northwest of Agade, but which is credited in the [[Sumerian king list|king list]] as having “exercised kingship” in the Early Dynastic II period, and Nagar, an outpost, these cities are all in the Euphrates-Tigris alluvial plain, south of [[Baghdad]] in what are now the [[Babil Governorate|Bābil]], [[Diyala Governorate|Diyala]], [[Wasit Governorate|Wāsit]], [[Dhi Qar Governorate|Dhi Qar]], [[Basra Governorate|Basra]], [[Al Muthanna Governorate|Al-Muthannā]] and [[Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate|Al-Qādisiyyah]] governorates of [[Iraq]].

==History==
{{Main|History of Sumer}}
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-Babylonian) population.

*[[Ubaid period]]: 5300 – 4100 BC (Pottery [[Neolithic]] to [[Chalcolithic]])
*[[Uruk period]]: 4100 – 2900 BC (Late [[Chalcolithic]] to [[Early Bronze Age]] I)
** Uruk XIV-V: 4100 – 3300 BC
** Uruk IV period: 3300 – 3100 BC
** [[Jemdet Nasr period]] (Uruk III): 3100 – 2900 BC
*[[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]] ([[Early Bronze Age]] II-IV)
** Early Dynastic I period: 2900–2800 BC
** Early Dynastic II period: 2800–2600 BC ([[Gilgamesh]])
** Early Dynastic IIIa period: 2600–2500 BC
** Early Dynastic IIIb period: c. 2500–2334 BC
* [[Akkadian Empire]] period: c. 2334–2218 BC  ([[Sargon of Akkad|Sargon]])
* [[Gutian period]]: c. 2218–2047 BC ([[Early Bronze Age]] IV)
* [[Ur III period]]: c. 2047–1940 BC

[[File:Samarra bowl.jpg|thumb|The [[Samarra]] bowl, at the [[Pergamonmuseum]], Berlin. The [[swastika]] in the center of the design is a reconstruction.<ref>
Stanley A. Freed, ''Research Pitfalls as a Result of the Restoration of Museum Specimens'', Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 376, The Research Potential of Anthropological Museum Collections pages 229–245, December 1981.</ref>]]

===Ubaid period===
{{Main|Ubaid period}}
The Ubaid period is marked by a distinctive style of fine quality painted pottery which spread throughout Mesopotamia and the [[Persian Gulf]]. During this time, the first settlement in southern Mesopotamia was established at [[Eridu]] ([[Cuneiform]]: NUN.KI), c. 5300 BCE, by farmers who brought with them the [[Hadji Muhammed]] culture, which first pioneered irrigation agriculture.  It appears this culture was derived from the [[Samarra]]n culture from northern Mesopotamia. It is not known whether or not these were the actual Sumerians who are identified with the later Uruk culture. Eridu remained an important religious center when it was gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of [[Uruk]].  The story of the passing of the [[me (mythology)|''me'']] (gifts of civilisation) to [[Inanna]], goddess of Uruk and of love and war, by [[Enki]], god of wisdom and chief god of Eridu, may reflect this shift in hegemony.<ref>Wolkstein, Dianna and Kramer, Samuel Noah "Innana: Queen of Heaven and Earth".</ref>

===Uruk period===
{{Main|Uruk period}}
The archaeological transition from the Ubaid period to the Uruk period is marked by a gradual shift from painted pottery domestically produced on a slow [[Potter's wheel|wheel]] to a great variety of unpainted pottery mass-produced by specialists on fast wheels. The Uruk period is a continuation and an outgrowth of Ubaid with pottery being the main visible change.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.nl/books?id=gnpyREWsfG0C&pg=PA353#v=onepage&q&f=false|title= Upon this Foundation: The N̜baid Reconsidered : Proceedings from the U̜baid Symposium, Elsinore, May 30th-June 1st 1988|author= Elizabeth F. Henrickson, Ingolf Thuesen, I. Thuesen|page= 353|year= 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.nl/books?id=fhMTRcUm9WsC&pg=PA31#v=onepage&q&f=false|title= The Invention of Cuneiform: Writing in Sumer|author= Jean-Jacques Glassner|page= 31|year= 2003}}</ref>

By the time of the [[Uruk]] period (c. 4100–2900 BCE calibrated), the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large, [[social stratification|stratified]], temple-centered cities (with populations of over 10,000 people) where centralized administrations employed specialized workers.  It is fairly certain that it was during the Uruk period that Sumerian cities began to make use of [[slave]] labor captured from the hill country, and there is ample evidence for captured slaves as workers in the earliest texts. Artifacts, and even colonies of this Uruk civilization have been found over a wide area—from the [[Taurus Mountains]] in [[Turkey]], to the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the west, and as far east as Central [[Iran]].<ref name="Algaze, Guillermo 2005">Algaze, Guillermo (2005) "The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization", (Second Edition, University of Chicago Press)</ref>

The Uruk period civilization, exported by Sumerian traders and colonists (like that found at [[Tell Brak]]), had an effect on all surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies and cultures.  The cities of Sumer could not maintain remote, long-distance colonies by military force.<ref name="Algaze, Guillermo 2005"/>

Sumerian cities during the Uruk period were probably [[theocratic]] and were most likely headed by a priest-king (''ensi''), assisted by a council of elders, including both men and women.<ref>Jacobsen, Thorkild (Ed) (1939),"The Sumerian King List" (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago; Assyriological Studies, No. 11.)</ref> It is quite possible that the later Sumerian [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] was modeled upon this political structure.  There was little evidence of institutionalized violence or professional soldiers during the Uruk period, and towns were generally unwalled.  During this period Uruk became the most urbanised city in the world, surpassing for the first time 50,000 inhabitants.

{{Notable Sumerians}}
The ancient Sumerian king list includes the early dynasties of several prominent cities from this period. The first set of names on the list is of kings said to have reigned before a major flood occurred. These early names may be fictional, and include some legendary and mythological figures, such as [[Alulim]] and [[Dumuzid, the Shepherd|Dumizid]].<ref>Jacobsen, Thorkild (1939) "Sumerian King List" (Univ of Chicago)</ref>

The end of the Uruk period coincided with the [[Piora oscillation]], a dry period from c. 3200 – 2900 BCE that marked the end of a long wetter, warmer climate period from about 9,000 to 5,000 years ago, called the [[Holocene climatic optimum]].<ref>Lamb, Hubert H. (1995). Climate, History, and the Modern World. London: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-12735-1</ref>

===Early Dynastic Period===
{{Main|Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)}}
The Dynastic period begins c. 2900 BCE and includes such legendary figures as [[Enmerkar]] and [[Gilgamesh]]—who are supposed to have reigned shortly before the historic record opens c. 2700 BCE, when the now deciphered syllabic writing started to develop from the early pictograms. The center of Sumerian culture remained in southern Mesopotamia, even though rulers soon began expanding into neighboring areas, and neighboring Semitic groups adopted much of Sumerian culture for their own.

The earliest Dynastic king on the Sumerian king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is [[Etana]], 13th king of the first Dynasty of Kish. The earliest king authenticated through archaeological evidence is [[Enmebaragesi]] of Kish (c. 26th century BCE), whose name is also mentioned in the [[Gilgamesh epic]]—leading to the suggestion that Gilgamesh himself might have been a historical king of Uruk.  As the Epic of Gilgamesh shows, this period was associated with increased violence.  Cities became walled, and increased in size as undefended villages in southern Mesopotamia disappeared.  (Gilgamesh is credited with having built the walls of Uruk).

====1st Dynasty of Lagash====
[[File:Stele of Vultures detail 02.jpg|thumb|left|Fragment of [[Eannatum]]'s [[Stele of the Vultures]]]]
{{Main|Lagash}}
c. 2500–2270 BCE

The dynasty of Lagash, though omitted from the king list, is well attested through several important monuments and many archaeological finds.

Although short-lived, one of the first empires known to history was that of [[Eannatum]] of Lagash, who annexed practically all of Sumer, including [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], [[Uruk]], [[Ur]], and [[Larsa]], and reduced to tribute the city-state of [[Umma]], arch-rival of Lagash.  In addition, his realm extended to parts of [[Elam]] and along the [[Persian Gulf]]. He seems to have used terror as a matter of policy<ref name=roux1993>{{cite book |last=Roux |first=Georges |authorlink=Georges Roux (assyriologist) |date=March 1, 1993 |title=Ancient Iraq |location= Harmondsworth |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0140125238}}</ref>—his [[Stele of the Vultures]] has been found, showing violent treatment of enemies. His empire collapsed shortly after his death.

Later, [[Lugal-Zage-Si]], the priest-king of Umma, overthrew the primacy of the Lagash dynasty in the area, then conquered Uruk, making it his capital, and claimed an empire extending from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.  He was the last ethnically Sumerian king before the arrival of the Semitic king, [[Sargon of Akkad]].<ref name="Leick, Gwendolyn 2003"/>

===Akkadian Empire===
{{Main|Akkadian Empire}}
c. 2270–2083 BCE ([[chronology of the ancient Near East|short chronology]])

The [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] Akkadian language is first attested in proper names of the kings of Kish c. 2800 BCE,<ref name=roux1993/> preserved in later king lists. There are texts written entirely in Old Akkadian dating from c. 2500 BCE.  Use of Old Akkadian was at its peak during the rule of [[Sargon the Great]] (c. 2270–2215 BCE), but even then most administrative tablets continued to be written in Sumerian, the language used by the scribes.  Gelb and Westenholz differentiate three stages of Old Akkadian: that of the pre-Sargonic era, that of the Akkadian empire, and that of the "[[Neo-Sumerian]] Renaissance" that followed it.  Akkadian and Sumerian coexisted as vernacular languages for about one thousand years, but by around 1800 BCE, Sumerian was becoming more of a literary language familiar mainly only to scholars and scribes. [[Thorkild Jacobsen]] has argued that there is little break in historical continuity between the pre- and post-Sargon periods, and that too much emphasis has been placed on the perception of a "Semitic vs. Sumerian" conflict.<ref>''Toward the Image of Tammuz and Other Essays on Mesopotamian History and Culture'' by T. Jacobsen</ref>  However, it is certain that Akkadian was also briefly imposed on neighboring parts of [[Elam]] that were previously conquered by Sargon.

===Gutian period===
{{Main|Gutian dynasty of Sumer}}
c. 2083–2050 BCE ([[chronology of the ancient Near East|short chronology]])

====2nd Dynasty of Lagash====
[[File:Head Gudea Louvre AO13.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gudea]] of [[Lagash]]]]
{{Main|Lagash}}
c. 2093–2046 BCE ([[chronology of the ancient Near East|short chronology]])

Following the downfall of the Akkadian Empire at the hands of [[Gutian dynasty of Sumer|Gutian]]s, another native Sumerian ruler, [[Gudea]] of [[Lagash]], rose to local prominence and continued the practices of the Sargonid kings' claims to divinity. Like the previous Lagash dynasty, Gudea and his descendants also promoted artistic development and left a large number of archaeological artifacts.

===Sumerian Renaissance===
[[File:Ziggurat of ur.jpg|thumb|left|[[Great Ziggurat of Ur]], near [[Nasiriyah]], [[Iraq]]]]
{{Main|Sumerian renaissance}}
c. 2047–1940 BCE ([[chronology of the ancient Near East|short chronology]])

Later, the [[Third Dynasty of Ur|3rd dynasty of Ur]] under [[Ur-Nammu]] and [[Shulgi]], whose power extended as far as northern Mesopotamia, was the last great "Sumerian renaissance", but already the region was becoming more Semitic than Sumerian, with the rise in power of the Akkadian speaking Semites, and the influx of waves of Semitic Martu ([[Amorites]]) who were to found several competing local powers including [[Isin]], [[Larsa]], and [[Babylon]]. The last of these eventually came to dominate the south of Mesopotamia as the [[Babylonian Empire]], just as the [[Assyrian Empire]] did in the north. The Sumerian language continued as a sacerdotal language taught in schools in Babylonia and Assyria, much as Latin was used in the Medieval period, for as long as cuneiform was utilized

===Decline===
This period is generally taken to coincide with a major shift in population from southern Mesopotamia toward the north. Ecologically, the agricultural productivity of the Sumerian lands was being compromised as a result of rising salinity.  [[Soil salinity]] in this region had been long recognized as a major problem.  Poorly drained irrigated soils, in an arid climate with high levels of evaporation, led to the buildup of dissolved salts in the soil, eventually reducing agricultural yields severely. During the Akkadian and [[Ur III]] phases, there was a shift from the cultivation of [[wheat]] to the more salt-tolerant [[barley]], but this was insufficient, and during the period from 2100 BC to 1700 BC, it is estimated that the population in this area declined by nearly three fifths.<ref>{{cite journal| last=Thompson| first=William R.| year=2004| title=Complexity, Diminishing Marginal Returns and Serial Mesopotamian Fragmentation| journal=Journal of World Systems Research| url=http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol10/number3/pdf/jwsr-v10n3-thompson.pdf| format=PDF| doi=10.1007/s00268-004-7605-z| volume=10| pages=612–652| pmid=15517490| last2=Hay| first2=ID| issue=3}}</ref>  This greatly upset the balance of power within the region, weakening the areas where Sumerian was spoken, and comparatively strengthening those where Akkadian was the major language.  Henceforth Sumerian would remain only a [[literary language|literary]] and [[Sacred language|liturgical]] language, similar to the position occupied by [[Latin]] in [[Middle Ages|medieval]] Europe.

Following an [[Elam]]ite invasion and sack of [[Ur]] during the rule of [[Ibbi-Sin]] (c. 1940 BC), Sumer came under [[Amorite]]s rule (taken to introduce the [[Middle Bronze Age]]). The independent Amorite states of the 20th to 18th centuries are summarized as the "[[Dynasty of Isin]]" in the Sumerian king list, ending with the rise of [[Babylonia]] under [[Hammurabi]] c. 1700 BC.

== Population ==

[[Uruk]], one of Sumer's largest cities, has been estimated to have had a population at its height of 50-80,000;<ref>Harmansah, Ömür, The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: Ceremonial centers, urbanization and state formation in Southern Mesopotamia, 2007, http://proteus.brown.edu/mesopotamianarchaeology/699</ref> given the other cities in Sumer, and the large agricultural population, a rough estimate for Sumer's population might be 0.8million-1.5million. The [[world population]] at this time has been estimated at about 27m.<ref>Colin McEvedy and Richard Jones, 1978, ''Atlas of World Population History'', Facts on File, New York, ISBN 0-7139-1031-3.</ref>

[[File:Sumer1.jpg|right|350px|thumb| The first farmers from [[Samarra]] migrated to Sumer, and built shrines and settlements at [[Eridu]].]]
The Sumerians were a non-Semitic people, and spoke a [[language isolate]]; a number of linguists believed they could detect a [[substrate language]] beneath Sumerian, names of some of Sumer's major cities are not Sumerian, revealing influences of earlier inhabitants.<ref name="Nemet-Nejat1998">{{cite book|author=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat|title=Daily life in ancient Mesopotamia|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lbmXsaTGNKUC&pg=PA13|accessdate=29 November 2011|date=30 September 1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group| isbn= 978-0-313-29497-6| page=13}}</ref> However, the [[archaeological record]] shows clear uninterrupted cultural continuity from the time of the Early [[Ubaid period]] (5300 – 4700 BCE [[Radiocarbon dating|C-14]]) settlements in southern Mesopotamia.  The Sumerian people who settled here farmed the lands in this region that were made fertile by silt deposited by the [[Tigris]] and the [[Euphrates]] rivers.

It is speculated by some archaeologists that Sumerian speakers were farmers who moved down from the north, after perfecting irrigation agriculture there [note there is no consensus among scholars on the origins of the Sumerians]. The [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] pottery of southern Mesopotamia has been connected via [[Choga Mami]] Transitional ware to the pottery of the [[Samarra]] period culture (c. 5700 – 4900 BCE [[Radiocarbon dating|C-14]]) in the north, who were the first to practice a primitive form of irrigation agriculture along the middle Tigris River and its tributaries. The connection is most clearly seen at Tell Awayli (''Oueilli'', ''Oueili'') near [[Larsa]], excavated by the French in the 1980s, where eight levels yielded pre-Ubaid pottery resembling Samarran ware. According to this view, farming peoples spread down into southern Mesopotamia because they had developed a temple-centered social organization for mobilizing labor and technology for water control, enabling them to survive and prosper in a difficult environment.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

Others have suggested a continuity of Sumerians, from the indigenous hunter-fisherfolk traditions, associated with the Arabian bifacial assemblages found on the Arabian littoral. The Sumerians themselves claimed kinship with the people of [[Dilmun]], associated with Bahrein in the Persian Gulf. Professor [[Juris Zarins]] believes the Sumerians may have been the people living in the Persian Gulf region before it flooded at the end of the last Ice Age.<ref>http://www.ldolphin.org/eden/</ref>

== Culture ==

=== Social and family life===
[[File:Reconstructed sumerian headgear necklaces british museum.JPG|thumb|right|A reconstruction in the British Museum of headgear and necklaces worn by the women in some Sumerian graves]]
In the early Sumerian period (i.e. Uruk), the primitive pictograms suggest<ref name="Sayce"/> that
*"[[Pottery]] was very plentiful, and the forms of the vases, bowls and dishes were manifold; there were special jars for honey, butter, oil and wine, which was probably made from dates, and one form of vase had a spout protruding from its side. Some of the vases had pointed feet, and stood on stands with crossed legs; others were flat-bottomed, and were set on square or rectangular frames of wood. The oil-jars — and probably others also — were sealed with clay, precisely as in early Egypt. Vases and dishes of stone were made in imitation of those of clay, and baskets were woven of reeds or formed of leather."
*"A feathered head-dress was worn on the head. Beds, stools and chairs were used, with carved legs resembling those of an ox. There were fire-places and fire-altars, and apparently chimneys also."
*"Knives, drills, wedges and an instrument which looks like a saw were all known, while spears, bows, arrows and daggers (but not swords) were employed in war."
*"Tablets were used for writing purposes, and copper, gold and silver were worked by the smith. Daggers with metal blades and wooden handles were worn, and copper was hammered into plates, while necklaces or collars were made of gold."
*"Time was reckoned in lunar months."

There is considerable evidence that the [[Sumerian music|Sumerians loved music]], which seems to have been an important part of [[religious]] and civic life in Sumer. [[Lyres]] were popular in Sumer, among the best-known examples being the [[Lyres of Ur]].

Inscriptions describing the reforms of king [[Urukagina]] of [[Lagash]] (c. 2300 BCE) say that he abolished the former custom of [[polyandry]] in his country, prescribing that a woman who took multiple husbands be stoned with rocks upon which her crime had been written.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=mpjk74blFDgC&pg=PA62&dq=urukagina+%22two+men%22&client=firefox-a&sig=29we4cFBrgMpJ9qsy4zjpCywAQY ''Gender and the Journal: Diaries and Academic Discourse'' p. 62] by Cinthia Gannett, 1992</ref>

Though women were protected by [[cuneiform law|late Sumerian law]] and were able to achieve a higher status in Sumer than in other contemporary civilizations, the culture was male-dominated. The [[Code of Ur-Nammu]], the oldest such codification yet discovered, dating to the Ur-III "Sumerian Renaissance", reveals a glimpse at societal structure in late Sumerian law. Beneath the ''lu-gal'' ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "''lu''" or free person, and the slave (male, ''arad''; female ''geme''). The son of a ''lu'' was called a ''dumu-nita'' until he married. A woman (''munus'') went from being a daughter (''dumu-mi''), to a wife (''dam''), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (''numasu'') and she could then remarry.

===Language and writing===
{{Main|Sumerian language|Cuneiform}}
[[File:Early writing tablet recording the allocation of beer.jpg|thumb|Early writing tablet recording the allocation of beer, 3100–3000 BCE]]
[[File:Sumer text at stone in Ukrainian Carpathian.jpg|thumb|Sumer text at stone found in Ukrainian Carpathian and other artifacts]]
The most important archaeological discoveries in Sumer are a large number of [[clay tablet|tablet]]s written in [[cuneiform]].  Sumerian writing, while proven to be not the oldest example of writing on earth, is considered to be a great milestone in the development of man's ability to not only create historical records but also in creating pieces of literature both in the form of poetic epics and stories as well as prayers and laws. Although pictures — that is, [[hieroglyphs]] — were first used, symbols were later made to represent syllables. Triangular or wedge-shaped reeds were used to write on moist clay. A large body of hundreds of thousands of texts in the Sumerian language have survived, such as personal or business letters, receipts, [[lexical lists]], laws, hymns, prayers, stories, daily records, and even libraries full of [[clay tablet]]s. Monumental inscriptions and texts on different objects like statues or bricks are also very common. Many texts survive in multiple copies because they were repeatedly transcribed by scribes-in-training. Sumerian continued to be the language of religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic speakers had become dominant.

The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a [[language isolate]] in [[linguistics]] because it belongs to no known language family; Akkadian, by contrast, belongs to the Semitic branch of the [[Afro-Asiatic languages]]. There have been many failed attempts to connect Sumerian to other [[language family|language groups]]. It is an [[agglutinative language]]; in other words, [[morpheme]]s ("units of meaning") are added together to create words, unlike [[analytic languages]] where morphemes are purely added together to create sentences.

Understanding Sumerian texts today can be problematic even for experts.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} Most difficult are the earliest texts, which in many cases do not give the full grammatical structure of the language.

During the 3rd millennium BCE a cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread [[bilingualism]].<ref name="Deutscher"/> The influences between Sumerian on Akkadian are evident in all areas including lexical borrowing on a massive scale--and syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.<ref name='Deutscher'/> This mutual influence has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian of the 3rd millennium BCE as a ''[[Sprachbund]]''.<ref name='Deutscher'/>

Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BCE,<ref name="woods">Woods C. 2006 [http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/OIS2.pdf “Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian”]. In S.L. Sanders (ed) ''Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture'': 91-120 Chicago</ref> but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in [[Babylonia]] and [[Assyria]] until the 1st century CE.<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Lyle|title=A glossary of historical linguistics|year=2007|publisher=Edinburgh University Press| isbn=978-0-7486-2379-2|author2=Mauricio J. Mixco |page=196}}</ref>

===Religion===
{{Main|Sumerian religion}}

At an early stage following the dawn of recorded history, [[Nippur]] in central Mesopotamia replaced [[Eridu]] in the south as the primary temple city, whose priests also conferred the status of political [[hegemony]] on the other city-states. Nippur retained this status throughout the first Sumerian period, until [[Sargon of Akkad]] is said to have transferred it to [[Babylon]].

====Deities====
[[File:Mesopotamia male worshiper 2750-2600 B.C.jpg|thumb|[[Tell Asmar]] votive sculpture 2750-2600 BCE.]]

Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or the belief in many gods in human form. There was no common set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings, however they were not exclusive. The gods of one city were often acknowledged elsewhere.  Sumerian speakers were among the earliest people to record their beliefs in writing, and were a major inspiration in later [[Mesopotamian mythology]], [[religion]], and [[astrology]]. 

The Sumerians worshiped:
*[[Anu|An]] as the full-time god equivalent to heaven; indeed, the word ''an'' in Sumerian means sky and his consort [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]], means earth.
*[[Enki]] in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god of beneficence, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, a healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industries and manners of civilization; the first law-book was considered his creation,
*[[Enlil]], lord of the ghost-land, in Nippur. He gave mankind the spells and incantations that the spirits of good or evil must obey,
*[[Inanna]], the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk.
*The sun-god [[Utu]] at [[Larsa]] in the south and [[Sippar]] in the north,
*The moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] at [[Ur]].

[[File:Genealogy of Sumero-Akkadian Gods.jpg|thumb|450px|left|Sumero-early Akkadian [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]]]]

These [[deity|deities]] formed a core pantheon; there were additionally hundreds of minor ones. Sumerian gods could thus have associations with different cities, and their religious importance often waxed and waned with those cities' political power. The gods were said to have created human beings from clay for the purpose of serving them. The temples organized the mass labour projects needed for irrigation agriculture.  Citizens had a labor duty to the temple, though they could avoid it by a payment of silver.

====Cosmology====
Sumerians believed that the [[universe]] consisted of a flat disk enclosed by a [[dome]]. The Sumerian [[afterlife]] involved a descent into a gloomy [[Sumerian nether-world|netherworld]] to spend eternity in a wretched [[existence]] as a [[Gidim]] (ghost).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |authorlink1=Jeremy Black (assyriologist) |last2=Green | first2=Anthony |title= Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |date=1992 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0292707948}}</ref>

The universe was divided into four quarters.  
** To the north were the hill-dwelling [[Subartu]] who were periodically raided for slaves, timber, and raw materials.  
** To the west were the tent-dwelling [[Amorite|Martu]], Semitic people living as pastoral nomads tending herds of sheep and goats.
** To the south was the land of [[Dilmun]], a trading state associated with the land of the dead and the place of creation.
** To the east were the [[Elamites]], a rival people with whom the Sumerians were frequently at war.

Their known world extended from ''The Upper Sea'' or Mediterranean coastline, to ''The Lower Sea'', the [[Persian Gulf]] and the land of [[Meluhha]] (probably the [[Indus Valley]]) and [[Majan (civilization)|Magan]] ([[Oman]]), famed for its copper ores.

====Temples and temple organisation====
[[Ziggurat]]s (Sumerian temples) each had an individual name and consisted of a forecourt, with a central pond for purification.<ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (2003), Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City' (Penguin)</ref>  The temple itself had a central [[nave]] with aisles along either side. Flanking the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one end would stand the [[podium]] and a [[mudbrick]] table for animal and vegetable [[sacrifice]]s. [[Granary|Granaries]] and [[Warehouse|storehouse]]s were usually located near the temples. After a time the Sumerians began to place the temples on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of rising terraces, giving rise to the Ziggurat style.<ref>Crawford, Harriet (1993), "Sumer and the Sumerians" (Cambridge University Press, (New York 1993)), ISBN 0-521-38850-3.</ref>

====Funerary practices====
It was believed that when people died, they would be confined to a gloomy world of [[Ereshkigal]], whose realm was guarded by gateways with various monsters designed to prevent people entering or leaving.  The dead were buried outside the city walls in graveyards where a small mound covered the corpse, along with offerings to monsters and a small amount of food.  [[Human sacrifice]] was found in the death pits at the [[Ur]] royal cemetery where Queen [[Puabi]] was accompanied in death by her servants.
It is also said that the Sumerians invented the first [[oboe]]-like instrument, and used them at royal funerals.

===Agriculture and hunting===
The Sumerians adopted an agricultural lifestyle perhaps as early as c. 5000 BC – 4500 BCE. The region demonstrated a number of core agricultural techniques, including organized [[irrigation]], large-scale intensive cultivation of land, [[mono-cropping]] involving the use of [[plough agriculture]], and the use of an agricultural [[Division of labour|specialized labour force]] under bureaucratic control.  The necessity to manage temple accounts with this organization led to the development of [[history of writing|writing]] (c. 3500 BCE).

[[File:Ur mosaic.jpg|thumb|300px|From the royal tombs of [[Ur]], made of [[lapis lazuli]] and shell, shows peacetime]]
In the early Sumerian Uruk period, the primitive pictograms suggest that [[sheep]], [[goat]]s, cattle, and [[pig]]s were domesticated. They used [[ox]]en as their primary beasts of burden and [[donkey]]s or [[equids]] as their primary transport animal and "woollen clothing as well as rugs were made from the wool or hair of the animals. ... By the side of the house was an enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants; wheat and probably other cereals were sown in the fields, and the ''[[shaduf]]'' was already employed for the purpose of irrigation. Plants were also grown in pots or vases."<ref name="Sayce"/>
[[File:Issue of barley rations.JPG|thumb|190px|An account of barley rations issued monthly to adults and children written in [[cuneiform]] on clay tablet, written in year 4 of King [[Urukagina]], circa 2350 BCE]]The Sumerians were one of the first known [[beer]] drinking societies. Cereals were plentiful and were the key ingredient in their early brew. They brewed multiple kinds of beer consisting of wheat, barley, and mixed grain beers. Beer brewing was very important to the Sumerians. It was referenced in the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] when [[Enkidu]] was introduced to the food and beer of Gilgamesh's people: "Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land... He drank the beer-seven jugs! and became expansive and sang with joy!"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gately|first1=Iain|title=Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol|publisher=Gotham Books|isbn=978-1-592-40303-5|page=5}}</ref>

The Sumerians practiced similar irrigation techniques as those used in Egypt.<ref>{{cite book| last = Mackenzie| first = Donald Alexander| year = 1927 | title = Footprints of Early Man| publisher = Blackie & Son Limited}}</ref> American anthropologist [[Robert McCormick Adams]] says that irrigation development was associated with urbanization,<ref>{{cite book| last = Adams| first = R. McC.| year = 1981 | title = Heartland of Cities| publisher = University of Chicago Press}}</ref> and that 89% of the population lived in the cities.<ref>http://cniss.wustl.edu/workshoppapers/gatpres2a.pdf{{dead link|date=March 2012}}</ref>

They grew [[barley]], [[chickpea]]s, [[lentil]]s, [[wheat]], [[Date (fruit)|date]]s, [[onion]]s, [[garlic]], [[lettuce]], [[leek]]s and [[Mustard plant|mustard]].  Sumerians caught many fish and hunted [[fowl]] and [[gazelle]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The fine art of food | first=Reay |last=Tannahill | publisher=Folio Society| year=1968}}{{Page needed|date=March 2012}}</ref>

Sumerian agriculture depended heavily on [[irrigation]]. The irrigation was accomplished by the use of ''[[shaduf]]'', [[canal]]s,  [[Channel (geography)|channels]], [[dyke (construction)|dykes]], [[weir]]s, and [[reservoirs]]. The frequent violent floods of the [[Tigris]], and less so, of the [[Euphrates]], meant that canals required frequent repair and continual removal of [[silt]], and survey markers and boundary stones needed to be continually replaced. The government required individuals to work on the canals in a [[corvee]], although the rich were able to exempt themselves.

As is known from the "''[[Sumerian Farmer's Almanac]]''", after the flood season and after the [[Spring Equinox]] and the ''[[Akitu]]'' or New Year Festival, using the canals, farmers would flood their fields and then drain the water. Next they made oxen stomp the ground and kill weeds. They then dragged the fields with [[pickaxe]]s. After drying, they [[plowing|plowed]], [[harrow (tool)|harrowed]], and [[rake (tool)|raked]] the ground three times, and pulverized it with a [[mattock]], before planting seed.  Unfortunately the high evaporation rate resulted in a gradual increase in the salinity of the fields.  By the Ur III period, farmers had switched from wheat to the more salt-tolerant [[barley]] as their principal crop.

Sumerians harvested during the [[spring (season)|spring]] in three-person teams consisting of a [[reaper]], a [[Reaper-binder|binder]], and a sheaf handler.<ref>By the sweat of thy brow: Work in the Western world, Melvin Kranzberg, Joseph Gies, Putnam, 1975</ref> The farmers would use [[threshing wagon]]s, driven by oxen, to separate the [[cereal]] heads from the [[stalk (botany)|stalk]]s and then use threshing sleds to disengage the grain. They then [[winnowing|winnowed]] the grain/chaff mixture.

=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Sumerian architecture|Ziggurat|Mudhif}}
The Tigris-Euphrates plain lacked minerals and trees. Sumerian structures were made of plano-convex [[mudbrick]], not fixed with [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]] or [[cement]]. Mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorate, so they were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This constant rebuilding gradually raised the level of cities, which thus came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resultant hills, known as [[tell]]s, are found throughout the ancient Near East.

According to [[Archibald Sayce]], the primitive [[pictogram]]s of the early Sumerian (i.e. Uruk) era suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals.  Brick was the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double. The foundation stones — or rather bricks — of a house were consecrated by certain objects that were deposited under them."<ref name="Sayce">{{cite book| authorlink=Archibald Sayce| last=Sayce | first=Rev. A. H.| url=http://www.archive.org/stream/archaeologyofcun00sayc/archaeologyofcun00sayc_djvu.txt |title= The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions|edition=2nd revised | year=1908 | publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge | location=London, Brighton, New York |pages=98–100}}</ref>

The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the [[ziggurat]]s, large layered platforms which supported temples. Sumerian [[Cylinder seal|cylinder]] [[Seal (device)|seal]]s also depict houses built from reeds not unlike those built by the [[Marsh Arabs]] of Southern Iraq until as recently as 400 CE. The Sumerians also developed the [[arch]], which enabled them to develop a strong type of [[dome]]. They built this by constructing and linking several arches.  Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques,{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}} such as [[buttress]]es, [[Alcove|recesses]], [[Column|half column]]s, and [[clay nail]]s.

=== Mathematics ===
{{Main|Babylonian mathematics}}
The Sumerians developed a complex system of [[metrology]] c. 4000 BCE. This metrology advanced resulting in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From c. 2600 BCE onwards, the Sumerians wrote [[multiplication table]]s on clay tablets and dealt with [[geometry|geometrical]] exercises and [[Division (mathematics)|division]] problems. The earliest traces of the [[Babylonian numerals]] also date back to this period.<ref>Duncan J. Melville (2003). [http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/3Mill/chronology.html Third Millennium Chronology], ''Third Millennium Mathematics''. [[St. Lawrence University]].</ref> The period c. 2700 – 2300 BCE saw the first appearance of the [[abacus]], and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their [[sexagesimal]] number system.<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Ifrah|2001|p=11}}</ref> The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube.<ref>{{cite book| url= http://books.google.com/?id=BKRE5AjRM3AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=sherlock+holmes+in+babylon#PPA7,M1 |title=Sherlock Holmes in Babylon: and other tales of mathematical history | first1=Marlow |last1=Anderson | first2=Robin J. |last2=Wilson |publisher=Google Books |date=October 14, 2004 |accessdate=2012-03-29| isbn= 9780883855461}}</ref>

===Economy and trade===
[[File:Bill of sale Louvre AO3765.jpg|thumb|200px|Bill of sale of a male slave and a building in [[Shuruppak]], Sumerian tablet, circa 2600 BCE]]
Discoveries of [[obsidian]] from far-away locations in [[Anatolia]] and [[lapis lazuli]] from [[Badakhshan]] in northeastern [[Afghanistan]], beads from [[Dilmun]] (modern [[Bahrain]]), and several seals inscribed with the [[Indus Valley civilization|Indus Valley]] [[Indus script|script]] suggest a remarkably wide-ranging network of ancient trade centered around the [[Persian Gulf]].

The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] refers to trade with far lands for goods such as wood that were scarce in Mesopotamia. In particular, cedar from [[Lebanon]] was prized.  The finding of resin in the tomb of Queen [[Puabi]] at [[Ur]], indicates it was traded from as far away as [[Mozambique]].

The Sumerians used [[Slavery in antiquity|slaves]], although they were not a major part of the economy. Slave [[women]] worked as [[weaving|weavers]], pressers, [[miller]]s, and [[porter (carrying)|porter]]s.

Sumerian [[pottery|potters]] decorated pots with [[cedar oil]] [[paint]]s. The potters used a [[bow drill]] to produce the [[fire]] needed for baking the pottery. Sumerian [[masonry|masons]] and [[jewelry|jewelers]] knew and made use of [[alabaster]] ([[calcite]]),  [[ivory]], [[iron]], [[gold]], [[silver]], [[carnelian]], and [[lapis lazuli]].<ref>Diplomacy by design: Luxury arts and an "international style" in the ancient Near East, 1400-1200 BCE, Marian H. Feldman, University of Chicago Press, 2006, pp. 120-121</ref>

===Military===
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2012}}
[[File:Standard of Ur chariots.jpg|frame|thumb|Early chariots on the [[Standard of Ur]], c. 2600 BCE.]]
[[File:Stele of Vultures detail 01-transparent.png|right|thumb|Battle formations on a fragment of the [[Stele of the Vultures]]]]
[[File:Lancero Sumerio.png|thumbnail|100px|Sumerian Lancer]]

The almost constant wars among the Sumerian city-states for 2000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Sumer to a high level. The first war recorded in any detail was between Lagash and Umma in c. 2525 BCE on a stele called the [[Stele of the Vultures]]. It shows the king of Lagash leading a Sumerian army consisting mostly of [[infantry]]. The infantrymen carried [[spear]]s, wore [[copper]] [[helmet]]s and carried [[leather]] or [[wicker]] [[shield]]s. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the [[phalanx formation]], which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Sumerians may have made use of [[professional]] soldiers.

The Sumerian military used carts harnessed to [[onager]]s. These early [[chariot]]s functioned less effectively in combat than did later designs, and some have suggested that these chariots served primarily as transports, though the crew carried battle-axes and [[lance]]s. The Sumerian chariot comprised a four or two-[[wheel]]ed device manned by a crew of two and harnessed to four onagers. The cart was composed of a [[basket|woven basket]] and the wheels had a solid three-piece design.

Sumerian cities were surrounded by defensive [[City wall|wall]]s. The Sumerians engaged in [[siege|siege warfare]] between their cities, but the [[mudbrick]] walls were able to deter some foes.

===Technology===
Examples of Sumerian technology include: the [[wheel]], [[cuneiform]], [[arithmetic]] and [[geometry]], [[irrigation]] systems, Sumerian boats, [[lunisolar calendar]], [[bronze]], [[leather]], [[saw]]s, [[chisel]]s, [[hammer]]s, [[brace (tool)|brace]]s, [[Bit (horse)|bit]]s, [[nail (engineering)|nail]]s, [[pin]]s, [[jewelry ring|ring]]s, [[hoe (tool)|hoe]]s, [[axe]]s, [[knife|knives]], [[lance]]points, [[arrow (weapon)|arrowheads]], [[sword]]s, [[adhesive|glue]], [[dagger]]s, [[waterskin]]s, bags, [[horse harness|harness]]es, [[armor]], [[quiver]]s, [[war chariot]]s, [[scabbard]]s, [[boot]]s, [[sandal (footwear)|sandals]], [[harpoon]]s and [[beer]].
The Sumerians had three main types of boats:{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}
*clinker-built sailboats stitched together with hair, featuring [[bitumen]] waterproofing
*skin boats constructed from animal skins and reeds
*wooden-oared ships, sometimes pulled upstream by people and animals walking along the nearby banks

== Legacy ==
Evidence of [[wheel]]ed vehicles appeared in the mid 4th millennium BCE, near-simultaneously in Mesopotamia, the Northern Caucasus ([[Maykop culture]]) and Central Europe. The wheel initially took the form of the [[potter's wheel]]. The new concept quickly led to wheeled [[vehicles]] and mill wheels. The Sumerians' [[cuneiform (script)|cuneiform]] writing system is the oldest (or second oldest after the [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]) which has been deciphered (the status of even older inscriptions such as the [[Jiahu symbols]] and [[Tărtăria_tablets|Tartaria tablets]] is controversial). The Sumerians were among the first astronomers, mapping the stars into sets of constellations, many of which survived in the [[zodiac]] and were also recognized by the ancient Greeks.<ref name="Thompson">{{cite web|author=Gary Thompson |url=http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gtosiris/page11-4.html |title=History of Constellation and Star Names |publisher=Members.optusnet.com.au |accessdate= 2012-03-29}}{{Verify credibility|failed=y|date=March 2012}}</ref> They were also aware of the five planets that are easily visible to the naked eye.<ref name="SumerFAQ2">{{cite web|url=http://www.sumerian.org/sumerfaq.htm#s39 |title=Sumerian Questions and Answers |publisher=Sumerian.org |accessdate=2012-03-29}}</ref>

They invented and developed arithmetic by using several different number systems including a [[mixed radix]] system with an alternating base 10 and base 6.  This [[sexagesimal]] system became the standard number system in Sumer and Babylonia.  They may have invented military formations and introduced the basic divisions between [[infantry]], [[cavalry]], and [[archery|archers]]. They developed the first known codified legal and administrative systems, complete with courts, jails, and government records. The first true city-states arose in Sumer, roughly contemporaneously with similar entities in what are now [[Syria]] and [[Lebanon]]. Several centuries after the invention of cuneiform, the use of writing expanded beyond debt/payment certificates and inventory lists to be applied for the first time, about 2600 BCE, to messages and mail delivery, history, legend, mathematics, astronomical records, and other pursuits. Conjointly with the spread of writing, the first formal schools were established, usually under the auspices of a city-state's primary temple.

Finally, the Sumerians ushered in [[domestication]] with intensive [[agriculture]] and [[irrigation]]. [[Emmer wheat]], [[barley]], sheep (starting as [[mouflon]]), and cattle (starting as [[aurochs]]) were foremost among the species cultivated and raised for the first time on a grand scale.

==See also==
* [[History of Iraq]]
* [[History of writing numbers]]
* [[Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement]]
* [[Toynbee's law of challenge and response]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group="note"}}

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
: Ascalone, Enrico. 2007. ''Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations; 1)''. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-25266-7 (paperback).
: Bottéro, Jean, André Finet, Bertrand Lafont, and George Roux. 2001. ''Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia''. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
: Crawford, Harriet E. W. 2004. ''Sumer and the Sumerians''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
: Leick, Gwendolyn. 2002. ''Mesopotamia: Invention of the City''. London and New York: Penguin.
: Lloyd, Seton. 1978. ''The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest''. London: Thames and Hudson.
: Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea. 1998. ''Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia''. London and Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
: {{cite book | author=[[Samuel Noah Kramer|Kramer, Samuel Noah]] | title= The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character | publisher= [[University of Chicago Press]] | year=1963 | isbn=0-226-45238-7}}
: [[Samuel Noah Kramer|Kramer, Samuel Noah]]. ''Sumerian Mythology: A Study of Spiritual and Literary Achievement in the Third Millennium BCE''.
: Roux, Georges. 1992. ''Ancient Iraq'', 560 pages. London: Penguin (earlier printings may have different pagination: 1966, 480 pages, Pelican; 1964, 431 pages, London: Allen and Urwin).
: Schomp, Virginia. ''Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, And Assyrians''.
: ''Sumer: Cities of Eden (Timelife Lost Civilizations)''. Alexandria, VA: [[Time-Life Books]], 1993 (hardcover, ISBN 0-8094-9887-1).
: [[Leonard Woolley|Woolley, C. Leonard]]. 1929. ''The Sumerians''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sumer}}
* [http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Sumer.html Ancient Sumer History --- The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium]
* [http://www.penn.museum/sites/iraq/ Iraq’s Ancient Past] — [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology|Penn Museum]]
*[http://journal.qu.edu.az/article_pdf/1035_402.pdf The Sumerians]

;Geography
* [http://www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/images1/mapANEprecip.jpg Map of The Fertile Crescent]
* The History Files: [http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/MainFeaturesMesopotamia.htm Ancient Mesopotamia]

;Language
* [http://www.sumerian.org/ Sumerian Language Page], perhaps the oldest Sumerian website on the web (it dates back to 1996), features compiled lexicon, detailed FAQ, extensive links, and so on.
* [http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/ ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature] has complete translations of more than 400 Sumerian literary texts.
* [http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/ PSD: The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary], while still in its initial stages, can be searched on-line, from August 2004.
* [http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/ CDLI: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative] a large corpus of Sumerian texts in transliteration, largely from the Early Dynastic and Ur III periods, accessible with images.

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{{Ancient Syria and Mesopotamia}}
{{Ancient Mesopotamia}}
{{Iraq topics}}

[[Category:Sumer| ]]
[[Category:Sumerians| ]]
[[Category:Fertile Crescent]]
[[Category:Mesopotamia]]
[[Category:Ancient Near East]]
[[Category:Civilizations]]
[[Category:Lists of coordinates]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Iraq]]