Who were the Sumerians in summary? Brief history of one of the first and most important human civilizations

THE Sumerians they were a sedentary population of the ancient world, lived in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) over the millennia IV-III BC and based on agriculture. They were organized in city-state and introduced the first “modern” state administrations. The Sumerians were one of the first urban civilizations and were flourishing, so much so that they invented or perfected such enormous inventions as writing, the wheel and irrigation, but in the second half of the third millennium it suffered invasions by different populationsincluding the Akkadians and the Guteans, and lost its independence. Around 2190 BC the Sumerians were able to free themselves from “foreign” domination, starting a real rebirth. The Sumerian civilization definitively ended at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, when Mesopotamia was invaded by the people of Amorites. Thanks to advances in knowledge and technology, the Sumerians left a legacy of fundamental importance to subsequent cultures.

History and origin of the Sumerians

The origins of the Sumerian people are not known with certainty. The population was probably originally from Zagros Mountainslocated in present-day Iran, and migrated around the 5th-4th millennium BC to Mesopotamia, i.e. the territory including the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia actually means “in the middle of the rivers”. Today the Mesopotamian territory is located in Iraq, although the course of the two rivers is different than in the past.

The name “Sumerian” it was introduced in 1869 by the archaeologist Julius Oppert, who chose it based on the title carried by the rulers of the Akkadian period, “King of Sumer and Akkad”. Sumer was the lower part of Mesopotamia and Akkad was the northern part. The etymological meaning of the word Sumer is not known. The Sumerians identified themselves as “black-headed people.”

The early period of Sumerian history and the development of city-states

The first period of Sumerian history, which begins in the 5th millennium BC and runs from approximately 4500 to 3500 BC, is known as the Ubaid culture. The society was based on agriculture, which had only been “invented” recently and was widespread only in a few territories. Agriculture gradually took over the hunting and gathering economy and resulted in a radical change in the evolution of man, because it caused the transition from nomadism to settled societies. Thanks to this change, the first urban centres.

In the 4th millennium BC for the Sumerians the Uruk period (from the name of the most important city), in which urbanization developed to a greater extent, and around 2900 the dynastic periodduring which Sumerian civilization reached its peak. The population was organized into city-states, each of which controlled the urban center and the surrounding territory. The main cities were Uruk, Larsa, Kish, Eridu and others.

Generally in the cities there were two important buildings, which also represented the two existing powers: the templebuilt in the form of ziggurat (stepped pyramid), and the buildingin which the sovereign resided. Each city had its dynasty and the administration of public affairs became much more complex than in the past. It can be said, therefore, that the Sumerians introduced one of the first forms of state.

The population was divided into social classes: the highest included the priests and officials who held power; below was the class of merchants and artisans; lower down were the farmers and shepherds, who constituted the bulk of the population and had no political weight; at the bottom of the pyramid were the slaves.

The Akkadian conquest, the rebirth and disappearance of Sumerian civilization

The Sumerian cities were often at war with each other and the state of tension favored the conquest by the Akkadians, who in 2335 BC, with the guidance of the king Sargonthey conquered the entire Sumerian territory, creating a unitary kingdom.

The kingdom, however, rapidly weakened and in 2190 suffered the invasion of Guteia semi-nomadic and less civilized people, who dominated the territory for several decades. Around 2120 BC the major Sumerian cities regained their independence and began theNeo-Sumerian age (or Sumerian revival), in which the city of. emerged Ur. At the end of the 3rd millennium, Mesopotamia was invaded by other populations, including the Semitic Amorites, and the Sumerian civilization definitively ended.

Sumerians: religion, language and education

The Sumerians professed the polytheismbut the cults and gods changed depending on the places and periods. They were among the deities venerated in all the cities Anthe god of the sky; Enlilgod of the wind and the atmosphere; Enkigod of water, knowledge and creation. Many deities emerged in individual cities and then became objects of worship throughout the Sumerian territory.

The Sumerians spoke one isolated languagewhich, as far as studies have shown, had no connection to any other known language. In the Sumerian city-states the first schools in historythat is, institutions in which the children of the most important families learn to read, write and do arithmetic in order to become officials and work in the state administration.

Discoveries and inventions of the Sumerians

The Sumerians made enormous advances in knowledge and technology. Their inventions include:

Mathematics and astronomy

The Sumerians laid the foundations of arithmetic and geometry. They discovered numerous theorems and created a sexagesimal numerical system, also making progress in the measurement of time. They were also excellent astronomers, identifying numerous constellations and five planets visible to the naked eye.

Cuneiform writing

The Sumerians were responsible for an invention of fundamental importance: writing, introduced towards the end of the 4th millennium BC. To write, they engraved wedge-shaped signs on clay tablets. Sumerian writing is therefore known as cuneiform and, together with Egyptian writing, the first form of writing we know.

Agricultural progress

In the Sumerian period, agriculture made enormous progress and established itself throughout Mesopotamia. He was introduced the plow and new plants began to be grown. Thanks to the progress, nutrition improved. Furthermore, the Sumerians were responsible for the invention of beer, derived from the fermentation of cereals.

Wheel

Perhaps the Sumerians also invented the wheel, first created as a potter’s wheel and then applied to means of transport. It is not certain, however, that the invention was due to them.