Definition
Sumer (Sumerian: ki-en-ĝir "Land of the Lords of Brightness", Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar) was a civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. It is the earliest known civilization in the world and is known as the Cradle of Civilization.
The Sumerian civilization spanned over 3000 years and began with the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (mid 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylonia in the early 2nd millennium BC.
The cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture, (from ca. 5300 BC). By perhaps 5000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of a specialized labour force, particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).
The Sumerian civilization spanned over 3000 years and began with the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (mid 6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Babylonia in the early 2nd millennium BC.
The cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture, (from ca. 5300 BC). By perhaps 5000 BC, the Sumerians had developed core agricultural techniques including large-scale intensive cultivation of land, mono-cropping, organized irrigation, and the use of a specialized labour force, particularly along the waterway now known as the Shatt al-Arab, from its Persian Gulf delta to the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates. The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and grazing land. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor. This organization led to the development of writing (ca. 3500 BC).
Articles
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The cuneiform script proper emerges out of pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium BC. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans the 35th to 32nd centuries BC. The...
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All of the Sumerians’ innovations were remarkable contributions, responsible for revolutionizing travel, trade and commerce, written and oral communication, science, and even literature...
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The peoples of Sumer are among the earliest denizens of Mesopotamia. By about 4000 B.C., the Sumerians had organized themselves...
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In ancient Mesopotamia the family was the basic unit of society that was governed by specific patriarchal rules. Monogamy was the rule, even though the nobility could have concubines...
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Writing is undeniably one of humanity's most important inventions. The earliest forms of storing information on objects were numerical inscriptions on clay tablets, used for administration, accounting...
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Illustrations
Links
- Sumerian Language Page
http://www.sumerian.org/ - http://www.ezida.com/folk_exercices.htm
http://www.ezida.com/folk_exercices.htm - CDLI - Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/ - ETCSLhomepage
http://www-etcsl.orient.ox.ac.uk/# - L'épopée de Gilgamesh et le déluge: Du mythe sumérien à l’épopée akkadienne
http://mythes-et-legendes.suite101.fr/article.cfm/lepopee-de-gilgamesh-et-le-deluge - La naissance de l'écriture: Sumer et le début de l’histoire
http://archeologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/la-naissance-de-lecriture - La création de l'univers d'après la mythologie sumérienne
http://mythes-et-legendes.suite101.fr/article.cfm/la-creation-du-monde-et-lunivers-selon-la-mythologie-sumerienne
Sumer Books
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Oxford University Press, USA (15 February 2009)Price: $10.04 -
Bear & Company (05 May 2010)Price: $16.32 -
W. W. Norton & Company (17 March 2007)Price: $19.77 -
Wiley-Blackwell (13 October 2006)Price: $27.36 -
Anchor Books/Nan A Talese (17 August 1999)Price: $10.88
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