Sumerians - The Cradle of Civilization

Sumerians

Sumer (/ˈsuːmər/) is ne of the earliest known civilization from southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq) around 3500 to 2000 BCE,  It is the first urban civilizations in the world, along with the Indus Valley civilization that is emerging as older than Sumrians based on recent genetic studies.

Origin

Roughly 10,000 years ago, villages started popping up across Mesopotamia. The people who lived in the region raised animals and grew grains, even as they continued to hunt and gather. By the 7th century BC small farming settlements of people were established. Over time, those villages expanded leading to the first of Mesopotamian towns called Eridu and Uruk. 

River Based Civilization

Geography

Mesopotamia is Greek for ‘a land between two rivers’  Tigris and Euphrates. Living along the valleys of the two rivers, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of grain and other crops, the surplus from which enabled them to form urban settlements. Ironically, the Greek name for Punjab was Pentopotamia meaning the land with five rivers. 

Map of Mesopotamia

Trade

Because their homeland was devoid of timber, stones, and minerals, the Sumerians created the earliest sea and land trade networks in history. Their most important trading partners were Magan (Egypt), Dilmun (Bahrain), which had a monopoly on the copper trade. Sumerian traders travelled to Anatolia and Lebanon to buy cedar wood, and to Muleha (Indus Valley in Punjab ans Sindh) for gold and precious stones. They were especially fond of lapis lazuli, a blue colored gemstone, and there are documents that they went to Afghanistan to buy this stone.

Indus Valley Tablet Found in Sumeria

Indus–Mesopotamia relations are thought to have developed during the second half of 3rd millennium BCE, until they came to a halt with the decline of Indus valley civilization after around 1900 BCE. Evidence for imports from the Indus to Ur has been found to confirm thiss trade.

Indus Valley Carnelian Beads from Sumeria

Various objects made with shell species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, particularly Trubinella Pyrum and Fasciolaria Trapezium, and  Carnelian beads from the Indus have been found in the archaeological sites of Mesopotamia.

Political History

Mesopotamia supported two main civilisations in the area, namely the Sumerians in the south and the Akkadians in the north. The Sumerians were the first to develop a stronger civilisation that dominated the region from around 3500 BC to around 2350 BC, when they were defeated by the Akkadians. Akkadians absorbed the Sumerian civilisation into their own and called it the Sumer-Akkad. After 150 years of Akkadian rule, the Sumerian city of Ur overthrew the Akkad rule and establish a new Sumerian kingdom under King Ur-Nammu who revived the Sumerian language and built many buildings.

Sumerian King with Uncut Hair and Full Beard

The Sumerians were once again invaded, this time by the Babylonians who destroyed many of their buildings and rebuilt them to reflect the Babylonian influence. Sumeria was later conquered by the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Arabs, and finally by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. 

Governance

The Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest surviving law in the world, and a copy of it was discovered in Nippur. It is the earliest existing legal text and was created three centuries before the Code of Hammurabi of Assyria. The laws are listed so that crime is followed by punishment. 

Ur-Nammu Code of Justice

Here are some of the Code of Ur-Nammu’s laws:

1. If a man commits murder, that man must be killed.
2. If a man commits robbery, he will be killed.
3. If a man commits a kidnapping, he is to be imprisoned and pay 15 shekels of silver.
4. If a slave marries a slave, and that slave is set free, he does not leave the household.
5. If a slave marries a native (free) person, he/she is to hand the firstborn son over to his/her owner.
6. If a man violates the right of another and deflowers the virgin wife of a young man, they shall kill that male.
7. If the wife of a man who elopes with another man and he sleeps with her, they shall slay that woman, but the male shall be set free.
8. If a man proceeds deflowers a virgin slave woman of another man by force, that man must pay five shekels of silver.
9. If a man divorces his first-time wife, he shall pay her one mina of silver.
10. If a nan diorces his secon wife (former widow), he shall pay her half a mina of silver.

Does it sound like the ten commandments of Moses?

Weapons and Chariots

It was the Sumerian people who used copper weapons for the first time, and they invented spears, swords, maces, slings, and clubs. Sickles were commonly used in battle alongside axes and spears. The socketed axe was the most influential weapon to be invented by the Sumerians. They even used chariots for warfare, and putting their invention, the wheel, to use in this way was a huge contribution to the military world.

Sumerian Army and Chariots

Religion 

People in Mesopotamia believed in  many gods who control  the wind, air, sun, or other elements of nature. These ancient gods had wings, wore horned helmets, and possessed the ability to control humanity.

Sumerian Worhippers

The Sumerians believed their gods were a lot like people. They thought they ate, drank, slept, and got married. They also believed that the gods lived forever and had great power. If the gods were happy with people's prayers and offerings, they might bring good fortunes to the city. If not, they might bring war, floods, or other disasters. As a result, Sumerians felt that they needed to keep the gods happy for their city to grow and prosper.

Gods

The Sumerian word for universe was An-Ki. This stood for the supreme god An and the goddess Ki. The other gods were called Anunnaki who descended from An. In all, the Sumerians worshipped over 3,000 gods.

Sumerian Gods in Spaceships

Sumerians believed that the Anunnaki came from a far-off planet called Nibiru. According to ancient texts, Nibiru had an elongated orbit of 3,600 years. At one point, this planet passed close by Earth. And its people, the Anunnaki, decided to make contact with earth around 50,000 years ago.. 

But the Anunnaki sought more than just a friendly exchange. They wanted gold, which they desperately needed to repair their planet’s atmosphere. Since the Anunnaki weren’t able to mine gold themselves, they decided to genetically engineer primitive humans to mine gold for them.

Anunaki in Spaceship

An

Sumerian sky god and a member of the triad of deities completed by Enlil and Enki. An is theoretically the highest god, and father of not only of all the gods but also of evil spirits and demons.

An creating the World

 Enlil

Enlil was one of the most important gods in the pantheon. He has been described as a supreme lord, father, creator, and a “raging storm.” Enlil had the important task of allocating land and kingship to the kings and creating most of the features in cosmos.The legend is that Enlil found himself living in utter darkness in the sky. He therefore had the moon god Nanna brighten the darkness of his house, followed by the sun god Utu, who became even greater than his father. His wife was the air goddess Ninlil, and among the children of Enlil are the goddess Inanna and the gods Nanna, Ninurta, Utu, and many more. The main center of his cult was the temple of E-kur, or the Mountain House, at Nippur.

God Enlil creating the Tree of Life

Enlil resmbles Hindu God Brahma who created the universe and humans in Indian mythology.

Enki

Enki, the great Sumerian water god, was one of the four creation deities of Sumer, and the god of fresh water, male fertility, and knowledge. He was represented with flowing streams of water and swimming fishes. According to legend, he filled the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with sparkling water and fish.

Enki filling Tigris & Euphrates with water and fish

Enki was always seen as favoring mankind. His most important role, however, was to offer the king “ knowledge.” Enki was the patron deity of Eridu.

Enki resembles Hindu God Varuna, the god of water and God Shiva who brought the river Ganga (and Yamuna) to earth in Indian mythology.

Nanna

Nanna, the moon god, was the major astral deity of the Sumerians, born of Enlil, the air god, and his wife Ninlil, the air goddess. Nanna brought light to the dark sky. The “little ones” (the stars), were scattered around like grain while the “big ones” (the planets), walked around the moon. Nanna and his wife Ningal were the parents of Utu, the sun god, who was said to “rise in the mountains of the east and set in the mountains of the west.”

Nanna, the Moon God

Nanna was the patron deities of Ur. The god Nusku, a god associated with fire and light, was regarded as his son.

Nanna resembles Hindu God Soma and Nusku resmbles Indian God Agni, the god of fire in Indian mytology.

Utu

Utu was the Sumerian sun god. He represented the brilliant light of the sun, which returns every day to illuminate the lives of mankind, as well as providing the warmth to enable the plants to grow. He was described as bearded and long-armed, and it is thought he emerged from the doors of heaven at dawn and made a daily journey across the skies. 

Uti, the Sun God

During his journey across the skies, he saw everything. Utu’s main function was to supervise the moral order, since justice, truth, and righteousness. The principal temple of Utu, called E-babbar or White House at Sippar. 

Utu resembes Indian Sun God, Surya in Indian mythology and the Egyptian sun God Ra.

Inanna

The goddess Inanna was the most important female deity of the ancient period. She was the goddess of love, war, sexual energy, and fertility. Inanna was the daughter of Enlil and twin sister of the sun god Utu. She also had a sister, Ereskigal, who was queen of the underworld. 

Innana, the Godess of Love and War

Innana strikingly resembles Hindu Godess Durga mounted on a lion with multiple weapons in Indian mythology.

Various Sumerian poems are about Inanna and her love for Dumuzi and how she was ultimately responsible for his death. She was a patron of the city of Uruk.

Priests

To honor their gods, Sumerians performed religious ceremonies, washed statues of the gods before and after three meals each day. The priests who performed these ceremonies were very respected. They were seen as a direct link to the gods and were responsible for keeping the gods happy. They shaved their heads so others could recognize their importance.

Sumerian Priesrs with Shavd Heads

These prieses reminds me of the shaven heads of Hindu Brahmins with shaved mustache of a Mullah.

Sumerian Priests with Shaved Heads & Ponytails

Huge portions of food were laid before the statues during each meal to keep the gods happy. A daily meal included 12 vessels of wine, 2 vessels of milk, 108 vessels of beer, 243 loaves of bread, 29 bushels of dates, 21 rams, 2 bulls, 1 bullock, 8 lambs, 60 birds, 3 cranes, 7 ducks, 4 wild boars, 3 Ostrich eggs, and 2 duck eggs.

Inventions

From 4100 to 1750 B.C., the Sumerians worshipped deities called the Anunnaki — who were visitors from another planet that were responsible for early human civilization's greatest inventions. the Anunnaki had given people the ability to write, solve math problems, and plan cities — which led to the future development of life as we know it. They are credited with the invention of urban cities, cuneiform writing, plough, and the wheel.

Sumerian Mathematics

The Sumerians, who were ahead of all other societies in the field of Science and Technology, laid the foundations of Mathematics and Geometry. They found the four operations that are the foundation of mathematics and managed to calculate the area of the circle.

Sumerian Mathematics

Lunar Calendar

In addition to all these, the Sumerians achieved incredible success in calculating time and began to use an advanced calendar.

Sumerian Lunar Calendar

In the Sumerian calendar, which found the first calendar based on the lunar year in history, the year was calculated as 360 days and the months as 30 days. 

Sumerian Sundial

In addition to all these, the first Sumerians invented the sundial. This sundial not only calculated the days and months, but also the hours with the movements of the sun.

Sumerian Sundial

Water Clock

The Sumerians invented the water clock to measure the time. They made a measurement where they divided an hour into sixty minutes and each minute has sixty seconds. Their clock contained water that was falling down drop by drop from the hole of a pot. The Sumerian legacy of the measurement of the hour and the minute still lives on today.

The Wheel

One of the greatest contributions to mankind of the Sumerian civilization was the wheel. The oldest existing wheel in Mesopotamia can be dated back to 3500 BC. The Sumerians first used circular sections of logs as wheels to carry heavy objects, joining them together and rolling them along. Subsequently, they invented the sledge and then combined the two. Eventually, they decided to drill a hole through the frame of the cart and make a place for the axle. Now both the wheels and axles could be used separately. 

Sumerian Wheel

The Sumerians realized that logs which had worn-out centers were more manageable and soon these became wheels which could be connected to a chariot.These wheeled carts helped the Sumerian’s to have faster constructions, trade, and commerce process which resulted in the accelerated progress of their civilization.

Sumerian Chariots with wheels

The Plough

And one of their most beneficial innovations was also among the simplest: the plow. The first plow appeared about 3500 B.C. 

Sumerian Plough

And by 1500 B.C., the Sumerians had also invented a seeder plow, which let farmers use beasts of burden to till and plant at the same time.

Sumerian Plough with Seeder

Copper Fabrication

Copper was the earliest non-precious metal first used by the Sumerians, and somewhere around 5000 BC they developed the ability to fabricate it.  At first, copper was used to made arrowheads, razors, harpoons, and other small objects, but as the years passed, the Sumerians also started making copper jugs, vessels, and chisels. The objects which they made showcased the excellent craftsmanship of the Sumerians. The Imdugud Relief of 3100 BC is a great example of copper craftsmanship. Discovered in al’Ubaid, it depicts an eagle with a lion’s head with two stags either side which appear to be held up by the eagle. Copper was beaten to form the images of these creatures and then framed in wood.

Imdugud Relief

Royal Game of Ur

The Royal Game of Ur was invented sometime between 2600 and 2400 BC. It was also known as the Game of 20 Squares or the Egyptian game Aseb. The game used four tetrahedral dice with seven markers and comprised of two sets, one white and the other black. Historians believe that, similar to the ancient Egyptian game Senet, the Royal Game of Ur was a racing game, and possibly a precursor to Backgammon.

Royal Game of Ur

Sailboats

Sailboats were invented in order to expand Sumerian trade. Wood and papyrus were used to make lightweight sailboats so that it was easy for them to move on water. The sails were given a square shape and were made of linen. 

Sumerian Sailboats

For battle, the platforms were raised so that the arrows could be aimed at the enemy with more accuracy. This invention in 1300 BC changed the face of trading and war, and the Sumerians were able to both advance their economy and provide protection for their people.

Astronomy

The Sumerians recorded their astronomical observations as early as 3500–3200 BC. The VA-243 Sumerian scroll. It is entitled the Granting of the Plow showing the our Solar System, What is amazing about this scroll is that is no larger than an inch in diameter and to have such minute intricacies is astonishing. The depiction  is the most accurate rendering of the Solar System. 

According to Sitchin's interpretation of Mesopotamian iconography, outlined in his 1976 book The 12th Planet and its sequels, there is an undiscovered planet beyond Neptune that follows a long, elliptical orbit, reaching the solar system roughly every 3,600 years. This planet is called Nibiru collided catastrophically with Tiamat, another planet once located between Mars and Jupiter. This collision supposedly formed the planet Earth, the asteroid belt, and the comets. Acoordng to the Sumerians, the Gods came from the Niburu planet.

Writings

The invention of cuneiform by the Sumerians goes back to 3400 BC. The most advanced version of this script consists of several hundred characters, in which the scribes wrote words and syllables on wet clay tablets with pointed reeds. These tablets were then baked or left in the sun to dry. The Sumerians first developed cuneiform for daily tasks such as keeping accounts and recording commercial transactions, but over time it turned into a writing system used in every field from poetry to history, from law to literature. Because the script could be translated into many languages, it was also used by different cultures over the following millennia.

Sumerian Cunieform Writing

Invented by the Sumerians in the third millennium BC, this numbering system is known as the sexagesimal system. It is named so because it has the number 60 as its base. Mathematics was developed out of necessity. 

Sumerian Numerals

The Sumerians needed to trade and create taxation policies, so there was an urgent need to keep records. Assigning symbols to large numbers was also necessary as they wanted to track the course of the night sky in order to prepare the lunar calendar. They started using a small clay cone to denote the number 1, a ball for 10, and a large clay cone for 60. 

Suerian Abacus

An elementary abacus was invented by the Sumerians between 2700 and 2300 BC.

Beer

The Sumerians loved drinking beer. Archeologists said that the Sumerians were brewing beer since the fourth millennium BC. And they believed that drinking beer is the key to a joyful heart.

Sumerian Beer Drinkers with Straw

The hymn describes the brewing process, in oblique, literary, grateful terms:

Ninkasi, you are the one who soaks the malt in a jar,
The waves rise, the waves fall.
You are the one who spreads the cooked mash on large reed mats,
Coolness overcomes…
You are the one who holds with both hands the great sweetwort,
Brewing it with honey and wine…
The fermenting vat, which makes a pleasant sound,
You place appropriately on top of a large collector vat…    
While I circle around the abundance of beer,
While I feel wonderful, I feel wonderful,
Drinking beer, in a blissful mood,
Drinking liquor, feeling exhilarated,
With joy in the heart [and] a happy liver— While my heart full of joy,
[And] [my] happy liver I cover with a garment fit for a queen!…

Temples

Ziggurats were built by ancient Sumerians as temple complex with a number of raised platforms ranging from two to seven. The Sumerians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. At the top of each ziggurat was a shrine for the local God. The ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenanki, which means "House of the foundation of heaven and earth" in Sumerian. 

Pyramid Shape of Sumerian Ziggurat

Access to the shrine was through a series of ramps on one side from base to summit. The ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods, and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on top of the ziggurat. 

The Great Floods

The Eridu Genesis survives on a cuneiform tablet from the seventeenth century BCE, of which only the lower third survives. However, this is sufficient to establish the narration.

To punish the humans for the rebelion against the Gods, Enlil attempts to cull the population by sending plague, famine and drought. When his efforts failed, he sent the Deluge (flood) to destroy the entire mankind.

Ziusudra is king of Šuruppak and a seer, who witnesses the gods' council and decision in a vision, and understands that something terrible is about to happen. The other gods pledged to keep Enlil’s plan secret, but the clever Ea (Enki) decided to warn one of his followers. The god Enki, speaking from the other side of a wall, explains Ziusudra what to do to survive.

Enki's advice, Ziusudra builds a big boat. The Great Flood lasts for seven days and seven nights. When the flood came, Ziusudra, his family, and the species of the Earth survived. After seven days, the boat came to rest on Mount Nimush, and Ziusudra releases a dove, a swallow, and a raven to search for land.After leaving the ark, Ziusudra sacrifices and meets the sun god Utu. The discovery of survivors invites the wrath of Enlil, the God of water. The end of the story is a speech by Enki, and the apotheosis of Ziusudra, who will live forever in the mythological country of Dilmun, in the far east, where Utu rises.

Sumerian Great Flood Myth

There are striking similarity between the Sumerian and Biblical flood myths, Details such as the reason for mankind's destruction, the number of days the flood lasted, the name of the mountain, the types of bird sent from the ark, and the ark's dimensions are all slightly different. However, the major events are identical and, in some places, the Noah story appears to have lifted entire phrases from the Sumerian story.

Epic of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh (Sumerian: 𒀭𒉋𒂵𒈩), was a hero in ancient Sumerian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified.

In the epic, Gilgamesh is introduced as "two thirds divine and one third mortal." Initally, Gilgamesh is described as a brutal, oppressive ruler who compels his subjects to engage in forced labor.  To punish Gilgamesh, the god An sends wild man Enkidu. In the second tablet, the two men wrestle and, although Gilgamesh wins the match in the end, they become close friends.

In tablets III through IV, Gilgamesh and Enkidu travel to the Cedar Forest, which is guarded by Humbaba (Huwawa). Confronted by Humbaba, Gilgamesh panics and prays to Utu), who blows eight winds in Humbaba's eyes, blinding him. Humbaba begs for mercy, but the heroes decapitate him regardless. Tablet VI begins with Gilgamesh returning to Uruk, where Godess Innana proposes to him.Gilgamesh refises her, insisting that she has mistreated all her former lovers.

In revenge, Innana goes to her father An and demands that he give her the Bull of Heaven, which she sends to attack Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh and Enkidu kill the Bull. Ishtar calls together "the courtesans, prostitutes and harlots" and orders them to mourn for the Bull of Heaven. Meanwhile, Gilgamesh holds a celebration over the Bull of Heaven's defeat.

Gilgamesh killing the Bull of Heaven

Tablet VII begins with Enkidu recounting a dream in which he saw An declare either Gilgamesh or Enkidu must die as punishment for slaying the Bull of Heaven. Tablet VIII describes Gilgamesh's inconsolable grief over his friend's death and the details of Enkidu's funeral. Tablets IX through XI relate how Gilgamesh, driven by grief and fear of his own mortality, travels a great distance and overcomes many obstacles to find the home of Utnapishtim, the sole survivor of the Great Flood, who was rewarded with immortality by the gods.

Tablet XII is a the last part of the epic of Gilgamesh. In it, Gilgamesh sees a vision of Enkidu's ghost, who promises to recover the lost items and describes to his friend the abysmal condition of the Underworld.

Learn  more on Sumerian civilization from this YouTube video:

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer