mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== *_Sumerian civilization_* *See the map of mesopotamia* Despite the *Sumerians'* leading role, the historical role of *other races* should not be underestimated. While with *prehistory* only approximate dates can be offered, historical periods require a firm *chronological* framework, which, unfortunately, has not yet been established for the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. The basis for the chronology after about 1450 BC is provided by the data in the *Assyrian* and *Babylonian king lists*, which can often be checked by dated tablets and the *Assyrian* lists of *eponyms* (annual officials whose names served to identify each year). It is, however, still uncertain how much time separated the middle of the 15th century BC from the end of the 1st dynasty of *Babylon*, which is therefore variously dated to 1594 BC ("middle"), 1530 BC ("short"), or 1730 BC ("long" chronology). As a compromise, the *middle chronology* is used here. From 1594 BC several chronologically overlapping dynasties reach back to the beginning of the 3rd dynasty of *Ur*, about 2112 BC. From this point to the beginning of the dynasty of *Akkad* (c. 2334 BC) the interval can only be calculated to within 40 to 50 years, via the ruling houses of *Lagash* and the rather uncertain traditions regarding the succession of *Gutian* viceroys. With *Ur-Nanshe* (c. 2520 BC), the first king of the 1st dynasty of* Lagash*, there is a possible variation of 70 to 80 years, and earlier dates are a matter of mere guesswork: they depend upon factors of only limited relevance, such as the computation of occupation or destruction levels, the degree of development in the script (*paleography*), the character of the *sculpture*, *pottery*, and *cylinder seals*, and their correlation at different sites. In short, the *chronology* of the first half of the 3rd millennium is largely a matter for the intuition of the individual author. Carbon-14 dates are at present too few and far between to be given undue weight. Consequently, the turn of the 4th to 3rd millennium is to be accepted, with due caution and reservations, as the date of the flourishing of the *archaic civilization of Uruk* and of the* invention of writing.* In *Uruk* and probably also in other cities of comparable size, the *Sumerians* led a city life that can be more or less reconstructed as follows: *temples* and *residential districts*; *intensive agriculture*, *stock breeding*, *fishing*, and *date palm cultivation* forming the *four mainstays* of the *economy*; and highly specialized *industries* carried on by *sculptors*, *seal engravers*, *smiths*, *carpenters*, *shipbuilders*, *potters*, and *workers of reeds* and *textiles*. Part of the population was supported with *rations* from a *central point *of distribution, which relieved people of the necessity of providing their basic food themselves, in return for their work all day and every day, at least for most of the year. The cities kept up *active trade* with *foreign lands*. That organized city life existed is demonstrated chiefly by the existence of *inscribed tablets*. The earliest tablets contain *figures* with the *items* they enumerate and *measures* with the *items* they measure, as well as *personal names* and, occasionally, probably *professions*. This shows the purely *practical* origins of *writing* in *Mesopotamia*: it began not as a means of *magic* or as a way for the *ruler* to record his achievements, for example, but as an aid to memory for an *administration* that was ever expanding its area of operations. The earliest examples of writing are very difficult to penetrate because of their extremely laconic formulation, which presupposes a knowledge of the context, and because of the still very imperfect rendering of the spoken word. Moreover, many of the *archaic signs* were pruned away after a short period of use and cannot be traced in the *paleography* of later periods, so that they cannot be identified. One of the most important questions that has to be met when dealing with "*organization*" and "*city life*" is that of *social structure* and the form of *government*; however, it can be answered only with difficulty, and the use of evidence from later periods carries with it the danger of *anachronisms*. The *Sumerian *word for *ruler*, *excellence* is *lugal*, which etymologically means "*big person*." The first occurrence comes from *Kish* about 2700 BC, since an earlier instance from *Uruk* is uncertain because it could simply be intended as a personal name: "*Monsieur Legrand*." In *Uruk* the ruler's special title was "*En*". In later periods this word (etymology unknown), which is also found in divine names such as *Enlil* and *Enki*, has a predominantly *religious* connotation that is translated, for want of a better designation, as "*en-priest*, *en-priestess*." *En*, as the *ruler's title*, is encountered in the traditional *epics* of the *Sumerians* (*Gilgamesh* is the "*en of Kullab*," a district of *Uruk*) and particularly in personal names, such as "*The-en-has-abundance*," "*The-en-occupies-the-throne*," and many others. It has often been asked if the ruler of *Uruk* is to be recognized in artistic representations. A man feeding sheep with flowering branches, a prominent personality in *seal designs*, might thus represent the *ruler* or a *priest* in his capacity as administrator and protector of flocks. The same question may be posed in the case of a man who is depicted on a stela aiming an arrow at a lion. These questions are purely *speculative*, however: even if the "*protector of flocks*" were identical with the *en*, there is no ground for seeing in the ruler a person with a predominantly *religious* function. *Back to the History page * *Home*