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Ancient Sumer History
[5]Sumer
Important Sumer City-States
[6]ERIDU, [7]KISH, [8]URUK, [9]UR, [10]SIPPAR, [11]NIPPUR, [12]ADAB,
[13]UMMA, [14]LAGASH, [15]LARSA
[16]ESHNUNNA, [17]SHADUPPUM, [18]ISIN, [19]JEMDET NASR and
[20]SHURUPPAK
See Also [21]Cities of Sumer by James Bell
[22]Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and
Erech and Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar (Sumer) .....
[23]Genesis 11:2 And it came to pass as they journeyed
from the east that they found a plain in the
land of Shinar; and they dwelt there .....
Overview ..... The Sumerians may have migrated from the East - either
ancient India or Iran - and were unrelated on the basis of their
language to the various groups speaking Semitic languages in the
[24]Ancient Near East ([25]F) ..... Sumer may very well be the first
civilization in the world (although long term settlements at
[26]Jericho and [27]Catal Hoyuk predate Sumer and examples of writing
from [28]Egypt may predate those from Sumer). From its beginnings as a
collection of farming villages before 5000 BC through its conquest by
Sargon (Sharrukin) of Agade ([29]Akkad) around 2370 BC and its final
collapse from the [30]Amorite invasion around 2000 BC the Sumerians
developed a religion and a society which influenced both their
neighbors and their conquerers. Sumerian cuneform - the earliest
written language - was borrowed by the [31]Old Babylonian Kingdom -
who also took many of their religious beliefs ([32]A) .....
Abstract ..... Sumer was a collection of city-states around the Lower
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now southern Iraq. Each of
these cities had individual rulers although as early as the mid fourth
millenium BC the leader of the dominant city-state was considered to
have been the king of the region (ibid) ..... Although evidence for
human presence exists in western Asia far back into paleolithic times
the prehistory of southern Iraq is relatiely late in coming; there are
no archaeological remains preceding the sixth millennium BC ([33]1)
.....
The history of Sumer tends to be divided into five periods. They are
the [34]Uruk Period - which saw the dominance of the city-state of
that same name - the [35]Jemdet Nasr Period - the Early Dynastic
Periods (2900-2370 BC) - the Akkadian Period - [36]Ur III Period; the
entire span lasting from circa 3800 to 2000 BC ([37]A) .....
PreHistory
Ubaid Culture ..... The earliest settlement of the southern alluvial
flood plain in the late 6th millenium ([38]G) was by a non-Semitic
people called proto-Euphrateans ([39]H) ..... This prehistoric
[40]Ubaid Culture had a long duration beginning before 5000 BC and
lasting until the beginning of the Uruk Period. In the mid-5th
millennium BC the Ubaid Culture spread into northern [41]Mesopotamia
and replaced the [42]Halaf Culture. It is characterised by large
village settlements and the appearance of the first temples in
Mesopotamia ([43]I) ..... The Ubaid Culture developed as a result of
increasing sophistication in irrigation techniques. Ubaid pottery was
more austere in form and decoration than that of the Halaf ([44]J)
..... Thus the distinctive types of pottery serve to [45]delineate
[46]strigraphic layers and cultures as well. This culture is properly
divided into two phases which both precede and are also regarded as
proto-Ubaidian; the earlier [47]Eridu and later [48]Hajji Muhammed
.....
The earliest-known settlement in Sumer however has been excavated at
the small site Tell (mound) Oueili. The lowest levels of this hamlet
are earlier than the hitherto attested phases of the Ubaid Culture.
The culture to which this Oueili Phase is linked is unknown but
certain architectural similarities suggest a connection with the
[49]Hassunan Culture of [50]Samarra ([51]1) ..... French excavations
at Tell Oueili ([52]J.-L. Huot) near [53]Larsa have revealed a
predecessor Ubaid 0 occupation which appears to be derived from the
Samarran Culture ([54]B [55]4 [56]5) ..... The Ubaid Period in Lower
Mesopotamia was particularly critical because it immediately preceded
urbanization ([57]1) .....
[58]Uruk: Ubaid II Period Temple Bricks (The Oriental Institute of
Chicago)
The Uruk Period stretched from 3800 to 3200 BC. This time saw an
enormous growth in urbanization with impressive structures and the
earliest evidence of writing. Uruk probably had a population of around
45000 at the end of the period. Irrigation innovations as well as a
supply of raw materials for craftsmen provided an impetus for this
growth. In fact the city-state of Uruk also seems to have been at the
heart of a trade network which stretched from southern Turkey to
eastern Iran ([59]A) ..... It remained in occupation throughout the
following two millennia until the [60]Parthian Period at which time it
was only a minor centre ([61]I) .....
The Jemdet Nasr Period lasted from 3200 to 2900 BC. This city-state
gave its name to a distinctive wheel-turned painted pottery ([62]K)
..... The period represents the transition from prehistory to history
and literate civilization [urban revolution] ..... Occupation
commences in the Ubaid Period (circa 4000 BC) and flourishes from 3400
to 2800 BC during the Late Uruk - Jemdet Nasr - Early Dynastic I
Periods. This period was a time of [63]retrenchment
[anti-expansionism] and relative cultural isolation in southern
Mesopotamia. In sum the material culture of Jemdet Nasr reflects the
consolidation of administrative and social developments in the
centuries following the invention of Proto-cuneiform writing in the
Late Uruk Period in southern Mesopotamia. These developments were to
underpin the spectacular achievements of Sumerian civilization in the
succeeding Early Dynastic Period ([64]1) .....
History
IFRAME: [65]Sumer_files/cm.html
Early Dynastic Period (2900-2350) ..... Sumer was divided between some
thirty city-states each with a patron deity and a ruler generally
called Ensi. They shared a set of religious beliefs that recognized
the supremacy of the patron deity Enlil of [66]Nippur - the Sumerian
religious centre. The history of this period is not widely known and
the use by some historians of later literary narratives concerning
earlier legendary rulers is questionable (Page 809 [67]2) .....
For Another Historical View and Chronology See
For Instance: [68]Old Sumerian Age by John Heise
EARLY DYNASTIC I (2900-2700 BC) ..... The Sumerian [69]King List names
eight [70]antediluvian kings who reigned for tens of thousands of
years but it is not known if these names have any historical basis.
The [71]Royal Tombs of Ur contain the graves of Meskalamdug and
Akalamdug - among others - which probably date to this period ([72]L)
.....
[73]Gold Helmet of King Meskalamdug from the Royal Cemetery of Ur :
LOST TREASURES FROM IRAQ (The Oriental Institute of Chicago)
EARLY DYNASTIC II (2700-2600 BC) ..... According to the King Lists the
first dynasty after the Great Flood (recorded in the [74]Gilgamesh
Epic) was the 1st Dynasty of [75]Kish. The last two kings -
Enmebaragesi and Agga - are the first rulers attested in contemporary
inscriptions. According to the King List kingship or Lugal then passed
on to the 1st Dynasty of Uruk which included Enmerkar - Lugalbanda -
Gilgamesh; heroes of epic tradition - and then finally to the 1st
Dynasty of Ur. [76]Epigraphic evidence shows that these dynasties (and
at [77]Mari on the Middle Euphrates River) were all contemporary and
date to circa 2700-2600 BC. Many rulers known from contemporary
inscriptions are not found in the King Lists (ibid) .....
EARLY DYNASTIC III (2600-2334 BC) ..... The King Lists record eleven
more dynasties before Sargon of Akkad. Except for the 3rd Dynasty of
Uruk little is known of them and many were probably contemporaneous.
By 2500 BC the city-state of Kish seems to have established
[78]hegemony over Sumer. Thereafter the title King of Kish lent
preeminence to the sovereigns of later city-states seeking their
supremacy acknowledged ([79]L and Page 809-10 [80]2) .....
The 1st Dynasty of [81]Lagash (Telloh) is well known from inscriptions
though it is not mentioned in the King List. It started with Mesilim
(circa 2550 BC) but it was Eannatum (circa 2450 BC) who conquered much
of Sumer and extended Lagash's power into [82]Elam and Mari.
UruInimGina of Lagash (circa 2350 BC) was the earliest known social
reformer: he established freedom or amargi in the land - the first
recorded use of the term in a political sense ([83]L) .....
The 3rd Dynasty of Uruk had only one king. LugalZagesi as King of
[84]Umma seized Uruk and established domination over Lagash; thus
taking the title Lugal over all the rulers of Sumer. He claimed to
rule from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean - though this is
doubtful. Under his rule Akkadians began to rise to high positions in
government. The population of Mesopotamia probably reached half a
million in this period. He was defeated and replaced by Sargon - whose
rise ushered in a new phase of Mesopotamian history that saw for the
first time the political unification of Sumer and Akkad ([85]L and
Page 809-10 [86]2) .....
Akkad and Guti Period (2334-2112 BC) ..... The Akkadians are a
Semitic-speaking people who lived in the northern part of what was
later to be called Babylonia beginning with the [87]accession of
[88]Hammurabi. The period usually refers to the 141 years circa
2334-2193 BC defined by the reign of the five kings of the Sargonic
Dynasty. The area extended from north of Nippur to [89]Sippar. Some
scholars add another 40 years to this period (see below) to include
the 2 later kings of the city-state Agade - which has not yet been
found by archaeologists. Sargon was King of Kish which implied
[90]suzerainty over northern Babylonia when he defeated the principal
ruler in Sumer - King Lugalzagesi of Uruk ([91]1) thus uniting the
non-Semitic Sumer with the more northerly Akkad under one kingship
.....
The actual Sargonic Dynasty ended with SharKaliSharri in 2193 BC .....
The collapse of the embattled state of Akkad may have been the result
of internal weaknesses and rebellion and foreign attack especially -
according to Sumerian tradition - the [92]Gutians (ibid) of the Zagros
Moutains on the Iraq-Iran border ..... They then subjugated and laid
waste the whole of Sumer ([93]C) ..... With the collapse of the
Akkadian Empire the land lost its common leadership and collective
power. The wild Gutian hordes were not very qualified for the
leadership so the individual cities in Sumer and Akkad fell back to
the old city-state ([94]D) localized hegemony ..... The now obscure
and impotent Akkadian Dynasty survived for another 40 years in name
only with Dudu and ShuDurul as kings but there realm was limited to
the region of the capital. The instumental role of the Gutian tribes
in the fall of Akkad is uncertain. It seems more likely that they
filled the vaccuum created by the decay of the empire (Page 811 [95]2)
.....
On the overlap between the Gutian line and the later kings of Agade
etcetera read [96]Pages 42-3 of Babylon by John Oates (1979)
Library of Congress # DS 71 O35
[97]The Ur Ziggurat from the SouthEast : Photograph by Leonard Wooley
Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2002 BC) ..... Ancient [98]historiography
ascribed to King UtuKhegal of city-state Uruk (2133-2113) the actual
role of liberating Sumer by ousting the Gutian hordes. After the death
of Utukhegal his brother and general Ur-Nammu asserted his
independence and established a kingship in Ur and its surroundings -
thus establishing the Third Dynasty of Ur in 2112 BC (ibid [99]C
[100]E) ..... At first however the kingdom of Ur was probably
overshadowed by Lagash. The Dynasty of [101]King Gudea partly overlaps
the reign of UrNammu (Page 811 [102]2) ..... UrNammu consolidated his
control by defeating the rival dynast in Lagash and soon gained
control of all of the Sumerian city-states ([103]A) ..... The Third
Dynasty of Ur came to an end when the Elamites destroyed the
city-state and captured Ibbi-Sin (2029-2002) and deported him to Elam
([104]Excerpt 60) .....
The city-state ruler who finally achieved a temporary supremacy and
whose dynasty was in some senses the heir to the Third Dynasty of Ur
was IshbiErra of [105]Isin - whose reign may be taken as 2017-1985 BC.
Larsa alternated with Isin in controlling southern Mesopotamia in the
first two centuries of the 2nd millennium BC. Neither state could
properly be regarded as sole legitimate ruler of Babylonia (ibid)
.....
It is clear that the migrations of the Amorites toward the end of the
Third Dynasty of Ur played a role in the collapse of the empire yet
some historians have rightly pointed to evidence of growing internal
decay in the period before the invaders destroyed this political
entity (Page 812 [106]2) .....
Under the Third Dynasty of Ur [107]Babylon had been a small city-state
ruled by an Ensi. The founder of the First Dynasty - Sumu-Abum - was
of West Semitic origin ([108]Excerpt 60) .....
[109]Hammurabi .................... 1792-1749 BC
Language ..... Sumerian is a linguistically isolated and extinct
language. All attemts to connect Sumerian with any other tongue have
so far failed. Sumerian is preserved only on clay tablets in a
considerable corpus of texts written in cuneiform. After 2000 BC the
Semitic language Akkadian became dominant ([110]lingua franca) and
Sumerian was relegated to the status of a literary language ([111]1)
.....
IFRAME: [112]Sumer_files/cm_002.html
IFRAME: [113]Sumer_files/cm_003.html
IFRAME: [114]Sumer_files/cm_004.html
IFRAME: [115]Sumer_files/cm_005.html
IFRAME: [116]Sumer_files/cm_006.html
IFRAME: [117]Sumer_files/cm_007.html
Search: [Books ..........]
Keywords: ____________________ Go
[118]In Association with Amazon.com
Other Online Links
[119]Sumer: The Twelth Planet by Zecharia Sitchin
[120]Sumerian History: Cuneiform Manuscripts
[121]The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium
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