Duncan Ryan - The Sumerians: Historys First Recorded Civilization

The Sumerians

Introduction

When studying history, it is common that we look for historical firsts. The first time an event, idea, tradition or innovation comes up in the context of history is given special significance because it is that point at which we may say that it originated. This view of history is, perhaps, what makes the Sumerian civilization one of the most fascinating to study. Not only were the Sumerians responsible for many of the great firsts in known history, but they were also the first recorded civilization in history itself, leading historians and archaeologists to study them intensely as the best direct link we now have to the ways in which civilizations developed.

The reason for this distinction is not due to the Sumerians being the first group to organize themselves into complex social structures within the framework of what we would recognize as civilization. They were, however, the first people who recorded their own deeds, history, myths and day-to-day activities in a written language. For this reason, Sumer can be viewed as the earliest civilization that we may learn about from its own records. In the study of other early civilizations, we are limited to what physical evidence can tell us. In the case of the Sumerians, however, we see the first instance in history in which the words and thoughts of man were recorded, allowing us a direct familiarity with the Sumerians that is much greater than anything that came before them.

The city-states of Sumer comprised the first great civilization of Mesopotamia, and their accomplishments, innovations and culture would eventually be adopted and built on by the likes of Assyria, Akkad and Babylon. Because of this, an understanding of the Sumerian civilization is key to understanding the other great powers that would rise in ancient Mesopotamia. Sumer acted as a forerunner to the rest of the history of the region, and helped to set the stage for the rise and development of the later empires of the region.

This work is intended as an introduction to the history of the Sumerian city-states and the people that ruled and resided within them. It will endeavor to cover the topic in a manner that is both informative and accessible. For this reason, it will take the form of a short history covering the subject in a broad manner, rather than focusing on the more specialized periods and subject areas that are explored more extensively in many academic works. The goal of this short history will be to leave the reader with a working understanding of the history and nature of the Sumerians and their world. It is hoped that the reader will also come away with an appreciation of this remarkable example of modern civilization in its very earliest stages.

Section One

Southern Mesopotamia in Prehistory

Like all early civilizations, the Sumerians must be understood in the context of the region and environment from which they arose in order to be fully comprehended. The segment of the history of Mesopotamia just prior to the rise of the earliest Sumerian city-states is known as the Ubaid period, so named because of early excavations done at the site known as Tel al-Ubaid west of the remains of Ur. This period is generally thought to have started sometime around 6200 BCE, and continued up until Ubaid culture was completely replaced by the civilization of the Uruk period in around 3800 BCE.

The Ubaid period, though it is correctly designated as prehistoric, was anything but primitive by the standards of its time. During this period, we begin to see the development of many of the most basic components of large-scale civilization in the region that would later become Sumer. Evidence of agriculture and regular animal domestication, as well as a marked development from small villages to more urban settlements, begin to appear during this period. Agriculture had been prevalent farther to the north long before the remains of the Ubaid culture begin to display it. Two leading theories have gained weight in academic circles regarding this. The first is that the southern region of the modern day country of Iraq was simply uninhabited before the Ubaid period. The second is that remains of agriculture and more developed civilization prior to this period have not survived because of the shifting of the coast in southern Iraq and because of the silt in the deltas of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Whatever the case may be, we can be sure that by the time of the Ubaid period, agriculture and animal domestication were a regular part of life in southern Mesopotamia.

Other developments also characterize this prehistoric period. The increasingly large settlements, which surely would have required basic administration, combined with a disparity in the items left in the graves of different individuals, has led scholars to conclude that the Ubaid period was marked by the gradual development of social stratification, creating a class of rulers that would likely have evolved from basic tribal leaders. These prehistoric rulers would have been the forerunners to the kings that characterize later periods in Mesopotamian history. This is an important development, as it made the continued growth of increasingly large urban areas possible. Without a degree of central administration and planning, the earliest cities in the region would not have been able to function as cohesive social units.

Collectively, these developments led to the growth of cities into the very earliest of the later Sumerian city states. The oldest of these that has so far been discovered is the city of Eridu, the southernmost site of the early cities. Founded sometime around 5300 BCE, Eridu has long been a candidate for the title of the world's oldest city. The site, like the other early cities, appears to have risen up around a temple. In later centuries when the Sumerian civilization was at its height, Eridu would come to be identified as the city sacred to the god Enki. The original Ubaid temple, therefore, was likely dedicated to some earlier version of this god. The temple, called e-abzu , or house of the aquifer, appears to have its earliest roots in the Ubaid period, though later Sumerian kings would add on to or repair it, and a ziggurat would eventually be built atop its remains. As we see in the literature that is available from later periods after the development of cuneiform writing, the Sumerians regarded Eridu as a city of great import and as the original seat of the mythological early kingship. In this and many other instances, we see that sites that began their development during the Ubaid period would continue into recorded Sumerian history.

In its earliest days, Eridu is thought to have been a port city that arose due to the habitation of 3 different cultural groups at the site. It is important to note that the site would have been a coastal settlement when it was founded, as the shoreline of the Persian Gulf has moved substantially southward in the several millennia since the founding of Eridu. The groups that were originally present at the site seem to have been the people of the Ubaid culture themselves, semi-nomadic herding groups of Semitic origin and early fishing groups from the Arabian peninsula. These diverse groups likely came together at what was then the mouth of the Euphrates river because of the abundant natural resources that the area had to offer, starting a permanent settlement that would eventually become one of the very first cities in the world.

Another site, more prominent yet than Eridu, that was first founded during the Ubaid period was the city of Ur. This city, which would eventually become a central hub of Sumer, is thought to have been founded sometime around 3800 BCE, toward the very end of the Ubaid period. While the early habitation of the city is neither as extensive nor as prominent as Eridu, there is little doubt that it too was originally an Ubaid settlement.