Summary about Sumer: brief scheme for high school

studyhowandwhy

  • The Sumer were a people who populated the area of ​​Mesopotamia (south-eastern Iraq) dating back to around the IV-III millennium BC.
  • They are not a Semitic linguistic people;
  • They arrived into Mesopotamia after the Ubaid and Uruk; it is assumed (without certainty) that before Mesopotamia the Sumerians lived in the area of ​​the Zagros mountains, an area that lies between present-day Iran and the border of Turkey;
  • Sumerian society was characterized by independent city-states, which were, depending on the case, supported by an absolute monarchy;
  • Key buildings of the Sumerians are the temple and the palace;
  • The temple was often above the ziggurat, a multi-storey tower building; food was also stored in the ziggurat, while astronomical observations were also carried out at the top;
  • The Sumerian language is an isolated and agglutinating language;
  • The Sumerians used cuneiform writing, using a stylus.
  • It is believed that the Sumer also used writing to record musical melodies, played with various instruments such as the lute, the lyre, flutes, harps, probably drums;
  • The Sumerian numbering system was based on the number 60. The Sumer studied and applied geometry and mathematics;
  • The most important god for the Sumer religion was the god An, married to the goddess Antum. Other important gods were Ki (Earth), Nammu (sea), Enlil (god of air);
  • The Sumer had schools; it is assumed that those schools were very strict. Only the children of the wealthier classes could access to schools;

Within the Sumer society there were three classes:

  1. The wealthiest were the rulers, nobles, priests, and officials;
  2. Less wealthy but still “middle class” were the craftsmen and merchants, as well as the soldiers;
  3. The lowest level in society was occupied by shepherds and farmers;

In reality, a fourth class could also be hypothesized in Sumer society, generally less well off than peasants and artisans: that of slaves.

Summary about the eras of Sumer

  1. Among the various royal dynasties, the most important was the Lagash dynasty (approximately 2500 BC – 2300/2335 BC);
  2. The Akkadian dynasty followed with Sargon the Great (2335-2279 BC) and his successors;
  3. Around 2190 BC the Sumer area will be subject to invasion by the Gutei
  4. The Gutei will be driven out around 2120 BC. from Utukhegal of Uruk;
  5. Ur-Nammu of Ur and the third dynasty of Ur follow Utukhegal, which will cease around 2000 BC;
  6. Subsequently, the two cities of Isin-Larsa dominated the area;
  7. Around 1792 BC, Hammurabi founded the Babylonian empire and the Sumer civilization disappeared;

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