Reading Practice 8

[1] The Sumerian civilization existed centuries before Alexander the Great conquered swathes of land around the Mediterranean and the Middle East and long before the Roman Empire became known as the greatest power of ancient times. The Sumerian civilization remains an enigmatic mystery that continues to baffle historians worldwide. It was possibly the first urban civilization established in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia. Sumer itself rose on the flood plain in the lower region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, an area called the ‘cradle of civilization’. The Sumerians emerged around 4000 B.C.E. and were organized together as city-states. Some of the important Sumerian city-states were on land that has since been absorbed by the Persian Gulf. In fact, it is in the Persian Gulf itself that many historians believe the key to the origins of the Sumerian civilization lies.

 

[2] One of the greatest mysteries is the exact origin of the Sumerians. Many historians and archaeologists disagree on where the Sumerians’ homeland was. Ancient Sumerian literature gives reference to their homeland being a place called ‘Dilmun’, the location of which remains obscure. The Sumerian language is an agglutinating language—one that forms words by adding affixes to the word’s core meaning. Other agglutinating languages include Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish, and Inuit. However, neighboring languages to Sumer share little of their morphology. In addition, numerous animal deities in the Sumerian pantheon suggest a pastoral history, but do not indicate a location of origin. Historians generally conclude that Dilmun is most likely an island in the Persian Gulf, perhaps the modern country of Bahrain. Until now, no ruins have been found to link the ancient Sumerians to any island in the Persian Gulf. These types of ruins are pivotal in proving the ancestral home of the Sumerians. Therefore, without any ruins, the Sumerian homeland remains unknown.

 

[3] A Sumerian culture centred around a priesthood and temple life. City-states were organized around the temple and non-priests were either craftsmen or peasants that devoted their work and lives to appease the gods. Disasters, droughts and calamities were blamed on a local deity being overpowered by other gods acting together. As a result, the priesthood maintained its power and control over the Sumerian day-to-day life. Finally, the other castes within Sumerian city-states were the warriors charged with defending the city. Over time, the warriors became more prestigious and powerful within Sumer as the grip of the clergy began to erode. As a consequence, Sumer gradually shifted toward a more warrior-led civilization.

 

[4] Between 4000 and 2000 B.C.E. Semitic immigrants regularly moved into Sumerian territory, slowly inundating Sumer. By 2000 B.C.E., Sumerian city-states were forced to form defensive alliances as the warriors became more powerful. The image of the priesthood was undermined as they were forced to make alliances. Moreover, the increasing importance of warriors instigated a power shift in the Sumerian civilization which led to the existence of its first King. Finally, in around 2000 B.C.E. King Sargon of Akkad conquered the Sumerians in the creation of the world’s first multi-ethnic empire. The Akkadian Empire is also considered as the first civilization built upon the shared characteristics of the Sumerians. In fact, the lost Akkadian city was rumored to have been built by Sumerian craftsmen.

 

[5] In summary, the challenge for historians in understanding Sumerian civilization is that most references and information about it come from the writings of other civilizations. Even the ancient Babylonians considered the Sumerians an old civilization by their time. Even though archaeologists are still searching for clues to unlock the history of the Sumerians, much information about these ancient people remains unknown. In conclusion, Sumer is an ancient civilization with cities at the bottom of a sea, referenced by other ancient civilizations with few tantalizing clues of their shrouded past.