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The first major civilization was the Sumerians who devloped a loose coaltion of independent city states. Their civilization was concentrated in the marshy south where a thriving civilization emerged about 3500 BC. Summerians developed the pottery wheel from which they made clay untensils. They also developed an early lunar calendar and advanced mathematics. An inovative irrigation system permitted the first intesive cultivation of the Tigris Euphrates. The Summerians also developed the first primitive writing, cuniform writing first used for commercial records, but evolving into literature such as poetry. One of the first known works of literature, The Epic of Gilamesh was written in cuneiform. The Summerians using a system of irrigation and canals were able to make the plain between the Tugris and Euphrates extrodinarily productive. With their advanced agricuture were able to support the first first urban centers. The first city appears to be Ur. It apparent was fom Ur that Biblical Patiarch left to find Canaan. The Amorite King Hammurabi unified the Sumerian city states. He is know or enacting the fist written legal code. The Amorites and other war-like people from the hearding socities of the north blended blended with agraian Sumerian civilization.
The first major civilization was the Sumerians who devloped a loose coaltion of independent city states. Cities are largelt synonimous with civilization. These major Sumerian cities were: Eridu, Ur, Lagash, Uruk, Shuruppak, Nippur, Kish and Sippar. Their coalition was called Sumer, but is better known to modern readers as Mesopotamia, the Greek term meaning meaning ‘(the land) between the rivers’.
The Sumerican civilization was concentrated in the marshy south of the Tigris Euphrates Valley. It was at the mouth of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, essentially southern Iraq.
A thriving civilization in Sumer emerged (about 3500 BC). At first there was conflict between the city satates that developed in the region. Gradually a loose confederation developed which moderated internal warfare. Sumer continued to be the center of Mosoptamian culture for about a millenia and a half. Babylonia eventually emerged as the dominate power in the Fertile Cresent (around 1900 BC). The Babylonians were led by the great Amoritic dynasty. Babylonia was located in the southern areas of Mesopotamia. It was divided into two states, Acad and Sumer. Babylon developed as the most important city of the region. But even after political control passed to more powerful empires, the imprint of the Sumerians in their technological advances and mythology was firmly implanted on the successor civiluzations.
The Sumerians about 6,000 years ago were the first people to emerge from the mist of prehistoy. The reason for this was their major achievement--agriculture. The major achievement of ancient Summer was of course agriculture. An inovative irrigation system permitted the first intesive cultivation of the Tigris Euphrates. The Sumerians using a system of irrigation and canals were able to make the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates extrodinarily productive. With their advanced agricuture were able to support the first first urban centers. The first city appears to have been Ur. (This was not, however, the Ur that the Biblical Patiarch left to find Canaan.)
Agriculture provided the wealth a resources to found the first true civilization. The Agricultural Revolution resulted in a remarkable explosion of human creativity and technological dvances. Sumerians developed the pottery wheel from which they made clay untensils. They also developed an early lunar calendar and advanced mathematics. The Sumerians also developed the first primitive writing, cuniform writing first used for commercial records, but evolving into literature such as poetry. One of the first known works of literature, "The Epic of Gilamesh" was written in cuneiform.
Clothing because of the climate and weaving techology was very simple. Sumerian men normally went barechested and wore a simple kilt-like skirt. Their skirts had waist ties to hold them up. Women wore longer gowns that covered their upper torsos down to their ankles. The women's gowns were made so that the right arm and shoulder were left bare. The ancient Sumerians had two basic raw materials to use for clothing. One was wool from sheep. The other was a field crop--flax. This was used to produce linnen. The climate meant that clothing needs were limited. But even in Mesomptamia there can be could cool evenings. The limited choice of fabrics and weaving technology also restricted the creation of specialized garments, especially for the peasant class. Garments could, however, be made thicker for cooler weather. We have little information about children';s clothes. We have no information on garments specifically made for children. Younger children probably commonly went naked. Men were often clean shaven, butvsome had ong hair and beards. Women wore their hair long, commonly in braids which they then wrapped it around their heads. The same basic styles were worn by men and women of all social classes. The ruling classes, however, could afford the better, more finerly woven materials and more richly decorated.
Both men and women wore jewelry, primarily earrings and necklaces. The ruling classes might have gold and silver jewlry. some times encrusted with precious stones, including lapis lazuli and carnelian.
The Sumerians founded civilization and were the root culture of the civilizations which followed in Mesopotamia. Sumer was invaded and occupied many times. First came the Babylonians, then the Kassites, and finally the Assyrians. Despite these invasions and multiplicity of rulers, the religion of the Sumerians remained virtually unchanged. The Sumericans remained loyal to the same gods. They worshipped in the same temples and ziggurats, often repaired or rebuilt. The same myths were adopted and and translated throughout the region. Historians note only minimal alterations. The religious mythology of ancient Sumer became that of the wider Near East over three millenia. The ancient Summericans were obsessed with religion and successive civilizations shared this obsession. One Assyriologist explains, " ... for more than three thousand years the religious ideas promoted by the Sumerians played an extraordinary part in the public and private life of the Mesopotamians, modelling their institutions, colouring their works of art and literature, pervading every form of activity... In no other antique society did religion occupy such a prominent position, because in no other antique society did man feel himself so utterly dependent upon the will of the gods... the religious motives should never be forgotten or minimised." [Roux]
Judaism emerged from the Middle East and the mythology of Sumer was copiously copied by ancient Hebrew scholars. "The Epic of Gilgamesh" is one of the earliest litrrary or relgious works. And in that Sumerian work ones finds much of the creation story of Genisus. There is a great flood, a garden of Eden, and awily serpant that caused man's fall from grace. Gilgamesh predates the Hebrew texts by more than 1,000 years.
The development of agriculture made the Summerian city states rich. Unfortunately for the people of Summer, this had adverse consequences. The wealth attracted the interest of babarian raiders desiring their wealth. One might think that the populated and relatively wealthy civilized city states could repel the barbarian incursions. This proved not to be the case for a range of reasons. One there was no geographic barriers to impede the raiders who could attack across the flat plain. Two, the priest-led Sunerian temple communities were organized to placate the gods, not to make war. Three, the raiders led by tribal chiefs for a nomadic life by their very nature were organized on a para-military basis. Four, as agriculture expanded the separate city states began to quarle among themselves over land. Meaning that there was no united resistance to the barbarian incursions. [McNeill, p. ?.]
The Summerian city states were militarily unable to resist the encroachments of more war-like, nomadic peoples. The Amorite King Hammurabi unified the Sumerian city states. Under Hammurabi, Babylon emerged as the first hreat metropolis. He was a great warrior, but his greatest achievemnent was the enacting the first written legal code. It was posted in ablack pillar erected in a public place. The Amorites and other war-like people from the hearding socities of the north gradually blended with and were absorbed by the more populated agrarian Sumerian civilization. Thus the advanced Sumerican culture was perpetuated.
McNeill, William H. The Rise of the West: A History of the Human Community (University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1991), 828p.
Roux, George. Ancient Iraq (Penguin Books, 1992).
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