At the dawn of mankind, the southern part of Mesopotamia, which in the classical era was called Babylonia, was inhabited by the very first civilization on Earth. Now this is the territory of modern Iraq, stretching from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf, with a total area of about 26 thousand square meters. km.
The place has a very dry and hot climate with scorched and weathered, low-fertile soils. A river plain devoid of stones and minerals, swamps covered with reeds, a complete absence of wood - this is exactly what this land was more than three thousand years ago. But the people who inhabited this territory and known to the whole world as the Sumerians were endowed with a decisive and enterprising disposition, an outstanding mind. He turned a lifeless plain into a blooming garden and created what would later be called "the first civilization on Earth".
The origin of the Sumerians
There is no reliable information about the origin of the Sumerians. Until now, it is difficult for historians and archaeologists to say whether they were indigenousinhabitants of Mesopotamia or came to these lands from outside. The second option is considered the most probable. Presumably, representatives of the ancient civilization came from the Zagros Mountains, the Iranian Highlands or even Hindustan. The Sumerians themselves did not write anything about their origin. In 1964, for the first time, a proposal was made to consider this issue from various aspects: linguistic, racial, ethnic. After that, the search for truth finally delved into linguistics, into the elucidation of the genetic connections of the Sumerian language, which is currently considered isolated.
The Sumerians, who founded the first civilization on Earth, never called themselves that. In fact, this word means the territory, the south of Mesopotamia, in the Akkadian language. The Sumerians called themselves "blackheads".
Sumerian language
Linguists define Sumerian as an agglutinative language. This means that the formation of forms and derivatives goes by adding unambiguous affixes. The Sumerian language consisted mainly of monosyllabic words, so it is difficult to even imagine how many of them there were - the same sounding, but different in meaning. In ancient sources, according to scientists, there are about three thousand of them. At the same time, more than 100 words are used only 1-2 times, and the most frequently used words are only 23.
As already mentioned, one of the main features of the language is the abundance of homonyms. Most likely, there was a rich system of tones and laryngeal sounds, which is difficult to read in the graphics of clay tablets. In addition, the first civilization on Earth had two dialects. Literary language (eme-geer)was used most widely, and the priests spoke a secret dialect (em-sal), inherited from their ancestors and, most likely, not tone.
The Sumerian language was an intermediary and was used throughout southern Mesopotamia. Therefore, its bearer was not necessarily an ethnic representative of this ancient people.
Writing
The question of the creation of written language by the Sumerians remains controversial. However, the fact is that they improved it and transformed it into cuneiform. They greatly appreciated the art of writing and attribute its appearance to the very beginning of the creation of their civilization. It is likely that at the dawn of the history of writing, not clay was used, but another, more easily destroyed material. Therefore, a lot of information is lost.
The very first civilization on earth BC, to be fair, created its own writing system. The process was long and difficult. Is the gazelle depicted by an ancient artist art or a message? If he did it on a stone, in those places where there are many animals, then this will be a full message for his comrades. It says: “There are a lot of gazelles here,” which means that there will be a good hunt. The message could well include several drawings. For example, it is worth adding a lion, and a warning already sounds: "There are a lot of gazelles here, but there is a danger." This historical stage is considered the first step on the way to the creation of writing. Gradually, the drawings were transformed, simplified and began to be schematic. In the picture you can see how it happened.transformation. People have noticed that it is easier to make impressions with a reed stick on clay than to draw. All rounds are gone.
Ancient Sumerians - the first civilization on earth, which found its own written language. The cuneiform script consisted of several hundred characters, with 300 being the most commonly used. Most of them had somewhat similar meanings. Cuneiform script has been used in Mesopotamia for almost 3,000 years.
Religion of the people
The work of the pantheon of the Sumerian gods can be compared to an assembly headed by a supreme "king". Such a meeting was further divided into groups. The main one is known as the "Great Gods" and consisted of 50 deities. It was she, according to the ideas of the Sumerians, who decided the fate of people.
According to the mythology of the ancient people, man was created from clay mixed with the blood of the gods. The universe consisted of two worlds (upper and lower), separated by the earth. It is interesting that already in those days the Sumerians had a myth about the Flood. In addition, a poem has come down to us that tells about the creation of the world, some episodes of which very closely intersect with the main Christian shrine - the Bible. For example, the sequence of events, in particular, the creation on the sixth day of man. There is a heated debate about such a connection between pagan religion and Christianity.
Culture
Sumerian culture is one of the most interesting and vibrant among the other peoples that inhabited Mesopotamia. By the third millennium BCera, it reached its peak. People lived during the Copper Age, were actively engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, fishing. Gradually, exclusively agriculture was replaced by handicrafts: pottery, foundry, weaving and stone-cutting production developed.
Characteristic features of architecture are: the construction of buildings on artificial embankments, the distribution of rooms around the courtyard, the separation of walls by vertical niches and the introduction of color. The two most striking monuments of monumental construction of the 4th millennium BC. e. - temples in Uruk.
Archaeologists have found quite a lot of art objects: sculptures, remains of images on stone walls, vessels, metal products. All of them are made with great skill. What is a magnificent helmet made of pure gold worth (pictured)! One of the most interesting inventions of the Sumerians is printing. They depicted people, animals, scenes from everyday life.
Early Dynastic: Stage 1
This is the time when the original cuneiform was already created - 2750-2600 BC. e. This period is characterized by the existence of a large number of city-states, the center of which was a large temple economy. Outside of them, large-family communities existed. The main productive labor lay with the so-called temple clients, who were dispossessed. The spiritual and political elite of society already existed - the military leader and priest and, accordingly, their inner circle.
The ancient people had an extraordinary mind and a certain inventive talent. In those distant times, people already came up with the idea of irrigation, having studied the possibility of collecting and directing the muddy waters of the Euphrates and Tigris in the right direction. Enriching the soil in the fields and gardens with organic matter, they increased its productivity. But large-scale works, as you know, require a large workforce. The first civilization on earth was familiar with slavery, moreover, it was legalized.
It is authentically known about the existence of 14 Sumerian cities in the indicated period. Moreover, the most developed, prosperous and cult was Nippur, where the temple of the main god Enlil was located.
Early Dynastic Period: Stage 2
This period (2600-2500 BC) is characterized by military conflicts. The century began with the defeat of the ruler of the city of Kish, which allegedly caused the invasion of the Elamites - the inhabitants of an ancient state on the territory of modern Iran. In the south, a number of nome cities united in a military alliance. There was a trend towards centralization of power.
Early Dynastic: Stage 3
At the third stage of the early dynastic period, 500 years after the moment when the first civilization appeared on Earth (according to archaeologists), city-states are growing and developing, and stratification is observed in society, an increase in social contradictions. On this basis, the struggle of the rulers of the nomes for power intensifies. One military conflict was replaced by another in pursuit of the hegemony of one city over all. In one of the ancient Sumerian epics, dating back to 2600 BC. e.,refers to the unification of Sumer under the rule of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. After another two hundred years, most of the state was conquered by the king of Akkad.
The growing Babylonian Empire swallowed up Sumer by the middle of the second millennium BC. e., and the Sumerian language lost its status as a spoken language even earlier. However, for several millennia it remained as a literary one. This is the approximate time when the Sumerian civilization ceased to exist as a political entity.
Very often you can find information that the mythical Atlantis is the first civilization on earth. The Atlanteans who inhabited it are the ancestors of modern people. However, most of the scientific world calls this fact nothing more than fiction, a beautiful story. Indeed, every year information about the mysterious mainland acquires new details, but at the same time it does not have any historical support with facts or archaeological excavations.
In this regard, the opinion is increasingly heard that the first civilization on earth arose in the fourth millennium BC, and these were the Sumerians.
