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Sumer

Sumer (/ˈsuːmər/) is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. Like nearby Elam, it is one of the cradles of civilization, along with Egypt, the Indus Valley, the Erligang culture of the Yellow River valley, Caral-Supe, and Mesoamerica. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of grain and other crops, a surplus which enabled them to form urban settlements. The world's earliest known texts come from the Sumerian cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr, and date to between c. 3350 – c. 2500 BC, following a period of proto-writing c. 4000 – c. 2500 BC.

"Sumeria" redirects here. For other uses, see Sumer (disambiguation) and Sumeria (disambiguation).

Geographical range

Mesopotamia, Near East, Middle East

Late Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age

c. 5500 – c. 1800 BC

Ubaid period

Akkadian Empire

New Stone Age

Ubaid period

Copper Age

Uruk period

Early Bronze Age I

Jemdet Nasr period

Early Bronze Age II

Early Dynastic period

Early Bronze Age III

Akkadian period

Early Bronze Age IV

Gutian period

Middle Bronze Age I

Ur III period

Isin-Larsa period

Old Babylonian period

"Pottery was very plentiful, and the forms of the vases, bowls and dishes were manifold; there were special jars for honey, butter, oil and wine, which was probably made from dates. Some of the vases had pointed feet, and stood on stands with crossed legs; others were flat-bottomed, and were set on square or rectangular frames of wood. The oil-jars, and probably others also, were sealed with clay, precisely as in early . Vases and dishes of stone were made in imitation of those of clay."

Egypt

"A feathered head-dress was worn. Beds, stools and chairs were used, with carved legs resembling those of an ox. There were fire-places and fire-altars."

"Knives, drills, wedges and an instrument that looks like a saw were all known. While spears, bows, arrows, and daggers (but not swords) were employed in war."

"Tablets were used for writing purposes. Daggers with metal blades and wooden handles were worn, and copper was hammered into plates, while necklaces or collars were made of gold."

"Time was reckoned in lunar months."

History of Iraq

Numeral system

Ancient Mesopotamian units of measurement

Ancient Mesopotamian religion

Indus–Mesopotamia relations

Egypt–Mesopotamia relations

History of institutions in Mesopotamia

Ancient Sumer History – The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium

– Penn Museum

Iraq's Ancient Past

A brief introduction to Sumerian history