Below is the notes from class on Sumer
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Sumer (from Akkadian Šumeru; Sumerian 𒆠𒂗𒂠 ki-en-ĝir15,
approximately "land of the civilized kings" or "native land"[note
1])[1] was an
ancient civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest
historical records in the region do not go back much further than ca. 2900 BC,
modern historians have asserted that Sumer was first settled between ca. 4500
and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who may or may not have spoken the
Sumerian language (pointing to the names of
cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence).[2] These
conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians",[3] and
are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria).[4][5][6][7] The
Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for
agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving,
leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery.[3]
However, some scholars such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the
idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language.
Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer asserts "No people has
contributed more to the culture of mankind than the Sumerians" and yet it is
only comparatively recently that we have built up a knowledge of the existence
of this ancient culture.[8]
Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into
the Jemdat Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. During
the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the
Sumerians (who spoke a Language Isolate) and the Semitic Akkadian
speakers, which included widespread bilingualism.[9] The
influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from
lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological,
and phonological convergence.[9] This
has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC
as a sprachbund.[9] Sumer
was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC (short chronology), but Sumerian continued as a
sacred language. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the Third Dynasty of Ur (Sumerian
Renaissance) of the 21st to 20th centuries BC, but the Akkadian language also remained in use. The
Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, was the world's first city, where
three separate cultures fused - that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in
mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic
pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and
that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been
the ancestors of the Sumerians.[10]
The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population
of this region to settle in one place, instead of migrating
as hunter gatherers. It also allowed for a much
greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and
division of labor with many specialized arts and
crafts.
Sumer was also the site of early development of writing, progressing from a stage
of proto-writing in the mid 4th millennium BC to writing proper in the 3rd millennium BC (see Jemdet Nasr period).
approximately "land of the civilized kings" or "native land"[note
1])[1] was an
ancient civilization and historical region in southern Mesopotamia, modern Iraq, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age. Although the earliest
historical records in the region do not go back much further than ca. 2900 BC,
modern historians have asserted that Sumer was first settled between ca. 4500
and 4000 BC by a non-Semitic people who may or may not have spoken the
Sumerian language (pointing to the names of
cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc. as evidence).[2] These
conjectured, prehistoric people are now called "proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians",[3] and
are theorized to have evolved from the Samarra culture of northern Mesopotamia (Assyria).[4][5][6][7] The
Ubaidians were the first civilizing force in Sumer, draining the marshes for
agriculture, developing trade, and establishing industries, including weaving,
leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery.[3]
However, some scholars such as Piotr Michalowski and Gerd Steiner, contest the
idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language.
Sumerologist Samuel Noah Kramer asserts "No people has
contributed more to the culture of mankind than the Sumerians" and yet it is
only comparatively recently that we have built up a knowledge of the existence
of this ancient culture.[8]
Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into
the Jemdat Nasr and Early Dynastic periods. During
the 3rd millennium BC, a close cultural symbiosis developed between the
Sumerians (who spoke a Language Isolate) and the Semitic Akkadian
speakers, which included widespread bilingualism.[9] The
influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from
lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological,
and phonological convergence.[9] This
has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC
as a sprachbund.[9] Sumer
was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC (short chronology), but Sumerian continued as a
sacred language. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the Third Dynasty of Ur (Sumerian
Renaissance) of the 21st to 20th centuries BC, but the Akkadian language also remained in use. The
Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian Gulf, was the world's first city, where
three separate cultures fused - that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in
mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic
pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and
that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been
the ancestors of the Sumerians.[10]
The surplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the population
of this region to settle in one place, instead of migrating
as hunter gatherers. It also allowed for a much
greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and
division of labor with many specialized arts and
crafts.
Sumer was also the site of early development of writing, progressing from a stage
of proto-writing in the mid 4th millennium BC to writing proper in the 3rd millennium BC (see Jemdet Nasr period).