Sumer was the earliest known urban civilization, occupying southern Mesopotamia in what is now southern Iraq from roughly the fourth millennium BCE. Its city states, including Uruk, Ur, Eridu and Lagash, were governed independently, often at war with one another, and organized around temple complexes dedicated to local patron deities. Sumerians are credited with the invention of cuneiform writing, one of the earliest writing systems anywhere, initially used to record temple accounts and later extended to law, literature and royal inscriptions, including the Epic of Gilgamesh. Sumerian civilization also developed the wheel, the plow, systematic irrigation and some of the earliest law codes, and its religious and literary traditions strongly influenced the later civilizations of Babylon and Assyria that succeeded it in Mesopotamia.
Facts
Disputed
Start YearThe date for Sumer's earliest urban settlements, particularly Uruk, is debated. Some scholars place the beginnings of Sumerian urban culture as early as 4500 BCE, others closer to 3800 BCE. End YearSumer as a distinct political culture ends with its absorption into Babylonia, roughly 1900 BCE, after the fall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BCE. The precise point at which Sumerian ceased to be a spoken rather than only a literary and religious language is separately debated. RegionSouthern Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) 1 FAQs
What did the Sumerians call their own land?
They called it Kengir, the Country of the noble lords.
In their inscriptions the Sumerians called their land Kengir, the Country of the noble lords, as the Name section of the Wikipedia article on Sumer records. The names Sumer and Sumeria are later exonyms, and Kengir is listed on this page as an alternative name. The people who used it lived in the city states of southern Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq.
Connections
In Era
Source The Cambridge Ancient History
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Sources
1. The Cambridge Ancient History
Cambridge University Press
Wikipedia: Sumer
WikipediaName section
In their inscriptions, the Sumerians called their land Kengir, the Country of the noble lords.
lead section, IPA gloss
Jules Oppert was the first scholar to publish the word Sumer in a lecture on 17 January 1869.
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.