Sumerian Civilization

Map for reference (illustrative). Mesopotamia lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East.

The Sumerians appeared around the 4th millennium BC in southern Mesopotamia. They established the first city-states such as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, and Nippur. Each had its own ruler, temples, and laws, but they shared a common language, religion, and traditions.

One of their greatest contributions was the invention of cuneiform writing — the world’s first known system of writing. They recorded trade, laws, myths, and literature, including the famous Epic of Gilgamesh. They built monumental ziggurats — step-shaped temples at the center of religious and political life. Their religion was polytheistic, with gods of the sky, earth, sun, moon, and fertility.

The Sumerians were also innovators in science and technology. They invented the wheel, developed advanced irrigation systems, made astronomical observations, and created the sexagesimal (base-60) system, which we still use to measure time (60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute).

Their economy was based on agriculture, animal husbandry, and crafts. They also traded with surrounding regions. Although their city-states often fought wars, their achievements shaped the history of Mesopotamia. Later civilizations — the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians — built upon their legacy.

That is why historians see the Sumerian civilization as the foundation and first great chapter of Mesopotamian civilization.

Although the Sumerian city-states often fought wars with one another, their cultural and technological achievements shaped the history of Mesopotamia. In time, their political fragmentation made them vulnerable to conquest, and in the 24th century BC the Akkadians under Sargon of Akkad rose to power. They absorbed Sumerian traditions, adopted cuneiform for their own Semitic language, and built the first true empire in world history.