Sumerian civilisation
Also called: Sumer, Sumerians, Sumer and Akkad · Topic: Bronze Age Civilisations: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 4 "Early Humans and Beginning of Civilisation"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Writing and City Life"
Meaning
Sumer was the urbanised south of Mesopotamia at the start of recorded history. Together with its neighbour Akkad, the region was called Sumer and Akkad. Its people, the Sumerians, spoke Sumerian. From c. 3500 BCE they built the earliest city-based civilisation. It was made up of city-states (independent cities that ruled the land around them), and each was centred on a temple. Sumerians are credited with the first irrigation dams and canals, the first mud and burnt bricks, ziggurats (stepped temple-towers), the wheeled cart and the sailboat.
Example
Ur and Uruk were leading Sumerian cities. The royal graves at Ur were filled with gold vessels, jewellery and inlaid instruments, which shows that a rich ruling class existed.
Don't confuse with
- Akkadians: a later power based at Akkad. In 2334 BCE they founded the world's first dynastic empire, and their language replaced Sumerian.