Watch: An introduction to Ancient Sumer
Narrator: Hello, future people of the UK.
Would you like to visit me at the dawn of civilisation in ancient Sumer?
Well, to do that, youâve got to travel back in time.
Back before the Vikings, before the Romans, and keep going back, back, back, before Stonehenge was even built.
Right⊠Now aim between those two rivers that run through modern-day Iraq.
YAWNS
Good morning. I am Uri andâŠIâm afraid Iâve only just got up. And yes, I sleep on the roof. Itâs cooler. Hmm⊠I wonder what time it is? Oh no! Look at the sundial.
Iâve slept in again. Iâm going to be late for school. We invented 60-minute clocks, though I wish they came with alarms like your ones. Actually, invention is our big thing.
Come on, Iâll show you what else weâve come up with. First up is city living because this Uruk, the first city ever. Weâve got streets, shops and houses. We even use the grid system for our roads and buildings, just like you still do.
We invented all this well before the ancient Egyptians. It all started when we stopped hunter-gathering food and began growing it instead. With the abundance of water and good soil, we found we could grow almost anything here. Thatâs why they call it âthe fertile crescent.â
Soon, we had more crops than we could possibly eat. This meant we had time to do other stuff instead. Thatâs when the inventing began! We thought of lots of stuff to make our lives easier.
Better ways of farmingâŠsailboats, games, and even skyscrapers ten storeys high which have lasted into your time.
We also invented the first schools, and our teachers are very strict. Yikes! That reminds me, Iâm late!
Luckily, weâve invented wheels, too. Theyâre great for carrying goods for long distances and faster than walking. Giddy-up!
With so much going on, this fast-paced city life can get really confusing, so we started keeping records and became one of the first people to start writing.
Paper doesnât exist yet, but we use clay tablets, like this, which we mark withâŠumâŠOh bother. Iâve left it at home. Quick, down to the river.
We donât have pens, we use sharpened reeds instead. Just one more perk of living near the water.
Phew, I made it just in time! This is my school. Well, itâs just a bench. But Iâm lucky to be here because most people in our city donât ever get to learn the secret of writing.
I can show you though. We push the reed into the clay and the different combinations of marks make words. Our written records will last into your time. Theyâll tell you what life was like here and how, eventually our crops will dry out and the population will shrink, spelling the end of the Sumerian Empire. And all this? Well, itâll be history.
When was Ancient Sumer?
Ancient Sumer civilisation began in around 5300BC and ended around 1940BC.
Ancient Sumer lasted from the late Neolithic period to the early Bronze Age.
The civilisation weakened when city rulers began fighting with each other.
Flooding meant that crops weren't growing as well. Cities began to struggle.
In the end, Sumer was invaded by the Elamites who came from modern-day Iran.
Where was Ancient Sumer?
Ancient Sumer was in the southern part of a place called Mesopotamia.
Most of the area now falls in modern-day Iraq.
Cities were along the rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
People used the rivers to travel and transport goods and to help grow crops.
Some of the famous cities were called: Ur, Uruk, Eridu, and Larsa.
What were cities like?
- Each city had its own ruler.
- Cities were surrounded by walls to protect them from attack.
- Each city had a temple in its centre called a Ziggurat. They were tall so people could be closer to the gods in the sky.
- Houses were made from Mud-brick with a central courtyard where children could play.
- Sumerian people were some of the first to have schools.
- The wheel, writing, and the 60 minute clock are all thought to have been invented by the Sumerians.
How do we know about Ancient Sumer?
Archaeologists have found objects that tell us about Ancient Sumer life, rulers and beliefs.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a collection of stories written about a superhuman king called Gilgamesh.
They were written thousands of years ago on clay tablets.
The Sumerian King List is a group of clay prisms with names of Sumerian cities and rulers on them.
The prisms are an important record of the Sumerian language.
- The Royal Standard of Ur was found buried in a royal grave.
- It shows the king of Ur as a warrior on one side and him enjoying a banquet on the other.
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