The land between the Tigris and Euphrates had abundant resources to nourish a civilization. The Sumerians used those resources to build the first cities in history. They first settled on the muddy land of southeastern Mesopotamia, where the rivers spread across a broad, fertile plain, about 4500 BCE.
The Birth of Civilization
Sumerian homes were made of mud bricks, formed by mixing mud with straw and drying them in the sun. Thick walls provided insulation and kept interiors cool, and flat roofs were often used for work or sleeping in hot weather. Because there was little wood, builders relied on mud rather than timber, and the walls required regular repair, especially after rain or flooding. When flooding destroyed a village, a new one would often be built on its ruins. Throughout Mesopotamia, there are raised areas called tells, the result of many cities built one on top of the other.
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From Villages to Cities
Over thousands of years, Sumerian civilization grew from small villages to cities of more than 30,000 people. They farmed the land, domesticated animals, and built ditches and canals to control water in a system called irrigation. Sumerian record keepers created one of the first writing systems, called cuneiform, to keep track of goods, trade, and taxes. The Sumerians also invented the wheel, which made it possible to move heavy loads.
City-States
The Sumerians did not form one nation. Like water beading into droplets, settlements formed in separate places where conditions allowed them to grow. Over time, these became city-states, or independent nations, each with its own ruler. Walls around each Sumerian city-state protected the citizens from outside invaders. Farmland was usually located outside the city walls, and people would seek protection within them when under attack.
Sumer was a small region by modern standards, about the size of Vermont in the United States or Belgium in Europe. Some of its largest cities, such as Uruk, may have grown to more than 30,000 people. At times, the population of Sumer likely reached several hundred thousand people, making it one of the most crowded parts of the ancient world.
Sumerian Gods
The Sumerians were polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods. Their gods, like those in other polytheistic societies, reflected what they valued and feared. Anu was the god of the sky and the head of the Sumerian pantheon, or family of gods. Enlil was a powerful and often feared god associated with storms and wind. The unpredictable flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates was often seen as Enlil’s anger. Each city had a patron god, and when one city defeated another in war, the defeated city often came to honor the god of the victor.
The Sumerians worshiped their gods at huge stepped structures called ziggurats, a word that means “built high.” Ziggurats were platforms that supported temples at the top. They were constructed of the same mud bricks the Sumerians used to build their houses. Access to a ziggurat was limited and controlled by priests. The highest level held a shrine they believed was reserved for the god.
The Fall of Sumer
Sumerian culture developed over thousands of years until about 2334 BCE, when Sargon of Akkad, a ruler from a city upriver on the Euphrates, formed the first empire in history. An empire is a government that rules over many different groups of people. Sargon conquered the Sumerian city-states one by one, and in time the Akkadian language replaced Sumerian, although Sumerian religion and culture continued to influence Mesopotamia for centuries.
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Mr. Donn has an excellent website that includes a section on
Mesopotamia.