Sumerian

Introduction

Sumerian was a people and a language isolate of southern Mesopotamia from about 5000/4500 BEC to 2000BCE, after that date is was used as a liturgical language by Akkadian and Aramaic speakers. The script used was cunniform which was first develpoed by the Sumerians. It is debatable as to whether either their script or that of the Egyptian hieroglyphs were the first to be developed for writing purposes pre 3000 BCE.

History

The history of Sumeria is associated with that of the Akkadian people. There is evidence of a coexistandce between these two people before the demise of the Sumerians and their supplanting by the Akkadians. But before the what is turmed the Sumerians occupied southern Mesopotamia, the Ubaid culture which evolved into the Uruk culture and then into the Sumerian culture. They developed agriculture, irrigation, large village settlements and transmigration to areas occupied by other cultures. They had a relationship with the Samarra culture to the north between 5300–4700 BCE and supplanted the Halaf culture to the north sometime between 4500 and 4000 BCE.

Prerequisites

None defined as of yet.

Learning resources

b:Sumerian Wikibooks has five lessons on Sumerian.