The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books)

_The Sumerians_ by Samuel Noah Kramer is a very readable overview of the ancient Sumerians, those ancient, non-Semitic peoples who produced the world's "first high civilization" and were the world's first urban culture. This ancient culture spanned the fifth to the second millennium BC though its scientific and literary achievements would have lasting influence throughout the ancient world and down through today. The first chapter reviewed the history of the modern study of the Sumerians. As late as the 19th century the Sumerian culture was completely unknown. When scholars and archaeologists began excavating in Mesopotamia they were looking for Assyrians, not Sumerians. The Assyrians were discussed in Greek and Hebrew sources, but of the Sumerians, there was "no recognizable trace of the land, or its people and language, in the entire available Biblical, classical, and postclassical literature" (though some experts now think that Sumer is mentioned in the Bible with a variant name). Sumer had "been erased from the mind and memory of man for more than two thousand years." This chapter revealed the history of the decipherment of Sumerian writing (the name cuneiform dates from 1700 when Thomas Hyde coined the word to described Old Persian writing that he believed was decoration, not actual speech) and the naming of these people (Sumerian was proposed as a term in 1869 by Jules Oppert, who used the name from the title "King of Sumer and Akkad" found in some royal inscriptions, believing that Sumer referred to the non-Semitic inhabitants of Mesopotamia while Akkad referred to the Semitic people of Mesopotamia). Chapter two dealt with political history. The Sumerians didn't really produce what we would call histories; they were rather more archivist than historian, chroniclers more than interpreters of history. The first real record of Sumerian events was essentially to preserve for posterity what great building projects (particularly of temples) Sumerian rulers had accomplished. Not all historical source material is "curt and lifeless" though, as one source of information is the royal correspondence between rulers and officials, letters that can reveal motives, rivalries, and intrigue. As far as history itself the reader learns that two of the truly ancient Sumerian rulers were deified (Dumuzi, a deity whose worship would have profound influences in Judaism and in Greek mythology, and Gilgamesh, the "supreme hero of Sumerian myth and legend," his deeds written and rewritten not only in Sumerian but also in other languages), and that Sargon the Great was the conqueror that finally brought about the end of the Sumerian people as "an identifiable political and ethnic entity" and began the "Semitization of Sumer." Chapter three looked at life in the Sumerian city. In the third millennium B.C. Sumer consisted of a dozen or so city-states surrounded by a few villages, each city's main feature being the main temple situated on a high terrace,

This book was originally written as an addition to Kramer's previous work "History begins at Sumer". Eventually, however, a revised version of "History begins at Sumer" was published and incorporated a lot of material from "The Sumerians". Consequently, readers who have already become acquainted with "History begins at Sumer" may experience a bit of deja vu when reading the present book. For example, the chapters on Sumerian literature, education, and character contain extensive overlap with Kramer's other work. Despite this fact, Kramer's excellent discussion of Sumerian history, society and religion in "The Sumerians" still makes this book well-worth reading. As an added bonus, the appendix contains the Sumerian king list, the Code of Lipit-Ishtar (a forerunner of Hammurabi), and numerous other interesting translations. I disagree with previous reviewers who claim that Kramer was prejudiced against the Sumerians and considered them to be inferior to their Semitic heirs. Indeed, if anything, I would say that Kramer emphasizes the legacy left by the Sumerians and the mark that they left behind on Semitic culture. The last chapter considers this subject in greater detail and also provides some interesting parallels between Sumerian culture and the Bible. Regardless of the negative criticism, "The Sumerians" is a great introduction to the history and culture of this ancient civilization and is worth checking out.

This book is an in-depth study of ancient Sumer, with a great focus on the actual writings of the Sumerians themselves. The author has chapters on history, society, religion, literature, education, and character. As a real bonus, instead of just referencing various Sumerian writings, the author actually reproduces them here with great frequency.This is a great book, an excellent resource on Sumerian culture. Unfortunately, having been written in 1963, it is rather out-of-date, but is still a fascinating read, and is quite accurate in all of the important points. If you are interested in ancient Sumer, then you must read this book.

Kramer stumbles (as many do) in trying to find the origin of the Biblical flood story in the fragmentary Sumerian flood story, but I recommend this book. Examples of interesting facts include that the names the Sumerians used for the Tigris, Euphrates, and most of their best known cities were not Sumerian names. Whoever their predecessors were, they left no other known traces. Appendices include the Sumerian king list.I got a good laugh about the recent story regarding the Tell Hamoukar site in Syria. Not only isn't it the oldest city (admittedly it is larger than older sites), it isn't even too close. Catal Huyuk was abandoned in 5500 BC, and was occupied for thousands of years prior to that. The fact that the Sumerians migrated into the area and found "their" cities already in existence under their now well-known names shows the great antiquity of civilization.I recommend this title, along with Mary Settegast's "Plato Prehistorian" and Ryan and Pitman's "Noah's Flood", both of which are related to the topic but cover an earlier era.