“A readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture” from a world-renowned Sumerian scholar (American Journal of Archaeology). The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. “An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity.” —Library Journal

This work reviews the social and technological developments in Mesopotamia from 3800 to 2000 BC.

A thorough and carefully researched 1937 account of the music of the Sumerians and their immediate predecessors, the Babylonians and Assyrians. On its publication, this book was one of the few studies to concentrate on the music of the ancient civilisations of modern-day Iraq, and is still valued today.

A legendary civilization vanished under the Fertile Crescent and escaped a fate worse than death until Sumerologists questioned widely accepted truths. The Sumerians reemerged onto the extraordinary timeline of human history. Their tales of kings and gods, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, and their fearless trade in distant lands, during the remarkable Bronze Age, centered in the world’s first city-states that chronicled ancient rivalries and their enduring impact. Inside you will read about... ✓ How We Know What We Know About Sumerians ✓ The Bronze Age – Sumer And Its Contemporaries ✓ How Did The Sumerians Become Civilized? ✓ How Long Were They Around ✓ Primer Of Impact Of Sumerian Ancient Civilization On Our World ✓ What Did They Look Like? ✓ What Shaped Their Worldview? And much more! Our journey relies on excavated and historical evidence to explore their productive fascinations with order and man’s place in the universe. Their application of impressive knowledge helps us unfold their mysterious civilization.

The Sumerians are widely believed to have created the world’s earliest civilization on the fertile floodplains of southern Iraq from about 3500 to 2000 BCE. They have been credited with the invention of nothing less than cities, writing, and the wheel, and therefore hold an ancient mirror to our own urban, literate world. But is this picture correct? Paul Collins reveals how the idea of a Sumerian people was assembled from the archaeological and textual evidence uncovered in Iraq and Syria over the last one hundred fifty years. Reconstructed through the biases of those who unearthed them, the Sumerians were never simply lost and found, but reinvented a number of times, both in antiquity and in the more recent past.

Sumerians were the ?rst people to write. Using a sharp three-cornered stylus, they wrote on claysmall wedge-shapes called cuneiform. With writing, Sumerians turned the corner from prehistory to history! After at least two million years of humans telling stories, the Sumerians introduced literacy. Most civilizations passed down their heritage through orally recited traditionsstories were passed from one generation to another by word of mouth. The Sumerians were the ?rst to write down their oral traditions. To make the historical record easier, the Sumerians invented calendars with exact dates of events and contracts often corroborated by astronomy. Since Sumerian farmers invented irrigation and created a surplus, other Sumerians could choose to specialize in law, education, architecture, engineering, marketing, and politicsall of which were accompanied by written records. Using the writings of the Sumerians and modern archaeology, this book will trace the story of the Sumerians, the worlds ?rst writers.

The Sumerians were a civilization of firsts, sowing the seeds of human heritage and legacy that would serve as the building blocks of subsequent civilizations Apart from being generally considered the first developed civilization in human history, the Sumerians were first in many other important ways. In fact, Sumer was the fountainhead of what some scholars refer to as "the thirty-nine firsts." These civilizational breakthroughs included educational institutions and professions as we know them today, the functional wheel incorporated into a vehicle, the first libraries, aquariums, organized religion, forms of democracy, and much else. The Sumerians were also the creators of the oldest known piece of literature, which is the famous Epic of Gilgamesh.

Within this fascinating volume the author explores the history of the Sumerians in light of contemporary archaeological discoveries at Indus Valley. The author examines these discoveries and explains how they hint to the fact that the “Sumerians” were the long lost 'Early Aryans', and that the people who colonised and civilised India, the Mediterranean, Northwestern Europe and Britain were also Aryans—specifically the Phoenician branch. “The Indo-Sumerian Seals Deciphered” is highly recommended for those with an interest in ancient history and the origins of civilisation. Contents include: “Sumerian Origin Of The Indo-Aryans”, “And Of Their Civilization And Date Of 'Invasion'”, “Sites Of The Indo-Sumerian Seals And Associated Buildings, Etc., In Indus Valley With Their Ancient History”, “The Seals, Their Stamp Shape And Animal 'symbols' And Division Into Official Signets And Grave-Amulets”, “Sumerian Script On Seals: Its General Form And Peculiarities And Its Language Aryan”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

In this book Professor Woolley, one of the world's foremost archaeologists, shows quite clearly that when Egyptian civilization began the civilization of the Sumerians had already flourished for at least 2,000 years. The idea that Egypt was the earliest civilization has been entirely exploded. The Sumerians had reached a very high level of culture by 3500 B.C.E., and may be said with some justice to be the forerunners of all the Old World civilizations of Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor, Crete, and Greece. This book will appeal to everyone interested in the early history of humankind.