What is the meaning of Sumerian? Concept, Definition of Sumerian

Definition of Sumerian ‒ compendium of concepts and meanings

1. Definition of Sumerian

Sumer (of the Akkadian Šumeru; in Sumerian Cuneiform ki-in-gi, approximately "KI = Earth or country, in = Lord, GI = cane or cañaveral") was a historical region of Middle East forming the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia, between the alluvial plains of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. The Sumerian civilization is regarded as the first and oldest civilization in the world. The origin of its inhabitants, the Sumerians, is uncertain and there are numerous hypotheses: the most widely accepted today is that argues that there is a cultural with the Uruk period break and that therefore they did not have to see external factors, since they could be invasions or migrations of other distant territories.
The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. In the Sumerian language this region was denominated Kengi (ki), equivalent to the Akkadian Sumeri, i.e. the land of Sumer mat».
The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient inhabitants of lower Mesopotamia by their successors, the Semitic Akkadian. The Sumerians called themselves sag-giga, literally meaning "the people of blackheads". The word acadiana shumer may represent this name in dialect, but it is unknown why the akkadians called Shumeru to the lands of the South. Some words as the biblical Shinar, Egyptian Sngr, or the Hittite Šanhar (a) may have been variants of Šumer. According to the Babylonian historian Berossus, the Sumerians were "foreigners of black faces".

2 Concept of Sumerian

Sumerian is called the inhabitant of Sumer, civilization which originated and grew in Mesopotamia Asian, located in valleys close to the rivers Tigers and Euphrates, being the oldest of humanity.
Towards the year 3500 BC, this pueblonomada began to settle in the Territories mentioned, possibly coming from Central Asia and arriving by the Persian Gulf, first founding villages, whose houses, made of interwoven reeds, built on mounds detierra and were easily flooded, and into the fourth millennium before Christ, turned their villages into cities States, South of the Valley of the Euphratesas of Lagash, Ur Umma and Uruk. Its tall buildings they wanted to reach the stars for worshipping their gods, surprised by her Majesty being the main buildings, palaces and temples, which were almost not conserved because they used to make them mud bricks. The most famous Sumerian monument that could reach us is the Ziggurat of Ur, whose exterior is made with cooked bricks, and therefore could subsist. Their gods were human needs, by which the people ofrendaba them food, wine and beer.
The gods were involved of all their achievements and failures. The King of Lagash, Eannatum, wrote on stone, that thanks to the help of his God could defeat the King of Umma.
One of his major inventions was the wheel. Also by being highly floodable area, they learned to dewater bogs and use water for irrigation, raising levees, channels, dams and reservoirs. Craftsmen worked gold, silver, copper and lead and got bronze with copper and tin alloy.
The Sumerians writing called Cuneiform, as their strokes, which were done with a punch of cane on clay tables, had wedge format. Writing evolved from the pictograms (drawings of things that watched) to ideographs, signs representing ideas, of friendship dawn or birth.

3 Meaning of Sumerian

The Sumerians, Sumer or Sumeria was located in the region located more to the South of the ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, close to the mouth of two rivers in the Persian Gulf.
The origin of the Sumerian people is not known with certainty. They probably arrived in Mesopotamia around 3500 BC and were mixed with the indigenous population to build the first civilization in the history or perhaps were an indigenous population and lived in Mesopotamia has always.
Sumer can be considered as the most ancient civilization in the world. Probably the Sumerian culture began to build in the city of Uruk with the so-called period of Uruk subsequently spread through the rest of the lower Mesopotamian. In this city appears wheel lathe to 3500 B.c. and writing around 3300 B.c. This latter event marks the transition between prehistory and history.
To understand why the Sumerians came to a high level of civilization must be taken into account two factors:
Geographic factors: the territories that were settled were between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the current South of Iraq. This is the southern part of what is also known as Mesopotamia (between two rivers), or fertile Crescent (because of its shape of Crescent and skills for crops). The existence of water was essential for the emergence of agriculture, the use of the adobe as a construction material and also as a means of transporting goods through rivers and canals. However this area lacks totally raw materials (stone, metal and wood), which caused his search in other places like the Caucasus, Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon and Zagros Mountains, this need was born trade.
Social factors: agricultural surpluses lead to the specialization of individuals, because it is not necessary that each cultivate or gather their food, it appears the Exchange and handicraft. The best place to Exchange without a doubt was in the city, which are created as they are increasing the need for new products. The city also is shelter from attacks. These changes cause a social complexity such, which make their appearance in different social classes, according to their wealth and function. Great lords and priests soon hogging the power appear.
With these factors we find some early preurbanas cultures around 7,000 B.c., who already had crafts and ceramics. The ethnic origin of the Sumerians is truly intriguing because it does not correspond with the Semitic tribes who populated these lands. More credible explanations indicate we were probably an evolution of native populations, other theories talk about who came from the area of the Caspian Sea and others of the India.
The so-called culture of the Obeid (toward the 4,500), was developed in what might be called first urban settlement, Eridu, which is known by archaeological remains that he was ruler and temples, as well as a large ceramics, also built channels.
Later appeared the culture of the city of Uruk, authentic precedent of the Sumerian civilization. To Uruk may consider as the first City-State (3,500-3,000), is also where the oldest remains of writing, have been found in no doubt as response to the complexity of the urban organization, these early writings are related to the Organization of the warehouses of the temples.
So therefore we are towards to year 3,000 with the beginning of a new culture that will exceed the previous ones and that before this new social organization will be called civilization.
Uruk culture was imposed gradually, however did not create a great Kingdom, but it was a country formed by several City-States. Every city had a Ziggurat (step pyramid to observe the stars and home of the God of the city), a Palace of the King, a temple and agricultural settlements in the outskirts.

4. What is Sumerian

Since its discovery in 1877, the Sumerian civilization turned out to be the first and most ancient of the world. Dates back from its antediluvian origins, 5500 b.c. until its extinction as a political unit around 1700 BC Sumer, today component of the region where is located the current Iraq, located between the arms of two of the rivers most plentiful of all Mesopotamia, Tigris and the Euphrates.
Although all started much earlier, about 100,000 years ago, the first human installations settled the region of current Mesopotamia an immensely long period, which will last until the 6,000 before our era. These men lived in small communities, isolated villages, families whose only concern was the survival and see dawn a new day on the horizon. But something seems to be changing towards 5000 BC with the rise of the first cities, this makes that man has of more free time and the professions will diversify, leaving more space for the Organization of society and the hierarchy and specialization of this.
Returning a little more back, the Sumerians, his appearance is by year 8500 BCE when they appear in the fertile valley we will look at it later in the "Sumerian problem" and 2300 and 2700 b.c. is between when we can say that the true story began in Sumer.
Initially Sumer is distributed in small urban States, which are actually small urban territories with a main capital city and rural villages that surround it (social situation that will see repeated throughout history and which has its climax in feudalism). In the walled city, the power will reside between the temple and the Palace, as we will see later, exist at the same time a religious and civil administration, whose particular influence increasing or decreasing according to the time or city in which we find ourselves. This first time it will be characterized by existing bitter struggles between different cities and will not until the end of this season when a monarch, Lugalzaggisi will eventually hold power around the country.
Although not were the Sumerians who established the first Mesopotamian Empire, but the Semites, from regions surrounding Sumer, had gone by entering in the Sumerian society and even founding their cities and that was around 2300 b.c. thanks to the powerful Accad Sargon or Sargon the elder, which will bring together under his sceptre to all Sumer, Elam to the East and part of Syria and Asia minor to the West.
But a band of barbarians coming from Kurdistan, will that end this first semitico-sumerio imperialist dream, the gutis, and will not be until a century later, around 2000 b.c. when the last and most prolific new Sumerian epoch comes again to light, this time known as neo era or of the third dynasty of Ur, in little more than two centuries of durationshall be more extend the Sumerian culture throughout Mesopotamia and finally and after for all the Middle East, this time will be remembered by the light and the Sumerian letters, with a large territorial extension and a great cultural impact in all of society itself and neighbors. But it will be another Semitic band, the Amorites, that ends with this great Sumerian dream and which serve as transition and passage to the new military and political power Mesopotamico, Babylon.
In short, the Sumerians, its inhabitants, were the first to found cities, States and empires, were the first to invent writing, creating the first commercial contracts, the first legal codes, instituting the first schools, devise the vault and the column, lay the foundations of science, later perfected by the Greeks... Apart from all these positive developments, also were the precursors of other negatives, as the first wars, slavery, despotism, concentration camps...
And few words we could say that, "the history of humanity, begins at Sumer".