about 6,000 years ago a remarkable people emerged in the Near East They built the world's first cities invented writing and laid the foundations of civilization as we know it Their gods were fierce their kings powerful and their innovations still echo in our modern world So who were they where do they come from and what happened to them today we're diving into the story of the Sumerians the first civilization in human history This is southern Mesopotamia where the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers flow into the Persian Gulf It's a land of clay and reeds with no forests very little stone and a serious lack of metals and other natural resources The Tigris and Euphrates flood regularly leaving behind rich fertile silt But unlike the steady predictable floods of the Nile these rivers often change course turning large areas into swampy uninhabitable land And yet it was in this harsh environment that the first great civilization the Sumerians took root The origins of the Sumerians are still one of history's biggest mysteries Before they appeared the region was home to two key archaeological cultures Ubed and Uruk The Ubade people built irrigation systems mudbrick temples and made pottery Then came the Ura culture which started building the first real cities and monumental temples and developed a form of protoriting using clay tokens The Sumerians arrived somewhere near the end of the 4th millennium BC There are a few competing theories about where they came from Some scholars think that the Sumerians were native to Mesopotamia direct descendants of the Ubade and Uruk cultures But linguistic evidence points to the opposite The Sumerian language isn't related to any known language even the names of major Sumerian cities like Nipper and Legos don't come from Sumerian In fact they were already settlements at these sites before Samrians showed up River and lake names too were borrowed and many farming terms like a plow a farmer and to sew came from other languages All of this suggests that Samrian speakers arrived in the region and adopted parts of the local culture So where do they come from according to their own myths the Sumerians came by sea from a paradise island called Dilmun what we know now as Bahrain And indeed archaeologists have found traces of Sumerian presence there But the Sumerians show up in Mesopotamia much earlier than any evidence from Dilmoon Polish Assyriaist Marxion suggested that they might be related to the people who later founded the Indis Valley civilization Others have proposed origins in Anatolia the Caucuses the Arabian Peninsula or even Tibet But the truth is we still don't know for sure Their origins remain an open question [Music] Around the turn of the 4th to 3rd millennium B.C something extraordinary happened in Mesopotamia Simple settlements began to grow into full-fledged cities It was a real turning point in human history As populations grew denser not everyone had to farm or herd animals anymore People could now focus on other tasks leading to specialization and the division of labor Alongside farmers and herders there were now artisans merchants managers priests and warriors What made this possible were the Samrian's advanced irrigation systems To deal with the unpredictable floods of the Tigris and the Euphrates they built a vast network of canals dikes and reservoirs A city-state size and influence depended directly on how large and efficient its irrigation system was On average a Samrian city managed around 300 km a landscape crisscrossed by canals and covered in farmland That's roughly the size of Queens in New York City Maintaining such a system took thousands of people working in sink Over time those who organized and oversaw this work rose to power forming an elite class And so in the effort to control the waters of Mesopotamia the world's first urban civilization was born In southern Mesopotamia dozens of cities emerged Uruk Kish Lagos and many more One of the most important was Nepur the religious center of all Sumere It housed the temple of Enlil the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon Altogether around 20 citystates developed within a relatively small area often competing and waring with one another Each city was governed by an NC not just a political leader but also the high priest and chief administrator The NC was responsible for overseeing irrigation organizing construction projects managing temples collecting taxes and performing religious ceremonies His title literally meant the one who divides the temple land since all land was believed to belong to the gods But the NC didn't have absolute power His decisions were checked by a council of elders respected members of the community and by citizen assemblies called to discuss major public matters In some cities the NC also commanded a temple guard an armed force that protected sacred property In others especially during war a separate leader was chosen the Lugal which means big man At first the role of Lugal was temporary meant for emergencies But over time it became permanent and eventually hereditary As Lug's gained more authority they took control of the military administration and religion while the NC gradually became a subordinate figure more like a mayor or a high priest under royal authority This shift marked the rise of monarchy and Sumer Leaders were no longer elected by the community Instead power was passed down through family lines and standing at the head of the state was no longer a community elder but a king At the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C Sumerian society entered a new chapter city life became more organized and ruling dynasties began to firmly establish themselves across the region Our main source for this era is the famous Sumerian king list recorded on the Weld Blundo Prism This unique document lists rulers from different cities starting with legendary times According to the list the earliest kings ruled for tens of thousands of years clearly mythological But as the list moves closer to real historical periods its entries become more reliable and are backed up by archaeological evidence and other written sources The early dynastic period was marked by political instability Citystates were constantly at odds and some rulers managed to briefly dominate their neighbors King Anne Memberi of Kish and his son Aga for example controlled a large area stretching between Kish and Uruk Other leaders like Aanatum and Measelim also created alliances of several cities but these coalitions never lasted long Kish was the early center of power But over time leadership shifted to Aruk Still even with frequent wars and conquests there was no true unification Each city kept its own identity its own customs and its own patron god This period was a turning point for Sumerian civilization It was then that the basic political religious and cultural institutions took shape Institutions that would later be borrowed and adapted by other Mesopotamian cultures The early dynastic age laid the foundation for what came next The rise of territorial states and the first real attempts to unify the region under a single ruler The development of writing was a slow process that unfolded over thousands of years It all started with the basic needs of early farming communities Once people began producing food surpluses and trading goods the need to keep records became essential and that's where writing began In the beginning people across the ancient near east used small clay tokens to represent goods like livestock grain or textiles One token might stand for a sheep One token meant one sheep or 10 tokens meant 10 sheep and so on It was a simple system of accounting Then around 3,300 BC temple officials in the city of Aruk came up with a brilliant idea Instead of storing the tokens themselves why not press them into soft clay to record the information this small change sparked the earliest form of writing Soon after people started drawing basic images or pictograms directly into the clay A sheep a loaf of bread a person each symbol standing for something concrete At first the system was large and clunky with over 2,000 different signs many of which still looked like the original tokens themselves But over time writing became more sophisticated Symbols started to represent not just objects but also actions and ideas A picture of a foot for example could mean foot but it also could mean to walk to run or movement in general Writing was becoming more flexible able to express not just things but thoughts Over time these signs evolved into becoming increasingly abstract making writing faster and more efficient Then the Sumerians made another giant leap They realized that symbols could represent sounds not just meanings In Sumerian the word T meant arrow and it had a specific sign But once writing shifted to a phonetic system that same symbol could be used anywhere the sound T appeared regardless of the word's meaning This made it possible to write full sentences with grammar tone and all the complexity of spoken language Sumerian scribes used a reed stylus to press marks into soft clay at an angle which left wedge-shaped impressions That's why we call the script ununiform from the Latin Cunius meaning wedge Ununiform didn't stay confined to Sumer for long It spread widely and was adopted by the Acadians Babylonians Assyrians Elommites Hittites and many others It became the standard writing system for recording everything: trade deals laws myths letters and even literature Clay as it turns out was an incredibly durable material More than a million ununiform tablets have survived to this day and archaeologists are still uncovering new ones Because of them we know a great deal about the ancient peoples of the Near East their daily lives their beliefs their economies and their stories Beyond inventing writing Sumerians came up with a surprising number of innovations many of which are still a part of everyday life today One of their most important inventions was the plow It revolutionized farming by making it more efficient which meant fewer people had to work the land That freed up time and labor for new kinds of work potters smiths merchants and scribes and helped kickstart a more complex specialized society Their most famous invention though is probably the wheel The earliest wheeled carts were likely used in religious rituals to carry statues of gods priests or rulers Eventually the Samrians developed the first war chariots though instead of horses they used donkeys So instead of cavalry they had what you might want to call donkeyry In architecture the Sumerians were ahead of their time as well They were the first to build with arches and columns laying the groundwork for many principles of modern architecture Using just mud and reeds the only materials that they really had they built impressive and longlasting structures Their most iconic buildings were ziggurats massive terrace temple towers that seem to reach towards the sky The great ziggurat of is the best known example and is thought by many to have inspired the biblical story of the tower of babel We also get a glimpse of their craftsmanship from the local tombs of where archaeologists found stunning artifacts intricate jewelry harps statues and even board games all crafted from gold silver lapis lazuli and other precious materials The level of skill is astonishing even by modern standards Even something as ordinary as soap was a Sumerian invention They were the first to mix animal fat with lie to create an early form of soap for washing And yes they also invented beer The Sumerians were the first to develop a brewing process And they even had a goddess of beer and brewing named Ninkasi whose name literally means lady who fills the mouth Beer was the drink of choice in Mesopotamia Far more common than wine Without hops it wasn't bitter more sweet and porridge-like They often added honey or fruits to improve the taste Since they didn't filter it Sumerian beer was thick and chunky and people drank it through straws from large ceramic jars The Sumerian's most influential contribution to mathematics was the invention of the base 60 number system also known as sexagimal But why 60 it came down to how they counted Instead of just using their fingers they counted the 12 finger segments or felanges on one hand while using the fingers of the other hand to keep track of each set of 12 5 fingers * 12 segments equals 60 That's why we still have 24 hours in a day That's twice 12 60 minutes in an hour 60 seconds in a minute and 360° in a circle All thanks to Samrian math Sumerian mathematics were incredibly advanced They could solve quadratic equations calculate areas and volumes of various shapes and understood geometric similarity Long before Pythagoras they recognized the relationship between the sides of a right triangle a concept we now know as the Pythagorean theorem They were just as forward thinking in astronomy as well The Sumerians compiled the first star cataloges tracked planetary movements and even learned how to predict solar and lunar eclipses These observations weren't just scientific They were deeply tied to their religion The Sumerians believed that the positions of celestial bodies affected human fate laying the foundation for what we now call astrology Their calendar was based on lunar cycles with 12 months of 29 to 30 days totaling around 354 days in a year To keep it in sync with the solar year they occasionally added a 13th month Even the 7-day week traces back to Sumer Each day was associated with a known celestial body That legacy lives on in the names of the days Sunday for the sun Monday for the moon Saturday for Saturn and so on The Sumerians were also legal pioneers They created some of the earliest known law codes before the famous code of Hammurabi These early laws covered everything from trade and property to marriage inheritance and criminal offenses They reflect the strong concern for justice and order and an effort to build a society guided by clear rules Education was another cornerstone of Samrian society Students mostly boys from elite families were taught to read and write and studied subjects like mathematics astronomy law literature and religion These schools served as cultural centers preserving knowledge and passing it down through generations In the end the Sumerians didn't just invent writing They laid the intellectual and institutional foundations of civilization itself Pretty cool huh for centuries the Sumerians and Acadians coexisted in Mesopotamia The Acadians a Seemetic people initially settled in the north but over time their culture began to merge with that of the Sumerians The two civilizations grew increasingly interconnected influencing each other in everything from religion to government A major turning point came in the late 24th century BC with the rise of Sargon the Great a figure often credited with founding the world's first empire His story part legend and part history begins with a myth Born to a priestess of the goddess Inana Baby Sargon was placed in a reed basket and set a drift on the Euphrates River A gardener found him and raised him As an adult Sargon rose to prominence at the court of Kish eventually overthrowing the king seizing power and launching a sweeping campaign to unite all of Mesopotamia Under Sargon the Sumerian citystates were brought under a single rule and the Acadian Empire expanded far beyond their borders His domain stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean and from the Zagros mountains to the edges of the Anatolia The first known attempt to create a centralized multithnic state To manage his vast empire Sargon appointed governors and stationed garrisons across conquered territories His military campaigns extended into Syria where he destroyed the powerful kingdom of Eblah and into Ilam where he captured its capital Susa Akad became the dominant power in the region controlling trade routes and vital resources The first true superpower in recorded history Sargon's grandson Naram Sin took the empire even further He crushed the rebellions in Sumer and Syria and adopted the bold title king of the four corners of the world He was also the first Mesopotamian ruler to declare himself a living god A radical move that redefined kingship in the ancient world Under Naramsin the Aadian Empire reached its peak But that golden age was short-lived Trouble soon came from the east The Gutians a tribal people from the Zagros mountains began raiding Mesopotamian cities Around 2200 BC their leader Erdupazer defeated the Acadian army and captured the sacred city of Nepur He even had his victories carved into stone one of the few surviving records of that chaotic time Though some Gutian rulers were defeated one Saragab was even captured by the Acadian king Sharal Shari The empire was already crumbling After Shakalishari's death the Gutians launched a full offensive and quickly took control of most of Mesopotamia This period is often referred to as Mesopotamia's first dark age As mountain dwellers the Gutians had little experience with the complex irrigation systems essential for life in the river valleys Agriculture suffered canals broke down and much of the economy collapsed Many cities were abandoned and only in the remote swampy south did traditional Sumerian life continue more or less undisturbed The Gutens never managed to establish a stable government and over time their control weakened They faced growing resistance from Aadians Elommites and Sumerians alike The final blow came from Utuhangal the ruler of Aruk who around 2120 BC defeated the Gutians and drove them out of Mesopotamia bringing an end to over a century of foreign rule After the Gutens were driven out of Mesopotamia a new power struggle began among the liberated citystates Not long after the death of Uchuhal leadership passed to Namu the founder of what became known as the third dynasty of Eur He succeeded in reunifying Sumer and Akad under one rule and launched an ambitious campaign to rebuild the region Ernamu's reign is best remembered for the construction of the great ziggurat of a massive stepped temple dedicated to the moon god Nana Its ruins still rise above the southern Iraqi plains a lasting symbol of the Sumerian culture revival Just as important was the restoration of the region's irrigation systems which had fallen into disrepair under Gutian rule Rebuilding canals dams and reservoirs required massive labor and careful planning The state under the third dynasty became highly centralized and was supported by a wellorganized bureaucracy The government was reorganized into provinces each run by appointed officials One of the most interesting reforms was a rotating tax system called Bala in which each province contribute a set amount of goods to the central treasury but only for one month each year This system helped ease the tax burden and made resource management more flexible and efficient The rulers of Er's third dynasty also worked to revive Sumerian cultural traditions It was during this period that the famous Sumerian king list was compiled a political document meant to legitimize the new dynasty by linking it to ancient even mythical kings Although Aadian had become the common spoken language Sumerian was restored as the official language of administration religion and literature But beneath the surface problems were growing The centralized bureaucracy that had functioned well under strong rulers became bloated and corrupt under weaker successors Discontent grew especially in the northern mostly Aadianspeaking regions Economic challenges were made worse by environmental problems Over irrigation had caused salinization of the soil reducing crop yields and leading to food shortages Some scholars believe that by the end of the third dynasty much of southern Mesopotamia's farmland had been abandoned because of salt buildup External threats added to the pressure From the west the Amorites nomadic seemetic tribes gradually moved into Mesopotamia disrupting trade and farming From the east the Elommites a long-standing rival from what is now Iran pushed into the region seeking to expand their influence The last king of the dynasty Ibisine tried to resist these threats but his power was rapidly collapsing The Amorites penetrated deeper into the heart of Mesopotamia undermining its trade networks and agricultural stability Finally in 2004 BC the Elommites delivered the final fatal blow capturing and sacking the city of Er To the people of the time the fall of was a cosmic catastrophe In the Lament of Er a powerful literary text from that period the gods are described as abandoning the city dooming it to destruction The poem tells of brutal invaders looted temples and desperate mothers fleeing with their children With the fall of the era of the Sumerian statethood came to an end Mesopotamia splintered into smaller kingdoms many of them ruled by Amorite dynasties The most important of these would later become Babylon especially during the reign of Hammurabi around 1792 to 1750 BC Sumerian disappeared from daily life surviving only as a sacred and scholarly language much like Latin in medieval Europe Its religion literature and scientific knowledge were absorbed by the Acadians Babylonians Assyrians and other peoples of the ancient near east And so ended the story of one of humanity's earliest and most influential civilizations The Sumerianss vanished as a distinct people but their legacy lived on in the culture religion science and art of Mesopotamia and through it in the foundations of the modern world Once again if you've made it to the end of this video we really appreciate it if you liked and subscribed We have a whole team behind this and we really love seeing you follow along on our journey through ancient civilizations We put out new content every single week If 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