Sumer

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq) , Proto-writing dates back before 3000 BC. The earliest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr, and date to between c. 3500 and c. 3000 BC.

The origin of the Sumerians is not known, but the people of Sumer referred to themselves as "Black Headed Ones" or "Black-Headed People"

Most historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between c. 5500 and 4000 BC

A prehistoric people who lived in the region before the Sumerians have been termed the "Proto-Euphrateans" or "Ubaidians"

Sumerian civilization took form in the Uruk period (4th millennium BC), continuing into the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods.

The earliest dynastic king on the Sumerian king list whose name is known from any other legendary source is Etana, 13th king of the first dynasty of Kish.

Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or the belief in many gods in human form. There was no common set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. Nonetheless, these were not exclusive; the gods of one city were often acknowledged elsewhere.


The Sumerians worshiped:

  • An as the full-time god equivalent to heaven; indeed, the word an in Sumerian means sky and his consort Ki, means earth.

  • Enki in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god of beneficence and of wisdom, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, a healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industries and manners of civilization; the first law book was considered his creation.

  • Enlil was the god of storm, wind, and rain.[72]: 108  He was the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon[72]: 108 [73]: 115–121  and the patron god of Nippur.[74]: 231–234  His consort was Ninlil, the goddess of the south wind.[75]: 106 

  • Inanna was the goddess of love, sexuality, and war;[66]: 109  the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk. Deified kings may have re-enacted the marriage of Inanna and Dumuzid with priestesses.[66]: 151, 157–158 

  • The sun-god Utu at Larsa in the south and Sippar in the north,

  • The moon god Sin at Ur.