Ancient Mesopotamia
Euphrates – Tigris
Assyriology
Cities / Empires
Sumer: Uruk – Ur – Eridu
Kish – Lagash – Nippur
Akkadian Empire: Akkad
Babylon – Isin – Susa
Assyria: Assur – Nineveh
Dur-Sharrukin – Nimrud
Babylonia – Chaldea
Elam – Amorites
Hurrians – Mitanni
Kassites – Urartu
Chronology
Kings of Sumer
Kings of Assyria
Kings of Babylon
Language
Cuneiform script
Sumerian – Akkadian
Elamite – Hurrian
Mythology
Enûma Elish
Gilgamesh – Marduk
Mesopotamian mythology
Sumer (or Šumer) was one of the early
civilizations of the Ancient Near East, located
in the southern part of Mesopotamia
(southeastern Iraq) from the time of the
earliest records in the mid-fourth millennium
B.C.E. until the rise of Babylonia in the late
third millennium B.C.E. The term "Sumerian"
applies to all speakers of the Sumerian
language. Sumer together with Ancient Egypt
and the Indus Valley Civilization is considered
the first settled society in the world to have
manifested all the features needed to qualify
fully as a "civilization." The development of
the City State as an organized social and
political settlement enabled art and
commerce, writing and architectures,
including the building of Temples (ziggurats)
to flourish. The history of Sumeria dates back
to the beginning of writing and also of law,
which the Sumerian are credited with
inventing. [1] and was essential for
maintaining order within the City-States. City-
States for centuries used variations of
Sumerian Law, which established set
penalties for particular offenses. This
represents recognition that societies can not
function without respect for life and property
and shared values. More and more people
became aware of belonging to the same
world as a result of Sumeria's contribution to
the human story. Treaties from Sumeria
indicate a preference for trade and
commerce.
- (PH.0131)
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