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The Sumerian civilization was an extremely
advanced and complex society situated in
modern day Iraq. Lasting for some four
thousand
years, the Sumerians were among the first
cultures to develop most of what we now
take for
granted, from complex economies to
advanced
record keeping, literature, international
trade and
recorded mythologies. Thanks to the
Sumerian
habit of recording everything on clay
tablets
using cuneiform – one of the first complex
writing systems – we can infer a great deal
about
their society. We know that Sumer was
characterized by various city-states,
running in
competition with one another for wealth
and
conquest, while sharing similar
characteristics
and material goods. They used slave labor,
based
around large temples and palaces, and
were keen
to form alliances and thus push out the
boundaries of their nation into Central Asia
and
Turkey. Their trade networks were
extensive, and
colonies of Sumerian peoples have been
identified all across the region. Rule was by
kingship; rulers varied considerable in their
methods although extreme cruelty and
martial
law (such as that exercised under
Eannatum of
Lagash) was the exception rather than the
rule.
Temples were the mainstay of local
economies. It
was here that produce was brought as tax,
legal
proceedings carried out and deals were
struck.
Records of this period are almost
exclusively
written by scribes who lived within the
temple
walls and worked under the auspices of
the
administrators, who were themselves
under the
authority of the priests.
Exquisite stamp seal in the shape of a
curled up
fox, her eyes pierced, her triangular ears
springing backwards. The back is finely
incised
and drilled, featuring two small springing
animals.
Attribution by Prof. W.Lambert.
- (LO.1096)
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