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The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character
The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.
Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.
Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.
355 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1963
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2932 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Noah Kramer
45 books119 followersDr. Samuel Noah Kramer, Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania, 1929; born Simcha Kramer), was a historian, philologist, and Assyriologist, particularly renowned as an expert in the language and history of Sumer. He was Clark Research Professor Emeritus of Assyriology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was also Curator Emeritus of the Tablet Collections.
Dr. Kramer is often credited with the virtual creation of Sumerian cuneiform literature as an academic field, in which he wrote some 30 books for both academic and popular audiences. was a member of the American Oriental Society, Archeological Institute of America, Society of Biblical Literature and American Philosophical Society, which awarded him its John Frederick Lewis Prize.
Dr. Kramer is often credited with the virtual creation of Sumerian cuneiform literature as an academic field, in which he wrote some 30 books for both academic and popular audiences. was a member of the American Oriental Society, Archeological Institute of America, Society of Biblical Literature and American Philosophical Society, which awarded him its John Frederick Lewis Prize.
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December 11, 2018
Until the mid-eighteen hundreds, no one knew of the presence of a place named Sumer in the ancient Mesopotamian (Iran and Iraq) area. Finally, the gradual gathering of information and the incredible deciphering of cuneiform lead archeologists to realize that they had discovered a lost civilization -- and a huge, important one that had affected not only the civilizations that succeeded them but still had an influence on the world today. While reading 'The Sumerians' I almost found that I was more excited and interested in the work of finding a new civilization than I was about the civilization itself. The gradual realization that there was a vast network of city-states before the Akkadians came as a true shock, especially since the Sumerians were not Semitic as the later Akkadians were. This was proved by the language they spoke, which is still being deciphered from the thousands of clay tablets found in the area. It is not that the Sumerians are not interesting people. They are fascinating, from laws that allowed women to buy and own their property to the schools for scribes (in which at least one woman's name has was found so far). The Sumerians likely had contacts as far as Egypt and Ethiopia to the west and India to the east. Many elements of their myths found their way into Biblical literature, from The Flood to Job. They had law courts, judges and councils of local men that the King is called upon (but didn't always listen to) when making significant decisions. This was a far more complex civilization than people believed possible 5000 years ago.The Sumerians did seem to be a contentious people who seemed to favor acerbic debate, at least from some of the works were deciphered.
Moreover, here is the true glory of the Sumerian civilization and what kept it from being completely lost to the world: they wrote out everything from lists of the natural world to copies of essays, myths, proclamations, and laws. Thousands of these clay tablets have been found in the ruins of palaces, but also sometimes in the ruins of an edubba -- a school. The Sumerians bequeathed their great gifts of civilization to the Akkadians who conquered them but held on to much of what the Sumerians had created, including the complex form of writing called cuneiform. The Sumerian language, through cuneiform, became the 'Latin' of the distant ancient Near East -- a language that continued to be used in written documents that could be read by educated people no matter what their native tongue might be.The Sumerian legacy is considerable and the discovery of the civilization fascinating. This relatively short book is a good overview of both, and good basic work for the personal exploration of these fascinating people.
Moreover, here is the true glory of the Sumerian civilization and what kept it from being completely lost to the world: they wrote out everything from lists of the natural world to copies of essays, myths, proclamations, and laws. Thousands of these clay tablets have been found in the ruins of palaces, but also sometimes in the ruins of an edubba -- a school. The Sumerians bequeathed their great gifts of civilization to the Akkadians who conquered them but held on to much of what the Sumerians had created, including the complex form of writing called cuneiform. The Sumerian language, through cuneiform, became the 'Latin' of the distant ancient Near East -- a language that continued to be used in written documents that could be read by educated people no matter what their native tongue might be.The Sumerian legacy is considerable and the discovery of the civilization fascinating. This relatively short book is a good overview of both, and good basic work for the personal exploration of these fascinating people.
July 28, 2021
Samuel Noah Kramer’s 1956 book History Begins at Sumer brought the Sumerians into the popular imagination. It captured the sense that there, between the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates, ur-civilization took hold, which would spread its ideas, along with its religion, writing, administration, technology, and military tactics across the world. This book, published nine years later, expands on his earlier research and incorporates what were then the latest archaeological findings.
The first traces of Sumerian culture appear about 4500 B.C., and they lost their military and cultural independence about 1750 B.C., a stretch of almost three thousand years. Their language was an isolate, not closely related to any other known tongue, but based on their poetry and epics, and the general similarity of Sumerian to Ural-Altaic languages, they may have migrated from the area near the Caspian Sea.
The land they took over, either by subjugation or assimilation, was not vacant. There are indications that a Semitic people already lived there.
Like the Egyptians along the Nile, the early Sumerians depended on the rivers for life in an arid land, but the soil was fertile, and small scale irrigation led to expanded population. As the numbers of people grew pressure increased on the available food supply. They could have solved the problem in the usual ways, by warfare or emigration, but instead they learned to work together, to undertake irrigation projects too large for one family, clan, or village. A process was needed to manage the workers, and writing was born, originally just tallies on clay tablets to indicate types and quantities, but expanding over time to become a complete written language, reflecting spoken grammar and inflections. The ability to administer larger and larger groups led to specialization and dedicated priests and scribes, and leaders arose, probably originally military commanders who became kings. Civilization had found its footing.
They used their organizational skills to create an army like none before, and against which their opponents had no answer. “The kings established a regular army, with the chariot – the ancient ‘tank’ – as the main offensive weapon and a heavily armored infantry which attacked in phalanx formation. Sumer’s victories and conquests were due largely to this superiority in military weapons, tactics, organization, and leadership.” (p. 79) But, like written language and centralized administration, their military success was copied by their neighbors, who were then able to battle on equal terms.
There was also something else that set them apart from other peoples who lived in fertile areas and had similar problems to solve. Although they had arisen by close cooperation, the Sumerians were individualistic and competitive, “the chances are that the Sumerians could never have come as far or achieved as much either materially or spiritually, had it not been for one very special psychological drive which motivated much of their behavior and deeply colored their way of life – the ambitious, competitive, aggressive, and seemingly far from ethical drive for pre-eminence and prestige, for victory and success.” (p.278)
They created the first empire, but they were never a united people. Like Greece thousands of years later, they lived in a number of city-states, each jealous of it neighbors and competing for supremacy. “The struggle between the city-states, which in a sense proved to be Sumer’s undoing, was bitter and persistent; and they stubbornly refused to give up their independence.” (p. 275) Again like ancient Greece, they made alliances with other peoples for short term gains, and when their former allies turned on them they could expect no help from their rivals, who were happy to see them fall, not realizing that it would be their own fate as well.
“With Hammurabi’s conquest [in 1750 B.C.] the history of Sumer comes to an end, and the history of Babylonia, a Semitic state built on a Sumerian foundation, begins.” (p. 78) They would still exist as a people for centuries and in the confused history of Mesopotamia, where dynasties rose and fell every few generations, they would regain and lose their independence several more times, but they would never again be the dominate power across the region. Hammurabi was an Amorite, whose people spoke Akkadian, a Semitic language, but Sumerian continued to be used for religious purposes and written documents, and its cuneiform writing would be adapted to dozens of other languages, persisting right up in to the early decades of the modern era.
Once they vanished as a separate people they vanished entirely from the historical record. In the nineteenth century, after the discovery of tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets from Syria to eastern Iran, scholars began to realize that these were written records, and the race was on to decipher them. As the languages became known, attention turned to a group of tablets in another language altogether, found amid archaeological evidence that pointed to a civilization older than any other. Slowly, and only after much internal debate and dissension, was it agreed that this was Sumerian, the original, mother of all written languages.
The history of Sumer is now well known, and its cuneiform tablets have revealed a complex society of rulers, priests, artisans, traders, farmers, and slaves. It was a very different culture from ours, but it was driven by the same motivations, of kindness and cruelty, concern for justice both human and divine, and with everyone looking for security, success, and respect. We have inherited much from that distant people, whose efforts to shape their world shaped our own as well. We can learn lessons from them, some of them cautionary, because we too sometimes prize our individuality without considering the vulnerabilities that individuality creates. Sumer is worth knowing about.
The first traces of Sumerian culture appear about 4500 B.C., and they lost their military and cultural independence about 1750 B.C., a stretch of almost three thousand years. Their language was an isolate, not closely related to any other known tongue, but based on their poetry and epics, and the general similarity of Sumerian to Ural-Altaic languages, they may have migrated from the area near the Caspian Sea.
The land they took over, either by subjugation or assimilation, was not vacant. There are indications that a Semitic people already lived there.
The name of Sumer’s two life-giving rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, or idiglat and buranun as they read in cuneiform, are not Sumerian words, Nor are the names of Sumer’s most important urban centers – Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Isin, Adab, Kullab, Lagash, Nippur, Kish – words which have a satisfactory Sumerian etymology. Both the rivers and the cities, or rather the villages which later became cities, must have been named by a people that did not speak the Sumerian language, just as, for example, such names as Mississippi, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Dakota indicate that the first inhabitants of the United States did not speak the English language. (p. 38-39)
Like the Egyptians along the Nile, the early Sumerians depended on the rivers for life in an arid land, but the soil was fertile, and small scale irrigation led to expanded population. As the numbers of people grew pressure increased on the available food supply. They could have solved the problem in the usual ways, by warfare or emigration, but instead they learned to work together, to undertake irrigation projects too large for one family, clan, or village. A process was needed to manage the workers, and writing was born, originally just tallies on clay tablets to indicate types and quantities, but expanding over time to become a complete written language, reflecting spoken grammar and inflections. The ability to administer larger and larger groups led to specialization and dedicated priests and scribes, and leaders arose, probably originally military commanders who became kings. Civilization had found its footing.
They used their organizational skills to create an army like none before, and against which their opponents had no answer. “The kings established a regular army, with the chariot – the ancient ‘tank’ – as the main offensive weapon and a heavily armored infantry which attacked in phalanx formation. Sumer’s victories and conquests were due largely to this superiority in military weapons, tactics, organization, and leadership.” (p. 79) But, like written language and centralized administration, their military success was copied by their neighbors, who were then able to battle on equal terms.
There was also something else that set them apart from other peoples who lived in fertile areas and had similar problems to solve. Although they had arisen by close cooperation, the Sumerians were individualistic and competitive, “the chances are that the Sumerians could never have come as far or achieved as much either materially or spiritually, had it not been for one very special psychological drive which motivated much of their behavior and deeply colored their way of life – the ambitious, competitive, aggressive, and seemingly far from ethical drive for pre-eminence and prestige, for victory and success.” (p.278)
They created the first empire, but they were never a united people. Like Greece thousands of years later, they lived in a number of city-states, each jealous of it neighbors and competing for supremacy. “The struggle between the city-states, which in a sense proved to be Sumer’s undoing, was bitter and persistent; and they stubbornly refused to give up their independence.” (p. 275) Again like ancient Greece, they made alliances with other peoples for short term gains, and when their former allies turned on them they could expect no help from their rivals, who were happy to see them fall, not realizing that it would be their own fate as well.
“With Hammurabi’s conquest [in 1750 B.C.] the history of Sumer comes to an end, and the history of Babylonia, a Semitic state built on a Sumerian foundation, begins.” (p. 78) They would still exist as a people for centuries and in the confused history of Mesopotamia, where dynasties rose and fell every few generations, they would regain and lose their independence several more times, but they would never again be the dominate power across the region. Hammurabi was an Amorite, whose people spoke Akkadian, a Semitic language, but Sumerian continued to be used for religious purposes and written documents, and its cuneiform writing would be adapted to dozens of other languages, persisting right up in to the early decades of the modern era.
Once they vanished as a separate people they vanished entirely from the historical record. In the nineteenth century, after the discovery of tens of thousands of cuneiform tablets from Syria to eastern Iran, scholars began to realize that these were written records, and the race was on to decipher them. As the languages became known, attention turned to a group of tablets in another language altogether, found amid archaeological evidence that pointed to a civilization older than any other. Slowly, and only after much internal debate and dissension, was it agreed that this was Sumerian, the original, mother of all written languages.
The history of Sumer is now well known, and its cuneiform tablets have revealed a complex society of rulers, priests, artisans, traders, farmers, and slaves. It was a very different culture from ours, but it was driven by the same motivations, of kindness and cruelty, concern for justice both human and divine, and with everyone looking for security, success, and respect. We have inherited much from that distant people, whose efforts to shape their world shaped our own as well. We can learn lessons from them, some of them cautionary, because we too sometimes prize our individuality without considering the vulnerabilities that individuality creates. Sumer is worth knowing about.
September 18, 2015
_The Sumerians_ by Samuel Noah Kramer is a very readable overview of the ancient Sumerians, those ancient, non-Semitic peoples who produced the world's "first high civilization" and were the world's first urban culture. This ancient culture spanned the fifth to the second millennium BC though its scientific and literary achievements would have lasting influence throughout the ancient world and down through today.
The first chapter reviewed the history of the modern study of the Sumerians. As late as the 19th century the Sumerian culture was completely unknown. When scholars and archaeologists began excavating in Mesopotamia they were looking for Assyrians, not Sumerians. The Assyrians were discussed in Greek and Hebrew sources, but of the Sumerians, there was "no recognizable trace of the land, or its people and language, in the entire available Biblical, classical, and postclassical literature" (though some experts now think that Sumer is mentioned in the Bible with a variant name). Sumer had "been erased from the mind and memory of man for more than two thousand years."
This chapter revealed the history of the decipherment of Sumerian writing (the name cuneiform dates from 1700 when Thomas Hyde coined the word to described Old Persian writing that he believed was decoration, not actual speech) and the naming of these people (Sumerian was proposed as a term in 1869 by Jules Oppert, who used the name from the title "King of Sumer and Akkad" found in some royal inscriptions, believing that Sumer referred to the non-Semitic inhabitants of Mesopotamia while Akkad referred to the Semitic people of Mesopotamia).
Chapter two dealt with political history. The Sumerians didn't really produce what we would call histories; they were rather more archivist than historian, chroniclers more than interpreters of history. The first real record of Sumerian events was essentially to preserve for posterity what great building projects (particularly of temples) Sumerian rulers had accomplished. Not all historical source material is "curt and lifeless" though, as one source of information is the royal correspondence between rulers and officials, letters that can reveal motives, rivalries, and intrigue.
As far as history itself the reader learns that two of the truly ancient Sumerian rulers were deified (Dumuzi, a deity whose worship would have profound influences in Judaism and in Greek mythology, and Gilgamesh, the "supreme hero of Sumerian myth and legend," his deeds written and rewritten not only in Sumerian but also in other languages), and that Sargon the Great was the conqueror that finally brought about the end of the Sumerian people as "an identifiable political and ethnic entity" and began the "Semitization of Sumer."
Chapter three looked at life in the Sumerian city. In the third millennium B.C. Sumer consisted of a dozen or so city-states surrounded by a few villages, each city's main feature being the main temple situated on a high terrace, one that gradually evolved into a staged tower or ziggurat, "Sumer's most characteristic contribution to religious architecture." The temple was the largest and most important building in a Sumerian city, reflecting the importance of religion in Sumerian life (though scholars have debated for decades whether Sumer was a "totalitarian theocracy dominated by the temple" or whether there was some relative freedom and private property; opinion now leans towards the notion that while the temple was the major economic player, private individuals could buy and sell property and own businesses).
An important chapter, Kramer looked at such things as the average Sumerian house (a small, single story, mud-brick building with several rooms arranged around an open courtyard), the Sumerian calendar (they divided the year into two seasons, emesh, "summer", and enten, "winter," with the new year falling between April-May), even Sumerian medicine (providing translations of several ancient prescriptions).
Chapter four looked at religion and mythology. The Sumerians recognized a very large number of gods, some of which had some very specific areas of interest (such as a deity in charge of the pickax) but recognized seven gods who "decree the fates" and fifty deities known as "the great gods." Sumerian gods were entirely anthropomorphic, appearing human in form and could eat, drink, marry, raise families, and even die.
Sumerians believed that rite and ritual were more important than either personal devotion or piety, and that man was "created for no other purpose than to serve the gods." They also believed in something called me, essentially a set of rules and regulations that were meant to be followed in order to keep the universe running smoothly. These me's included both positive concepts, like "truth" and but also negative ones like "strife."
The parallels between Sumerian and Greek and Biblical stories were quite striking and Kramer discussed several examples (the Sumerian underworld looked a lot like the later Greek version, complete with a "Charon," for instance and the Sumerians had a Flood myth as well).
Chapter five examined their literature, which included religious hymns and lamentations, epics, dirges, elegies, collections of proverbs, and a favorite Sumerian form of literature, the "wisdom" compositions or disputations in which two opposing protagonists debate back and forth (even if the two protagonists might be say personified animals or tools).
Chapter six looked at the Sumerian edubba or school.
Chapter seven examined Sumerian "drives, motives, and values." The author looked at the role of hatred and aggression in the Sumerian character, their drive for prestige, preeminence, and superiority, though they also valued goodness, truth, even mercy and compassion. Kramer noted though that their ambitious drive for preeminence produced many of the advances for which the Sumerians are noted, such as the development of writing and irrigation but also carried with it the "seeds of self-destruction," which trigged bloody wars between the Sumerian city-states and impeded unification which ultimately proved the downfall of Sumer.
Chapter eight examined the legacy of Sumer, its tremendous influences on other ancient cultures and religions, its numerous technological inventions, even its political advances (they invented the city-state which was in marked contrast to the state of affairs in Ancient Egypt).
The first chapter reviewed the history of the modern study of the Sumerians. As late as the 19th century the Sumerian culture was completely unknown. When scholars and archaeologists began excavating in Mesopotamia they were looking for Assyrians, not Sumerians. The Assyrians were discussed in Greek and Hebrew sources, but of the Sumerians, there was "no recognizable trace of the land, or its people and language, in the entire available Biblical, classical, and postclassical literature" (though some experts now think that Sumer is mentioned in the Bible with a variant name). Sumer had "been erased from the mind and memory of man for more than two thousand years."
This chapter revealed the history of the decipherment of Sumerian writing (the name cuneiform dates from 1700 when Thomas Hyde coined the word to described Old Persian writing that he believed was decoration, not actual speech) and the naming of these people (Sumerian was proposed as a term in 1869 by Jules Oppert, who used the name from the title "King of Sumer and Akkad" found in some royal inscriptions, believing that Sumer referred to the non-Semitic inhabitants of Mesopotamia while Akkad referred to the Semitic people of Mesopotamia).
Chapter two dealt with political history. The Sumerians didn't really produce what we would call histories; they were rather more archivist than historian, chroniclers more than interpreters of history. The first real record of Sumerian events was essentially to preserve for posterity what great building projects (particularly of temples) Sumerian rulers had accomplished. Not all historical source material is "curt and lifeless" though, as one source of information is the royal correspondence between rulers and officials, letters that can reveal motives, rivalries, and intrigue.
As far as history itself the reader learns that two of the truly ancient Sumerian rulers were deified (Dumuzi, a deity whose worship would have profound influences in Judaism and in Greek mythology, and Gilgamesh, the "supreme hero of Sumerian myth and legend," his deeds written and rewritten not only in Sumerian but also in other languages), and that Sargon the Great was the conqueror that finally brought about the end of the Sumerian people as "an identifiable political and ethnic entity" and began the "Semitization of Sumer."
Chapter three looked at life in the Sumerian city. In the third millennium B.C. Sumer consisted of a dozen or so city-states surrounded by a few villages, each city's main feature being the main temple situated on a high terrace, one that gradually evolved into a staged tower or ziggurat, "Sumer's most characteristic contribution to religious architecture." The temple was the largest and most important building in a Sumerian city, reflecting the importance of religion in Sumerian life (though scholars have debated for decades whether Sumer was a "totalitarian theocracy dominated by the temple" or whether there was some relative freedom and private property; opinion now leans towards the notion that while the temple was the major economic player, private individuals could buy and sell property and own businesses).
An important chapter, Kramer looked at such things as the average Sumerian house (a small, single story, mud-brick building with several rooms arranged around an open courtyard), the Sumerian calendar (they divided the year into two seasons, emesh, "summer", and enten, "winter," with the new year falling between April-May), even Sumerian medicine (providing translations of several ancient prescriptions).
Chapter four looked at religion and mythology. The Sumerians recognized a very large number of gods, some of which had some very specific areas of interest (such as a deity in charge of the pickax) but recognized seven gods who "decree the fates" and fifty deities known as "the great gods." Sumerian gods were entirely anthropomorphic, appearing human in form and could eat, drink, marry, raise families, and even die.
Sumerians believed that rite and ritual were more important than either personal devotion or piety, and that man was "created for no other purpose than to serve the gods." They also believed in something called me, essentially a set of rules and regulations that were meant to be followed in order to keep the universe running smoothly. These me's included both positive concepts, like "truth" and but also negative ones like "strife."
The parallels between Sumerian and Greek and Biblical stories were quite striking and Kramer discussed several examples (the Sumerian underworld looked a lot like the later Greek version, complete with a "Charon," for instance and the Sumerians had a Flood myth as well).
Chapter five examined their literature, which included religious hymns and lamentations, epics, dirges, elegies, collections of proverbs, and a favorite Sumerian form of literature, the "wisdom" compositions or disputations in which two opposing protagonists debate back and forth (even if the two protagonists might be say personified animals or tools).
Chapter six looked at the Sumerian edubba or school.
Chapter seven examined Sumerian "drives, motives, and values." The author looked at the role of hatred and aggression in the Sumerian character, their drive for prestige, preeminence, and superiority, though they also valued goodness, truth, even mercy and compassion. Kramer noted though that their ambitious drive for preeminence produced many of the advances for which the Sumerians are noted, such as the development of writing and irrigation but also carried with it the "seeds of self-destruction," which trigged bloody wars between the Sumerian city-states and impeded unification which ultimately proved the downfall of Sumer.
Chapter eight examined the legacy of Sumer, its tremendous influences on other ancient cultures and religions, its numerous technological inventions, even its political advances (they invented the city-state which was in marked contrast to the state of affairs in Ancient Egypt).
March 30, 2024
The discovery of the ancient civilization of Sumeria came about by accident, sometime in the 19th century. Archaeologists were looking for Assyrian ruins and artifacts, driven by what little was hinted at of the people from the Bible. The Sumerians are nowhere in the Bible, or any other existent religious text, and their name and history were lost for over three thousand years. The slow deciphering of the Sumerian language came from deciphering Semitic Akkadian, made possible by a trilingual cuneiform inscription found in Iran, not Iraq as might be expected, given that Iraq is the birth place of cuneiform. These inscriptions of Old Persian, Elamite, and Akkadian, the latter spoken by the Babylonians and Assyrians, allowed scholars to decode ancient forgotten languages and uncover a critical pillar of human history.
So begins Samuel Noah Kramer’s immersive book about the Sumerian civilization, writing, and people. A noted Assyriologist who was involved in the reconstruction of many Sumerian writings, Professor Kramer gives an expansive and satisfyingly detailed picture of the Sumerians across all the important aspects of their civilization. He starts his tale with a history of the explorers and excavators who played major roles in the discovery and piecing together of the relics that allow us to know the Sumerians as well as we do. The 17th century through the 19th was a period of rapid knowledge development as the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were rediscovered and their histories patiently worked out.
The general themes of the book are the Sumerian history, its kings and wars and shifting powers, the structure of its society and cities, its mythology and religions, the character of the Sumerian people, their schools and trades, and their literature, of which a surprising amount has survived. The appendices are a selection of Sumerian writings that offer an amazing glimpse at everything from the Kings List, the letters written between kings and officials, mundane but interesting records of daily life, court proceedings, law codes, spectacular inscriptions on the most ordinary items, and examples of the evolution and imagery of the Sumerian cuneiform.
That any history of such an old culture can be reconstructed at all is incredible to me. It’s a tricky process, as scholars have to work from a combination of epic tales that are largely fabrication and legend, and documents that record conquests, kings, and significant events in scarce detail. Determining what is true from writings meant to convey power and splendor is difficult but possible with the aid of archives and chronicles that seem to confirm some veracity in the epic literature.
For example, the Kings List records some legendary kings as having reigns of thousands of years, many others of reigning for hundreds of years, and when added up we get hundreds of thousands of years of Sumerian rulers, with the sites of power moving to new locations at the end of certain reigns. While obviously not true, there are names and events in this list that are not only names from epics but known through more sober and matter of fact writings.
The few who come to mind are Gilgamesh, whose well known epic needs no mention here; Sargon, a conqueror and great ruler; Etana, the first ruler whose deeds are recorded at all, and who was followed by a series of Semitic rather than Sumerian kings; Enmerkar, who built the city of Erech and led a campaign against Aratta; Lugalbanda, successor of Enmerkar and protagonist of two major epics, and later deified, despite no existent documents recording his accomplishments; and the same is true of his successor Dumuzi, whose death was lamented for centuries and who became a central figure in religious rites, but whose accomplishments are unknown to us. The dynasties of Sumer are understood well enough to place them in time and place. Wars and conquests fill Sumerian history.
Sumerian deities play a significant part in the literature. Myth and religion had familiar themes in Sumer, many of which are still with us. The pantheon consists of such notable figures as An, Enlil, Inanna, Sin, Enki, Ishkur, and the concept of a personal god was known to the people, a sort of entity that one prayed to directly or who provided them with what was needed to live a good life. Enlil constructed our world as separate from the heavens, before he was doomed to live in the underworld despite his supremacy over the pantheon. Enki, the god of wisdom and water, organized the universe itself.
The epics and tales of the gods and lesser gods show a complexity and sophistication in Sumerian thinking, with literary value comparable to that of Greek and Roman epics. This is kind of incredible given the age and state of most of the Sumerian writings. Incredible that such a substantial mythos existed so long ago and incredible that it has been reconstructed so clearly by generations of archaeologists and other scholars.
Kramer suggests that there are many parallels between the Sumerian mythos and Biblical mythos, and his case seems strong to me. He discusses 15 examples, including myths about the creation of the universe, a great flood, the creation of man, the Tower of Babel and the dispersion of mankind, the plague motif, the Cain-Abel motif, and paradise motifs like the rib of a man being used to craft a woman. Sumerian literary activity grew with time and became quite prolific toward the end of their civilization, before being conquered by the Akkadians.
Even their votive inscriptions on vases and doors and other objects reflect an incredible literary culture, although we do not know the extent to which the average Sumerian cared about the written word. The “nar”, or minstrel, and the “dubsar”, or scribe, were responsible for the growth and development of Sumerian literature. Kramer includes excerpts and discussions of many poems and inscriptions throughout the book, and in a few cases presents them in their entirety. Although some parts of these writings are lost or indecipherable, the ideas they convey and the world they paint is one of ritual and saga and curiosity. A dive into the education of the Sumerian and their scribes and priests and other stations of society reveals a structure not too different from our own, more a matter of degree than of kind.
There’s too much to say about this book and its coverage of such a fascinating civilization. I can’t comment on most of its content without quadrupling the length of my review. I’m certainly no expert on the topic, but this book seems to be a perfect study and exploration of the Sumerians. The photos of archeological findings, ruins and relics, of their writing and their sculptures and art, bring to life what Kramer so masterfully captures in words. In some of this surviving stuff, we get a glimpse of a culture that excelled in ways that have rarely been seen in the millennia that followed.
So begins Samuel Noah Kramer’s immersive book about the Sumerian civilization, writing, and people. A noted Assyriologist who was involved in the reconstruction of many Sumerian writings, Professor Kramer gives an expansive and satisfyingly detailed picture of the Sumerians across all the important aspects of their civilization. He starts his tale with a history of the explorers and excavators who played major roles in the discovery and piecing together of the relics that allow us to know the Sumerians as well as we do. The 17th century through the 19th was a period of rapid knowledge development as the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations were rediscovered and their histories patiently worked out.
The general themes of the book are the Sumerian history, its kings and wars and shifting powers, the structure of its society and cities, its mythology and religions, the character of the Sumerian people, their schools and trades, and their literature, of which a surprising amount has survived. The appendices are a selection of Sumerian writings that offer an amazing glimpse at everything from the Kings List, the letters written between kings and officials, mundane but interesting records of daily life, court proceedings, law codes, spectacular inscriptions on the most ordinary items, and examples of the evolution and imagery of the Sumerian cuneiform.
That any history of such an old culture can be reconstructed at all is incredible to me. It’s a tricky process, as scholars have to work from a combination of epic tales that are largely fabrication and legend, and documents that record conquests, kings, and significant events in scarce detail. Determining what is true from writings meant to convey power and splendor is difficult but possible with the aid of archives and chronicles that seem to confirm some veracity in the epic literature.
For example, the Kings List records some legendary kings as having reigns of thousands of years, many others of reigning for hundreds of years, and when added up we get hundreds of thousands of years of Sumerian rulers, with the sites of power moving to new locations at the end of certain reigns. While obviously not true, there are names and events in this list that are not only names from epics but known through more sober and matter of fact writings.
The few who come to mind are Gilgamesh, whose well known epic needs no mention here; Sargon, a conqueror and great ruler; Etana, the first ruler whose deeds are recorded at all, and who was followed by a series of Semitic rather than Sumerian kings; Enmerkar, who built the city of Erech and led a campaign against Aratta; Lugalbanda, successor of Enmerkar and protagonist of two major epics, and later deified, despite no existent documents recording his accomplishments; and the same is true of his successor Dumuzi, whose death was lamented for centuries and who became a central figure in religious rites, but whose accomplishments are unknown to us. The dynasties of Sumer are understood well enough to place them in time and place. Wars and conquests fill Sumerian history.
Sumerian deities play a significant part in the literature. Myth and religion had familiar themes in Sumer, many of which are still with us. The pantheon consists of such notable figures as An, Enlil, Inanna, Sin, Enki, Ishkur, and the concept of a personal god was known to the people, a sort of entity that one prayed to directly or who provided them with what was needed to live a good life. Enlil constructed our world as separate from the heavens, before he was doomed to live in the underworld despite his supremacy over the pantheon. Enki, the god of wisdom and water, organized the universe itself.
The epics and tales of the gods and lesser gods show a complexity and sophistication in Sumerian thinking, with literary value comparable to that of Greek and Roman epics. This is kind of incredible given the age and state of most of the Sumerian writings. Incredible that such a substantial mythos existed so long ago and incredible that it has been reconstructed so clearly by generations of archaeologists and other scholars.
Kramer suggests that there are many parallels between the Sumerian mythos and Biblical mythos, and his case seems strong to me. He discusses 15 examples, including myths about the creation of the universe, a great flood, the creation of man, the Tower of Babel and the dispersion of mankind, the plague motif, the Cain-Abel motif, and paradise motifs like the rib of a man being used to craft a woman. Sumerian literary activity grew with time and became quite prolific toward the end of their civilization, before being conquered by the Akkadians.
Even their votive inscriptions on vases and doors and other objects reflect an incredible literary culture, although we do not know the extent to which the average Sumerian cared about the written word. The “nar”, or minstrel, and the “dubsar”, or scribe, were responsible for the growth and development of Sumerian literature. Kramer includes excerpts and discussions of many poems and inscriptions throughout the book, and in a few cases presents them in their entirety. Although some parts of these writings are lost or indecipherable, the ideas they convey and the world they paint is one of ritual and saga and curiosity. A dive into the education of the Sumerian and their scribes and priests and other stations of society reveals a structure not too different from our own, more a matter of degree than of kind.
There’s too much to say about this book and its coverage of such a fascinating civilization. I can’t comment on most of its content without quadrupling the length of my review. I’m certainly no expert on the topic, but this book seems to be a perfect study and exploration of the Sumerians. The photos of archeological findings, ruins and relics, of their writing and their sculptures and art, bring to life what Kramer so masterfully captures in words. In some of this surviving stuff, we get a glimpse of a culture that excelled in ways that have rarely been seen in the millennia that followed.
February 13, 2013
I don't like most the reviews I am reading here on goodreads for Samuel Noah Kramer's "The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character". Most of the reviews are overly critical and they are always so quick to point out that some of the ideas Kramer had are now considered dated without expanding on what that information is.
"The Sumerians" was published in 1963 by University of Chicago Press. It is an enthusiastic introduction to the Sumerians. I first read it back when I was a child and it was the first book I had come across that specifically focused on the Sumerians.
First off I would like to include a bit about who Samuel Noah Kramer was. Samuel Noah Kramer(1897–1990)was one of the world's most influential Sumerologists. He played a very key role in the understanding of Sumerian language and in the restoration and translation of numerous cuneiform tablets. Kramer attended the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania and earned his Ph.D. in 1929.He was famous for assembling tablets recounting single stories that had become distributed among different institutions around the world.
Chapter one deals with history of the modern study of the Sumerians. It gives a basic overview of how scholars and archaeologists began excavating in Mesopotamia in search of cultures discussed by greek and hebrew sources such as the Assyrians. It also goes into the history of the decipherment of Sumerian writing.
Chapter two was a short overview of Sumerian political history. This is probably the area of the book that most people who are claiming to this book as dated are referring to. Kramer's account of Sumerian history includes all of the more important political events that the academic community uses to organizer Sumerian history. Events such as; the unification of the early dynastic city-states by Lugalzagesi,. Mesopotamia's first real empire under Sargon of Agade, the conquer of Sumer by the Guitans, the glory of the Ur III period and the coming of the Amorites. Since this was all condensed into a single chapter the information is rather brief. There are far more detailed accounts of Sumerian history out there however with the amount of space Kramer uses here he does a satisfactory job of giving readers who are unfamiliar with history a basic outline.
Chapter three is one of my favorite chapters. Kramer goes into specific detail about the Sumerian culture. He discusses Sumerian cities, households, professions, standards, calenders, medicine and other cultural practices.
Chapter four deals with Sumerian religion. Kramer discusses the Mesopotamian pantheon. He goes over the theological views of the Sumerians as well as anthropomorphic nature of their deities. This is a chapter where Kramer's passionate enthusiasm really shines and makes the chapter a lot easier to read than most other scholars I have read discussing this topic.
Chapter five examined their literature, which included religious hymns and lamentations, epics, dirges, elegies, collections of proverbs, and the Sumerian debate poems.
Chapter Six focuses on the Sumerian education system. It goes into detail about Sumerian schools (called Edubba in Sumerian) and the training that was involved in becoming a scribe back then.
Chapter seven discusses the Sumerian's character. Kramer writes of what moral values they had and what was the basis of the motivation.
Finally Chapter eight is on "the legacy of Sumer" which is the topic of one of Kramer's other books and is also the underlying theme of this book. Kramer goes into detail on the many way the Sumerian have left their cultural mark on the world today.
Overall despite being written fifty years ago, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a basic introduction to the Sumerians. It is true that some of the information in it is dated though. In specific example would include that it is the generally accepted view of the academic community that the identity of the Sumerians trading partners "Dilmun", "Magan" and "Meluha" as Bahrain, Oman and the Indus River Valley civilization accordingly.
"The Sumerians" was published in 1963 by University of Chicago Press. It is an enthusiastic introduction to the Sumerians. I first read it back when I was a child and it was the first book I had come across that specifically focused on the Sumerians.
First off I would like to include a bit about who Samuel Noah Kramer was. Samuel Noah Kramer(1897–1990)was one of the world's most influential Sumerologists. He played a very key role in the understanding of Sumerian language and in the restoration and translation of numerous cuneiform tablets. Kramer attended the Oriental Studies Department of the University of Pennsylvania and earned his Ph.D. in 1929.He was famous for assembling tablets recounting single stories that had become distributed among different institutions around the world.
Chapter one deals with history of the modern study of the Sumerians. It gives a basic overview of how scholars and archaeologists began excavating in Mesopotamia in search of cultures discussed by greek and hebrew sources such as the Assyrians. It also goes into the history of the decipherment of Sumerian writing.
Chapter two was a short overview of Sumerian political history. This is probably the area of the book that most people who are claiming to this book as dated are referring to. Kramer's account of Sumerian history includes all of the more important political events that the academic community uses to organizer Sumerian history. Events such as; the unification of the early dynastic city-states by Lugalzagesi,. Mesopotamia's first real empire under Sargon of Agade, the conquer of Sumer by the Guitans, the glory of the Ur III period and the coming of the Amorites. Since this was all condensed into a single chapter the information is rather brief. There are far more detailed accounts of Sumerian history out there however with the amount of space Kramer uses here he does a satisfactory job of giving readers who are unfamiliar with history a basic outline.
Chapter three is one of my favorite chapters. Kramer goes into specific detail about the Sumerian culture. He discusses Sumerian cities, households, professions, standards, calenders, medicine and other cultural practices.
Chapter four deals with Sumerian religion. Kramer discusses the Mesopotamian pantheon. He goes over the theological views of the Sumerians as well as anthropomorphic nature of their deities. This is a chapter where Kramer's passionate enthusiasm really shines and makes the chapter a lot easier to read than most other scholars I have read discussing this topic.
Chapter five examined their literature, which included religious hymns and lamentations, epics, dirges, elegies, collections of proverbs, and the Sumerian debate poems.
Chapter Six focuses on the Sumerian education system. It goes into detail about Sumerian schools (called Edubba in Sumerian) and the training that was involved in becoming a scribe back then.
Chapter seven discusses the Sumerian's character. Kramer writes of what moral values they had and what was the basis of the motivation.
Finally Chapter eight is on "the legacy of Sumer" which is the topic of one of Kramer's other books and is also the underlying theme of this book. Kramer goes into detail on the many way the Sumerian have left their cultural mark on the world today.
Overall despite being written fifty years ago, I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a basic introduction to the Sumerians. It is true that some of the information in it is dated though. In specific example would include that it is the generally accepted view of the academic community that the identity of the Sumerians trading partners "Dilmun", "Magan" and "Meluha" as Bahrain, Oman and the Indus River Valley civilization accordingly.
February 12, 2017
Neredeyse 5000 yıl önceki bir ilkokul öğrencisinin tabletlerini (şimdiki fişlerini diyelim) okumak insana buruk ve düşünceli bir mutluluk veriyor..
November 18, 2010
An awesome book! I have had this book for a very long time and mainly used it for reference, so this was the first time I actually read the whole thing through. My only regret is that I had not read it much sooner. Kramer writes in a way which gets you interested and wanting to continue through and doesn't needlessly weigh it down with to much academia. There is source material used throughout the book to great advantage and I would say that the material used in the chapter on Education was the best, which is odd because one would think that it would be a boring chapter, it literally had me nearly falling out of the chair laughing because I am old enough to be able to identify with the students situtation, i.e., being beat in school for wrongdoings. He does have a few ideas which seem to be out of favor in these days, but I guess it still hasn't been solidly proven i.e., the identities of Dilmun and Meluhha, but it doesn't take away at all from this book at all. Still an important book even after nearly 50 years in print so make sure you have it!
August 20, 2012
After Snow Crash, I wanted to read up on the Sumerians, and so started looking for a good book available on the Kindle. What I found was this book from the 1960's and a bunch of alien-conspiracy books. There didn't seem to be any recent books on Sumerian studies, which seemed odd until I came across this passage from the beginning of the book itself: "But the future of Sumerian excavations in Iraq lies in the hands of the Iraqis themselves, and there is every reason to hope that the Iraqi scholars and archeologists will not abandon or neglect their forefathers of the distant past who did so much not only for Iraq but for man the world over." Yeah, not so much. The Iraqis have been a bit busy. This isn't to say that there aren't any newer paper books available, but Kramer's work seems to still be almost the leading edge of Sumerian knowledge.
This book was very informative. Kramer is careful to show what all of the inferences and assumptions are based on in his summary of Sumerian life. I found the mythology to be the most interesting myself. The description of their laws and government were also very interesting, especially the Sumerians' concern for the poor, the orphan, and the widow. He also tracked the discovery of the Sumerians and the eventual cracking of their language, an interesting story in and of itself. Kramer also includes several literal translations of various Sumerian documents, many of which he translated himself.
You can tell this was written by a scholar and not a professional author as certain pet phrases tend to pop up a lot, but over all, this book was informative, but not so difficult to read as to make it not enjoyable.
This book was very informative. Kramer is careful to show what all of the inferences and assumptions are based on in his summary of Sumerian life. I found the mythology to be the most interesting myself. The description of their laws and government were also very interesting, especially the Sumerians' concern for the poor, the orphan, and the widow. He also tracked the discovery of the Sumerians and the eventual cracking of their language, an interesting story in and of itself. Kramer also includes several literal translations of various Sumerian documents, many of which he translated himself.
You can tell this was written by a scholar and not a professional author as certain pet phrases tend to pop up a lot, but over all, this book was informative, but not so difficult to read as to make it not enjoyable.
Read
December 15, 2025By far, the most engaging book I read on Mesopotamia.
It starts with the Sumerian language and the immense efforts of numerous scholars to decipher it, which took decades.
The history of Sumer follows, from the establishment of the competing city-states to the end of Sumer political existence by the invading Semitic Amorites, who founded the Babylonian empire under Hammurabi.
The next chapters deal with Sumer society and the various roles of people in everyday life; the Sumerian pantheon and the tutelary gods in each city; the literature of Sumer in form of hymns and epic tales (poetic narratives); the Sumerian school (Edduba) where students are prepared to be professional scribes; and the driving motives that shaped the Sumerian character.
It ends with the countless contributions that Sumer gifted to the world with major inventions and intellectual ideas.
Some parts of it are outdated since it was written in the early 1960s.
Overall, it’s still an important book to learn about the great black-headed people.
It starts with the Sumerian language and the immense efforts of numerous scholars to decipher it, which took decades.
The history of Sumer follows, from the establishment of the competing city-states to the end of Sumer political existence by the invading Semitic Amorites, who founded the Babylonian empire under Hammurabi.
The next chapters deal with Sumer society and the various roles of people in everyday life; the Sumerian pantheon and the tutelary gods in each city; the literature of Sumer in form of hymns and epic tales (poetic narratives); the Sumerian school (Edduba) where students are prepared to be professional scribes; and the driving motives that shaped the Sumerian character.
It ends with the countless contributions that Sumer gifted to the world with major inventions and intellectual ideas.
Some parts of it are outdated since it was written in the early 1960s.
Overall, it’s still an important book to learn about the great black-headed people.
July 9, 2015
Four stars for ease of read and summarizing of inscriptions so that those who aren't full blown scholars can understand what they mean, while including the inscription for those of us who are more than casually interested and want to make our own inferences of the texts. It lost one star for the dated nature of SOME of the material and analysis. What you need to know is that by reading this volume you WILL have a strong understanding of Sumerian culture. Certainly there have been advances in our understanding of this culture in the last 40-50 years; but most of it is academic and little of it is available in popular, non-scholarly format. The casually interested will still benefit, while only those already expert in the subject may not.
Also realize that if you are looking for information on the day-to-day lives of the average "Sumerian", you probably won't find it here; but that's is due to the nature of the historical material we have. Inscriptions in stone and baked clay were made for mainly political and financial purposes, and not for chronicling the lives of Bob the Shoemaker or Ashesef the Baker. At the time of print, there was a great volume of material (clay tablets, inscribed stones and pottery) that had been discovered though not translated and studied yet. Even now there are boxes and boxes of material in dusty archaeology department storerooms that have yet to be examined. Kramer has included as many deductions concerning joe-blow Sumerian as had been made at the time of his writing, based on the limited judicial documentation found and interpreted up to that point.
Also realize that if you are looking for information on the day-to-day lives of the average "Sumerian", you probably won't find it here; but that's is due to the nature of the historical material we have. Inscriptions in stone and baked clay were made for mainly political and financial purposes, and not for chronicling the lives of Bob the Shoemaker or Ashesef the Baker. At the time of print, there was a great volume of material (clay tablets, inscribed stones and pottery) that had been discovered though not translated and studied yet. Even now there are boxes and boxes of material in dusty archaeology department storerooms that have yet to be examined. Kramer has included as many deductions concerning joe-blow Sumerian as had been made at the time of his writing, based on the limited judicial documentation found and interpreted up to that point.
July 6, 2009
I'm glad I read this, and I really did learn a lot about the Sumerians -- or at least what we knew about the Sumerians in the 60s. But I was annoyed by the author, who seemed awfully full of himself, always smugly announcing that he was about to include a translation which had never been published before, or that this was the first time one of his ideas had been shared with the public. I couldn't escape the feeling that research which he hadn't published might have been research he _couldn't_ get published in a peer-reviewed journal, which did not increase my confidence in the book! Nor did I appreciate his habit of summarising a Sumerian text in incredible detail, and then including the actual text after the summary -- one or the other would surely have been enough? But in spite of all of that, I now know things I didn't know before, so it wasn't a waste of time. I plan to read a more recent book on Sumerian civilisation to see how things have changed in 40+ years.
January 8, 2018
At over 50 years since this book was published, it should come as no surprise whatsoever that a considerable amount of what Kramer discusses in this book is out of date and has been overturned by later discoveries and research into the ancient Sumerians. For that reason alone, I wouldn’t recommend it to newcomers to the subject. However, I myself read it as a kind of background primer, seeing how study of this ancient society began in its infancy and comparing it to what we know today. Recommended with the caveat that the reader should be aware of the age of the text.
March 5, 2017
First I wanted to give this 5 stars, because it is a very interesting book, and not dry or academical at all. But I felt the author relied heavily on quotation (of Sumerian literature), I feel the matter could have been much more lively if he had theorized more. Still, a hugely entertaining, good book on Sumer. I recommend it to my fellow amateur historians here on GR. You know who you are. ;)
July 19, 2021
Read The Last Chapter First
Samuel Noah Kramer's "The Sumerians" is very detailed account of a significant period of human cultural and societal development with some remarkable surprises (at least for this reader).
The first seven chapters offer perspectives of different aspects of the Sumerian society, government and culture based on extensive scholarly analyses and reconstruction. Some fascinating insights gleamed from the almost overwhelming detail are:
- the shifting between graphics (glyphs) representing an image and symbols/letters for actual words as the written word presumably began to be a recorded expression for the corresponding development of articulated speech;
- the evolution of writing both as an adornment for personal and public objects such as inscriptions or invocations on pottery and the need for public scribes to keeps records of events such as the list of kings and transactions between individuals, be they public or royal figures or between merchants - clearly these records and the need for writing them were likely the equivalent of today's electronic communication which has shortened language and communication even further;
- the development of government and certain religious rituals that had earlier roots in local practice and evolved into customs and practices that continue today in different religions such as Judaism, Christianity as well as possibly Buddhism and Islam.
What is so remarkable is the evolution of this culture and institutions some 7,000 years ago and continuing until eventually the Babylonians would replace this culture with their version and its memorable laws. However, this book with its extraordinarily documented original research and use of secondary sources makes it of particular interest for students and scholars of the period. The early chapters can be somewhat overwhelming in the level of detail for the average reader (with which I include myself). There are some wonderful characters such as Gilgamesh and Sargon, the latter name I seem to recollect being used in some 1950's Hollywood production with Basil Rathbone leaping around in a supposed costume from the period with a hat looking peculiarly like a ziggurat and proclaiming himself Sargon The Great.
And discoveries in the translations of events such as the Great Flood, the latter which seems consistent with not just Noah in the Old Testament but other cultures as well (two recent views theorize the Flood may have been caused by a break in a land dam near the present day Bosporus based on submerged cities discovered in the Black Sea near Bulgaria and Turkey, or unusual flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates River systems, a periodic event that an agricultural society relied on).
However, the last chapter provides a neat summary of the key events in Sumerian history and culture that have been carried on in later cultures, including Western beliefs starting before the New Testament and continuing to the present day. Written in the mid 1960s, Kramer's well documented observations and detail findings have most likely been expanded and updated. In hindsight, for me, this chapter provides an excellent summary of what "The Sumerians" treatise has to offer - and is well worth it.
Samuel Noah Kramer's "The Sumerians" is very detailed account of a significant period of human cultural and societal development with some remarkable surprises (at least for this reader).
The first seven chapters offer perspectives of different aspects of the Sumerian society, government and culture based on extensive scholarly analyses and reconstruction. Some fascinating insights gleamed from the almost overwhelming detail are:
- the shifting between graphics (glyphs) representing an image and symbols/letters for actual words as the written word presumably began to be a recorded expression for the corresponding development of articulated speech;
- the evolution of writing both as an adornment for personal and public objects such as inscriptions or invocations on pottery and the need for public scribes to keeps records of events such as the list of kings and transactions between individuals, be they public or royal figures or between merchants - clearly these records and the need for writing them were likely the equivalent of today's electronic communication which has shortened language and communication even further;
- the development of government and certain religious rituals that had earlier roots in local practice and evolved into customs and practices that continue today in different religions such as Judaism, Christianity as well as possibly Buddhism and Islam.
What is so remarkable is the evolution of this culture and institutions some 7,000 years ago and continuing until eventually the Babylonians would replace this culture with their version and its memorable laws. However, this book with its extraordinarily documented original research and use of secondary sources makes it of particular interest for students and scholars of the period. The early chapters can be somewhat overwhelming in the level of detail for the average reader (with which I include myself). There are some wonderful characters such as Gilgamesh and Sargon, the latter name I seem to recollect being used in some 1950's Hollywood production with Basil Rathbone leaping around in a supposed costume from the period with a hat looking peculiarly like a ziggurat and proclaiming himself Sargon The Great.
And discoveries in the translations of events such as the Great Flood, the latter which seems consistent with not just Noah in the Old Testament but other cultures as well (two recent views theorize the Flood may have been caused by a break in a land dam near the present day Bosporus based on submerged cities discovered in the Black Sea near Bulgaria and Turkey, or unusual flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates River systems, a periodic event that an agricultural society relied on).
However, the last chapter provides a neat summary of the key events in Sumerian history and culture that have been carried on in later cultures, including Western beliefs starting before the New Testament and continuing to the present day. Written in the mid 1960s, Kramer's well documented observations and detail findings have most likely been expanded and updated. In hindsight, for me, this chapter provides an excellent summary of what "The Sumerians" treatise has to offer - and is well worth it.
December 27, 2018
Kutsal dinlerin, tarih boyunca inslanlara anlatılan en büyük masal olduğunu ve kutsal kitaplardaki metinlerin de milattan önce 3000-5000 yılları arasında yaşayan Sümerler'in efsanelerinden alındığnı söyleyerek başlayan "zeitgeist" adlı belgeseli izledikten sonra sözü edilen kaynakları kendim de görebilmek için Sümer uygarlığı konusunda tartışmasız bir otorite olan Profesör Kramer'in bu kitabını okumaya karar verdim.
Yaratılıştaki yer ile gökün birbirinden ayrılması, ilk insanın kilden yaratılmış olması, Tufan olayı , Habil ile Kabil motifinin ve belki hala ulaşalılamamış başka benzerliklerin bulunması bu konuda iki farklı ihtimal oluşturuyor.
Ortaçağda kralları bile sorgulayabilecek kadar güçlü olan ve insanların kutsal kitapların metinlerine ulaşmasını istemeyen kilise veya her dönemde olduğu gibi insanları kontrol altında tutmak için onları kutsal duyguları ile kandırmaya çalışarak güç kazanmaya çalışan yöneticilerin önceki efsaneler ile kitaplardan uydurduğu bir kavram ya da ikinci ihtimal olan insanların mutlu bir şekilde yaşaması ve insanların mutlu olmasını engelleyenlerin ölmeden önce ve öldükten sonra da cezalandırılması gerektiğini söyleyen bir yaratıcının, insanlığın en başından beri insanlara anlattğı öneriler.
Yaratılıştaki yer ile gökün birbirinden ayrılması, ilk insanın kilden yaratılmış olması, Tufan olayı , Habil ile Kabil motifinin ve belki hala ulaşalılamamış başka benzerliklerin bulunması bu konuda iki farklı ihtimal oluşturuyor.
Ortaçağda kralları bile sorgulayabilecek kadar güçlü olan ve insanların kutsal kitapların metinlerine ulaşmasını istemeyen kilise veya her dönemde olduğu gibi insanları kontrol altında tutmak için onları kutsal duyguları ile kandırmaya çalışarak güç kazanmaya çalışan yöneticilerin önceki efsaneler ile kitaplardan uydurduğu bir kavram ya da ikinci ihtimal olan insanların mutlu bir şekilde yaşaması ve insanların mutlu olmasını engelleyenlerin ölmeden önce ve öldükten sonra da cezalandırılması gerektiğini söyleyen bir yaratıcının, insanlığın en başından beri insanlara anlattğı öneriler.
September 22, 2024
I'm not an expert on Mesopotamia, but this book is from 1963, so I presume it's a bit dated. That being said, it is easy to read and Kramer does a compelling job of explaining Sumerian culture and myth. Kramer also provides translations of most of the Sumerian texts he discusses.
May 13, 2024
extremely scholorly written. contains pack fulls of infomation beyong words. to be honest i did read all of the appendixes as i wasnt looking to go to in depth with the sumerian language as such. but this book is a master peice. it isnt for someone who doesnt want extensive learning on the summerians
February 16, 2025
This book was written by an esteemed scholar of ancient Mesopotamia, and serves as an introduction to the remote and elusive Sumerians – the world's first civilization.
It is an introduction in a loose sense of the word, however. The book functions more as a culmination of a lifetime's work in archaeology, cuneiform decipherment, exegesis and reasonable hypotheses. It is not exactly a trim and fat-free overview of Sumerian civilization. This is evidenced by how the book itself starts : with a long chapter on the archaeological history of Sumer. It was surprising to me to discover how extremely recently the very existence of Sumer itself was gleaned. Proceeding further into the text, the account of the various facets of Sumerian civilization is often broken up by numerous authorial digressions, relating to at-that-time recent discoveries or decipherments by then-contemporaries. The book is therefore not solely about the Sumerians, but equally an account of how our knowledge of Sumer came to be.
In any case, the book begins with the aforementioned archaeological history, detailing how the existence of Sumer was hypothesized by dint of the progressive decipherment of long-known Akkadian/Babylonian artifacts. Armed with this stunning realization of a hitherto unsuspected antecedent of the ancient Semitic civilizations of the Near East, the search for ancient Sumer began in earnest during the mid-to-late 19th century.
Having adumbrated how Sumer came into the world's light, the author performs a swift run-through of the 3000 year odd history of Sumer, beginning from the isolated mud-villages and early towns dotting the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, progressing through the consolidation of various city-states under the aegis of kings, the maturity of Sumerian civilization, and their eventual decline at the hands of their aggressive Semitic neighbors, exemplified by the fearsome Sargon of Akkad. The timeframe is roughly 4500BC-1500BC.
The author then proceeds to delineate critical aspects of how the Sumerians thought and functioned - the organization of the Sumerian city with their baked-mud ziggurats, prototypes for the Egyptian pyramids ; their simultaneously complex and incomplete theology and their pessimistic concept of human life, doomed to an inevitable and irretrievable death ; their justly famous literature, the first literature of the world, abounding with religious hymns, hagiographic paeans to their kings, the famous epic of Gilgamesh, bitter lamentations regarding the destruction of their cities, and even witty proverbs and folk sayings ; an examination of Sumer's most enduring invention, the school (the edubba), which originally began as a simple professional institution to guarantee a regular output of the scribes so essential to the Sumerians' obsession with legal documentation but which eventually transformed into a vehicle of cultural diffusion across the ancient Near East - all of these are swiftly, and sympathetically accounted for in succeeding chapters.
Given the extreme recency of Sumer's re-discovery, the fragmentation of the excavated tablets, and the conjoining difficulty of coherence across such fragmentation, gaps in our understanding are acknowledged - and, where possible, filled with reasonable hypotheses. Where this is not possible, the author holds out hope that the ongoing excavation of ancient Sumer will, in time, complete the historical picture.
In the penultimate chapter, the author even undertakes what would be ordinarily construed as a scholarly gamble – viz a hypothesis of the psychological make-up of the Sumerian people, as evinced by their literary artefacts. What emerges is a portrait of a practical, slightly emotionally aloof people, obsessed with material wealth and prestige, suffused with ambition, and - perhaps due to this - obsessed with the authority of law and its documentation ; a people, who in the midst of their love of life, despaired over the inevitability and seeming intractability of death.
The book ends with an analysis of the Sumerians’ impact, most directly countenanced amongst their successor civilizations in the Near East, who simply took over the Sumerian cuneiform, their theology, myths and ethical code. But the author also posits more subtle, longer-ranging reverberations : parallels are drawn with Sumerian mythology and the Hebrew bible, and Sumerian architectural innovations such as the dome and the arch are relocated amongst the Ancient Greeks, probably by means of Babylonian transmission.
As appropriate to a book that is as concerned with the field of Sumerian studies as it is with a straightforward delineation of the civilization itself, there is a respectably thorough appendix. Beginning with a brief overview of the Sumerian language and script, the author then offers a compilation of the inscriptions thats have been excavated and painstakingly assembled through the numerous, duplicated and often contradictory fragments abounding in the ancient Sumerian heimat. There are documentations of court cases, letters from increasingly panicked kings to their governors, votive inscriptions, and fragmentary poems.
In sum, despite its slightly unwieldy nature, this was a fascinating book that is written with the verve and dedication of an utter subject-matter expert, who was obviously concerned with leaving behind a book that would conceivably serve as a single one-volume introduction to the Sumerians, but also as a historical marker to researchers in the future, summarizing the state of Sumerian studies at the time of its' writing. The writing is crisp and knowledgable throughout. The author even allows himself occasional wry humour – most particularly, in the chapter of the Sumerian school, the latter of which, the author, a long-suffering academic himself, probably felt some professional sympathy with.
It is an introduction in a loose sense of the word, however. The book functions more as a culmination of a lifetime's work in archaeology, cuneiform decipherment, exegesis and reasonable hypotheses. It is not exactly a trim and fat-free overview of Sumerian civilization. This is evidenced by how the book itself starts : with a long chapter on the archaeological history of Sumer. It was surprising to me to discover how extremely recently the very existence of Sumer itself was gleaned. Proceeding further into the text, the account of the various facets of Sumerian civilization is often broken up by numerous authorial digressions, relating to at-that-time recent discoveries or decipherments by then-contemporaries. The book is therefore not solely about the Sumerians, but equally an account of how our knowledge of Sumer came to be.
In any case, the book begins with the aforementioned archaeological history, detailing how the existence of Sumer was hypothesized by dint of the progressive decipherment of long-known Akkadian/Babylonian artifacts. Armed with this stunning realization of a hitherto unsuspected antecedent of the ancient Semitic civilizations of the Near East, the search for ancient Sumer began in earnest during the mid-to-late 19th century.
Having adumbrated how Sumer came into the world's light, the author performs a swift run-through of the 3000 year odd history of Sumer, beginning from the isolated mud-villages and early towns dotting the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, progressing through the consolidation of various city-states under the aegis of kings, the maturity of Sumerian civilization, and their eventual decline at the hands of their aggressive Semitic neighbors, exemplified by the fearsome Sargon of Akkad. The timeframe is roughly 4500BC-1500BC.
The author then proceeds to delineate critical aspects of how the Sumerians thought and functioned - the organization of the Sumerian city with their baked-mud ziggurats, prototypes for the Egyptian pyramids ; their simultaneously complex and incomplete theology and their pessimistic concept of human life, doomed to an inevitable and irretrievable death ; their justly famous literature, the first literature of the world, abounding with religious hymns, hagiographic paeans to their kings, the famous epic of Gilgamesh, bitter lamentations regarding the destruction of their cities, and even witty proverbs and folk sayings ; an examination of Sumer's most enduring invention, the school (the edubba), which originally began as a simple professional institution to guarantee a regular output of the scribes so essential to the Sumerians' obsession with legal documentation but which eventually transformed into a vehicle of cultural diffusion across the ancient Near East - all of these are swiftly, and sympathetically accounted for in succeeding chapters.
Given the extreme recency of Sumer's re-discovery, the fragmentation of the excavated tablets, and the conjoining difficulty of coherence across such fragmentation, gaps in our understanding are acknowledged - and, where possible, filled with reasonable hypotheses. Where this is not possible, the author holds out hope that the ongoing excavation of ancient Sumer will, in time, complete the historical picture.
In the penultimate chapter, the author even undertakes what would be ordinarily construed as a scholarly gamble – viz a hypothesis of the psychological make-up of the Sumerian people, as evinced by their literary artefacts. What emerges is a portrait of a practical, slightly emotionally aloof people, obsessed with material wealth and prestige, suffused with ambition, and - perhaps due to this - obsessed with the authority of law and its documentation ; a people, who in the midst of their love of life, despaired over the inevitability and seeming intractability of death.
The book ends with an analysis of the Sumerians’ impact, most directly countenanced amongst their successor civilizations in the Near East, who simply took over the Sumerian cuneiform, their theology, myths and ethical code. But the author also posits more subtle, longer-ranging reverberations : parallels are drawn with Sumerian mythology and the Hebrew bible, and Sumerian architectural innovations such as the dome and the arch are relocated amongst the Ancient Greeks, probably by means of Babylonian transmission.
As appropriate to a book that is as concerned with the field of Sumerian studies as it is with a straightforward delineation of the civilization itself, there is a respectably thorough appendix. Beginning with a brief overview of the Sumerian language and script, the author then offers a compilation of the inscriptions thats have been excavated and painstakingly assembled through the numerous, duplicated and often contradictory fragments abounding in the ancient Sumerian heimat. There are documentations of court cases, letters from increasingly panicked kings to their governors, votive inscriptions, and fragmentary poems.
In sum, despite its slightly unwieldy nature, this was a fascinating book that is written with the verve and dedication of an utter subject-matter expert, who was obviously concerned with leaving behind a book that would conceivably serve as a single one-volume introduction to the Sumerians, but also as a historical marker to researchers in the future, summarizing the state of Sumerian studies at the time of its' writing. The writing is crisp and knowledgable throughout. The author even allows himself occasional wry humour – most particularly, in the chapter of the Sumerian school, the latter of which, the author, a long-suffering academic himself, probably felt some professional sympathy with.
October 18, 2024
I'm very normal about ancient Sumer. What do you mean they came up with stories that are still hilarious and heartbreaking literally 4 thousand years later? No, I'm not crying while thinking about our species entertaining ourselves by creating and sharing weird ass stories since forever. Ugh. I also constantly think about the fact that the Bible and co are basically fanfics of Sumerian myths. Can you imagine, all abrahamic religions followers are just basing their faith on ancient Lord of the Rings fan fiction? Blows my mind every fucking time.
May 18, 2010
ilk okuduğum Noah Kramer kitabı benim için hayal kırıklığıydı umarım aynı şeyi yaşamam. muhtemel büyük atalarım olan sümerlerden beni soğutmaması dileğiyle..olmadı kendimi Muazzez İlmiye Çığ'ın kollarına bırakacağım.
July 28, 2020
I find this book difficult to read.
It's seems like the author lacks communication skills.
It would be better to state facts of multiple places, times , and names in a simpler manner.
And periodically summarize.
It's seems like the author lacks communication skills.
It would be better to state facts of multiple places, times , and names in a simpler manner.
And periodically summarize.
January 13, 2022
Wow! I am particularly delighted by the authors intriguing account of the education system. The insightful collection of information has been very helpful to me as a reference text.
Read
April 14, 2025Book Review: The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character by Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character serves as a definitive introduction to one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Kramer, a renowned historian and archaeologist, meticulously examines the Sumerians, who flourished in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) from around 4500 to 1900 BCE. His work is not only a detailed account of Sumerian history but also an insightful exploration of their cultural achievements and societal structure.
A Rich Historical Narrative
Kramer provides a comprehensive overview of Sumerian history, detailing significant developments from the emergence of city-states to the complexities of their societal organization. He discusses key cities like Ur, Uruk, and Lagash, highlighting their roles as cultural and economic powerhouses. The chronological structure of the book allows readers to grasp the evolution of Sumerian society, leading to a deeper understanding of their contributions to human civilization.
Cultural Insights and Achievements
One of the standout aspects of Kramer’s work is his focus on the cultural achievements of the Sumerians. He delves into their innovations in writing, particularly the development of cuneiform script, which is one of the earliest known forms of writing. Kramer also explores Sumerian contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and law, revealing how these advancements laid foundational concepts for future civilizations. His descriptions of Sumerian mythology, religion, and art provide a vivid picture of a rich cultural landscape.
Character and Identity of the Sumerians
Kramer’s exploration of Sumerian character is particularly compelling. He articulates how the Sumerians viewed themselves and their world, emphasizing their values, beliefs, and societal norms. By incorporating various primary sources, such as myths and administrative tablets, Kramer brings to life the thoughts and emotions of the Sumerians, allowing readers to connect with this ancient civilization on a personal level.
Engaging and Accessible Writing
Kramer’s writing style is both engaging and accessible, making complex historical and cultural information understandable for a broad audience. His ability to weave narratives and analyses seamlessly enhances the reading experience, ensuring that both scholars and general readers will find value in the text. The book is well-illustrated, with maps and images that further enrich the reader’s understanding of Sumerian life and geography.
Conclusion: A Fundamental Resource for Understanding Early Civilization
The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character is an essential resource for anyone interested in the origins of human civilization. Samuel Noah Kramer’s comprehensive approach not only documents the achievements of the Sumerians but also highlights their lasting impact on subsequent cultures and societies. This book is a vital contribution to the study of ancient history and a must-read for students, historians, and anyone curious about the foundations of human culture. Through Kramer’s insightful analysis, readers gain a profound appreciation for the ingenuity and complexity of the Sumerians and their enduring legacy in the annals of history.
Samuel Noah Kramer’s The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character serves as a definitive introduction to one of the world’s earliest civilizations. Kramer, a renowned historian and archaeologist, meticulously examines the Sumerians, who flourished in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) from around 4500 to 1900 BCE. His work is not only a detailed account of Sumerian history but also an insightful exploration of their cultural achievements and societal structure.
A Rich Historical Narrative
Kramer provides a comprehensive overview of Sumerian history, detailing significant developments from the emergence of city-states to the complexities of their societal organization. He discusses key cities like Ur, Uruk, and Lagash, highlighting their roles as cultural and economic powerhouses. The chronological structure of the book allows readers to grasp the evolution of Sumerian society, leading to a deeper understanding of their contributions to human civilization.
Cultural Insights and Achievements
One of the standout aspects of Kramer’s work is his focus on the cultural achievements of the Sumerians. He delves into their innovations in writing, particularly the development of cuneiform script, which is one of the earliest known forms of writing. Kramer also explores Sumerian contributions to mathematics, astronomy, and law, revealing how these advancements laid foundational concepts for future civilizations. His descriptions of Sumerian mythology, religion, and art provide a vivid picture of a rich cultural landscape.
Character and Identity of the Sumerians
Kramer’s exploration of Sumerian character is particularly compelling. He articulates how the Sumerians viewed themselves and their world, emphasizing their values, beliefs, and societal norms. By incorporating various primary sources, such as myths and administrative tablets, Kramer brings to life the thoughts and emotions of the Sumerians, allowing readers to connect with this ancient civilization on a personal level.
Engaging and Accessible Writing
Kramer’s writing style is both engaging and accessible, making complex historical and cultural information understandable for a broad audience. His ability to weave narratives and analyses seamlessly enhances the reading experience, ensuring that both scholars and general readers will find value in the text. The book is well-illustrated, with maps and images that further enrich the reader’s understanding of Sumerian life and geography.
Conclusion: A Fundamental Resource for Understanding Early Civilization
The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character is an essential resource for anyone interested in the origins of human civilization. Samuel Noah Kramer’s comprehensive approach not only documents the achievements of the Sumerians but also highlights their lasting impact on subsequent cultures and societies. This book is a vital contribution to the study of ancient history and a must-read for students, historians, and anyone curious about the foundations of human culture. Through Kramer’s insightful analysis, readers gain a profound appreciation for the ingenuity and complexity of the Sumerians and their enduring legacy in the annals of history.
January 4, 2025
In The Sumerians (1963) Samuel Noah Kramer cites the “unusually creative intellect and a venturesome, resolute spirit” of the ancient inhabitants of the land between the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These attributes allowed them to be the first people ever to build a complex society as we would recognize it today, to dwell in cities, to turn arid land into lush, productive farmland, and as a result successfully to store excess grain. And most sweeping and transformational of all, they developed writing. At roughly the middle of the third millennium BCE, the Sumerians first stepped across the threshold between prehistory and history, and the entire human race followed.
No other known culture of the time, or prior to it, left a record, including the Egyptians. Much of what archeologists have dug up are administrative and account-keeping minutiae, which is very logical, given the surplus grain and agricultural produce which was held in trust by the authorities in the world’s first cities. But Kramer also covers the heroic epics, the lyric poetry, the disputations (for the Sumerians were a pushy, adversarial lot, and individuals strived to be the first among their peers), the proverbs, and the votive verses which they produced.
They developed the practice over time of codifying their laws in written compendia, a practice copied by the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and all societies to this day. The Sumerians also very apparently influenced the Hebrews, who a thousand years after the height of the Sumerian civilization, busied themselves compiling the early books of the Bible. Consider:
— Both cultures envision strikingly similar processes of creation, with land being separated from the sea by divine agency;
— Both traditions viewed the creation of the human race as clay being given the “breath of life”;
— Both foundation myths include paradise motifs, the Hebrews citing it explicitly as the original home of Adam and Eve. Many Sumerian characteristics and descriptions find their echoes in Genesis;
— Both legends contain a devastating Flood, and they contain numerous striking parallels;
— The Cain and Abel motif in the Bible is a much-abridged version of a frequently repeated favorite theme of many Sumerian writers and poets.
There are other echoes and apparent influences as well: the personal god, ethical and moral standards, the divine retribution theme, where an angry god annihilates the nation of his people, usually by an outside conquering force, and the Job motif of suffering and submission. The two sources even begin with the same introductory plot.
Not all comprehensive surveys engage the reader as effectively as this one, nor do they paint so vivid a picture of their subject. For an academic treatise, this is as enjoyable as it is comprehensive.
https://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2...
No other known culture of the time, or prior to it, left a record, including the Egyptians. Much of what archeologists have dug up are administrative and account-keeping minutiae, which is very logical, given the surplus grain and agricultural produce which was held in trust by the authorities in the world’s first cities. But Kramer also covers the heroic epics, the lyric poetry, the disputations (for the Sumerians were a pushy, adversarial lot, and individuals strived to be the first among their peers), the proverbs, and the votive verses which they produced.
They developed the practice over time of codifying their laws in written compendia, a practice copied by the Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans, and all societies to this day. The Sumerians also very apparently influenced the Hebrews, who a thousand years after the height of the Sumerian civilization, busied themselves compiling the early books of the Bible. Consider:
— Both cultures envision strikingly similar processes of creation, with land being separated from the sea by divine agency;
— Both traditions viewed the creation of the human race as clay being given the “breath of life”;
— Both foundation myths include paradise motifs, the Hebrews citing it explicitly as the original home of Adam and Eve. Many Sumerian characteristics and descriptions find their echoes in Genesis;
— Both legends contain a devastating Flood, and they contain numerous striking parallels;
— The Cain and Abel motif in the Bible is a much-abridged version of a frequently repeated favorite theme of many Sumerian writers and poets.
There are other echoes and apparent influences as well: the personal god, ethical and moral standards, the divine retribution theme, where an angry god annihilates the nation of his people, usually by an outside conquering force, and the Job motif of suffering and submission. The two sources even begin with the same introductory plot.
Not all comprehensive surveys engage the reader as effectively as this one, nor do they paint so vivid a picture of their subject. For an academic treatise, this is as enjoyable as it is comprehensive.
https://bassoprofundo1.blogspot.com/2...
May 24, 2020
This book is one that has influenced me like few others! I read it shortly after first discovering the existence of that very first civilisation - the Sumerians, and was intrigued by how these first city states arose. When I then read this wonderful book from the library, I was hooked into a lifelong interest and pursuit of understanding the Sumerians. Of course I purchased Kramer's book a few years later, but only 30 years or so on have I read it a second time.
Kramer was basically in charge of the cuneiform collection of the University of Pennsylvania and in touch with all the other great museum/university collections of the world; so is eminently qualified to write a history from these first written records. History doesn't truly exist before writing itself and rather belongs to prehistory. And so that is what this book presents - an brilliant expose of the Sumerians sourced primarily in their own records. Kramer isn't as strong on the archaeological material - for example he doesn't mention the potsherd evidence of plain burnished ware - most likely ration bowls, that appears in many other works. However this isn't his scope. He deals with his topic of the texts with absolutely unparalleled depth and precision; in the process expounding Sumerian 'history, culture and character' better than anything else I've ever found. Of course it helps that he writes so clearly and succinctly; cutting across all levels of expertise.
Some have complained this volume is now outdated (1963), while of course a few decades are a drop in the bucket when compared even to their rediscovery in the mid 18th century. I can't see any evidence for such a claim. No one seems to have written any general work that has either expanded on what Kramer brings, nor contradicted his work (indeed laughably some of the more recent "general" works have a fraction of Kramer's word count yet profess to cover a wider field and longer time frame). I can suggest three reasons why this is not outdated and remains the single most important reference to the Sumerians. One - it is the trend of academia to specialise nowadays and therefore all we are filling in is 'detail' in specialist journals, secondly the vast section of cuneiform sources available to the few who can read them were dug up and collected together either side of the turn of the 2oth century, therefore there has been best part of a century working with the source material already - we're in the consolidation of data stage; thirdly for the last few decades Sumer geographically has been a no-go area so we aren't adding new fieldwork to the body of knowledge and won't until Iraq stabilises politically.
All in all, wider reading to adds detail to the picture of Sumerian civilisation but this is the one to give depth and breadth to 'The Sumerians'.
Kramer was basically in charge of the cuneiform collection of the University of Pennsylvania and in touch with all the other great museum/university collections of the world; so is eminently qualified to write a history from these first written records. History doesn't truly exist before writing itself and rather belongs to prehistory. And so that is what this book presents - an brilliant expose of the Sumerians sourced primarily in their own records. Kramer isn't as strong on the archaeological material - for example he doesn't mention the potsherd evidence of plain burnished ware - most likely ration bowls, that appears in many other works. However this isn't his scope. He deals with his topic of the texts with absolutely unparalleled depth and precision; in the process expounding Sumerian 'history, culture and character' better than anything else I've ever found. Of course it helps that he writes so clearly and succinctly; cutting across all levels of expertise.
Some have complained this volume is now outdated (1963), while of course a few decades are a drop in the bucket when compared even to their rediscovery in the mid 18th century. I can't see any evidence for such a claim. No one seems to have written any general work that has either expanded on what Kramer brings, nor contradicted his work (indeed laughably some of the more recent "general" works have a fraction of Kramer's word count yet profess to cover a wider field and longer time frame). I can suggest three reasons why this is not outdated and remains the single most important reference to the Sumerians. One - it is the trend of academia to specialise nowadays and therefore all we are filling in is 'detail' in specialist journals, secondly the vast section of cuneiform sources available to the few who can read them were dug up and collected together either side of the turn of the 2oth century, therefore there has been best part of a century working with the source material already - we're in the consolidation of data stage; thirdly for the last few decades Sumer geographically has been a no-go area so we aren't adding new fieldwork to the body of knowledge and won't until Iraq stabilises politically.
All in all, wider reading to adds detail to the picture of Sumerian civilisation but this is the one to give depth and breadth to 'The Sumerians'.
March 11, 2021
I will read pretty much anything. So long as it is interesting. But books on history have always eluded me. I think it is because I find reading history so daunting. If I want to read about WWII, shouldn't I first learn about WWI? But wait, what came before that? After asking myself that question about a thousand times, I followed this line of thinking to its logical conclusion: let me just start at the beginning of civilized history, that way I won't miss anything. And that's why I decided to pick up a book on the Sumerians.
But even though reading this book was predicated on a joke I made to myself, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
"[Sumer's] climate is extremely hot and dry, and its soil, left to itself, is arid, wind-swept, and unproductive. The land is flat and river-made, and therefore has no minerals whatever and almost no stone. Except for huge reeds in the marshes, it had no trees for timber. Here, then was a region with 'the hand of God against it,' and unpromising land seemingly doomed to poverty and desolation. But the people inhabiting it, the Sumerians, as they came to be known by the third millennium B.C., were endowed with an unusually creative intellect and a venturesome, resolute spirit . . . . they turned Sumer into a veritable Garden of Eden and developed what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man." Page 3.
The author clearly thinks highly of the Sumerians. He tells us how much they accomplished, how early in civilized history they accomplished it, and how little they accomplished it with. It really puts it into perspective how small the individual is in the face of all human history. And since Sumerian civilization sits on the foggy precipice of pre-history, the Sumerian story is shrouded in such an alluring mystique. Cities rose and fell, wars were fought, and yet we have only broken clay tablets to tell these stories.
I cannot even begin to summarize the contents of this book, so I will simply share the chapter titles, as I feel they give a good overview:
-archeology and decipherment
-history: heroes, kings, and ensi's
-religion: theology, rite, and myth
-literature: the sumerian belles-lettres
-education: the sumerian school
-character: drives, motives, and values
-the legacy of sumer
From this entire book, a story from the chapter on education has stuck with me the most. It is called "A Scribe and His Perverse Son." It concerns a scribe whose son is in scribe school to follow in his father's footsteps. Unfortunately, the son is ... "perverse" and it not performing as he should. The father reprimands him. That's basically the whole story.
The father to his son: "Because of your clamorings, yes, because of your clamroings, I was angry with you--yes, I was angry with you. Because you do not look to your humanity, my heart was carried off by an evil wind. . . . I, never in all my life, did I make you carry reeds to the canebrake . . . . I never said to you 'Follow my caravans.' . . . I never sent you to work as a laborer. 'Go, work and support me,' I never in my life said to you. Others like you support their parents by working. If you spoke to your kin and appreciated them, you would emulate them . . . I, night and day am I tortured because of you. Night and day you waste in pleasures. . . ."
It is pretty simple, and its language is quite wooden. However, I think it is profound. It shows that nothing has really changed. We are the same as we have always been. We are concerned with the same things. How many movies have you watched, how many books have you read, where a parent is disappointed that their child is not meeting expectations? This leads me to think many modern anxieties are just the same human anxieties dressed up and repurposed to fit the modern age. When I cry into my pillow at night, is it for the same reasons that a Sumerian would?
But even though reading this book was predicated on a joke I made to myself, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
"[Sumer's] climate is extremely hot and dry, and its soil, left to itself, is arid, wind-swept, and unproductive. The land is flat and river-made, and therefore has no minerals whatever and almost no stone. Except for huge reeds in the marshes, it had no trees for timber. Here, then was a region with 'the hand of God against it,' and unpromising land seemingly doomed to poverty and desolation. But the people inhabiting it, the Sumerians, as they came to be known by the third millennium B.C., were endowed with an unusually creative intellect and a venturesome, resolute spirit . . . . they turned Sumer into a veritable Garden of Eden and developed what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man." Page 3.
The author clearly thinks highly of the Sumerians. He tells us how much they accomplished, how early in civilized history they accomplished it, and how little they accomplished it with. It really puts it into perspective how small the individual is in the face of all human history. And since Sumerian civilization sits on the foggy precipice of pre-history, the Sumerian story is shrouded in such an alluring mystique. Cities rose and fell, wars were fought, and yet we have only broken clay tablets to tell these stories.
I cannot even begin to summarize the contents of this book, so I will simply share the chapter titles, as I feel they give a good overview:
-archeology and decipherment
-history: heroes, kings, and ensi's
-religion: theology, rite, and myth
-literature: the sumerian belles-lettres
-education: the sumerian school
-character: drives, motives, and values
-the legacy of sumer
From this entire book, a story from the chapter on education has stuck with me the most. It is called "A Scribe and His Perverse Son." It concerns a scribe whose son is in scribe school to follow in his father's footsteps. Unfortunately, the son is ... "perverse" and it not performing as he should. The father reprimands him. That's basically the whole story.
The father to his son: "Because of your clamorings, yes, because of your clamroings, I was angry with you--yes, I was angry with you. Because you do not look to your humanity, my heart was carried off by an evil wind. . . . I, never in all my life, did I make you carry reeds to the canebrake . . . . I never said to you 'Follow my caravans.' . . . I never sent you to work as a laborer. 'Go, work and support me,' I never in my life said to you. Others like you support their parents by working. If you spoke to your kin and appreciated them, you would emulate them . . . I, night and day am I tortured because of you. Night and day you waste in pleasures. . . ."
It is pretty simple, and its language is quite wooden. However, I think it is profound. It shows that nothing has really changed. We are the same as we have always been. We are concerned with the same things. How many movies have you watched, how many books have you read, where a parent is disappointed that their child is not meeting expectations? This leads me to think many modern anxieties are just the same human anxieties dressed up and repurposed to fit the modern age. When I cry into my pillow at night, is it for the same reasons that a Sumerian would?
August 17, 2022
A somewhat older book from the Library, this was one of the best books about the Sumerians when it was written and is still worth reading; although some of the details have been superseded according to the more recent books on Mesopotamia which I have read this year, none of them is as full in describing the Sumerians, since they all covered the much longer period of Semitic rule from Hammurabi on as well. Kramer begins with an account of our sources and the history of the archaeology of Sumer, then has a chapter on the history largely based on documents from Lagash, followed by chapters on the socio-economic and political organization of the cities, the religion and mythology, the literature, the educational system, the "character" of the Sumerians, and finally the legacy of Sumerian culture throughout the Near East, and especially the influence of Sumerian ideas on the Bible. Throughout the book he quotes extensively from the original texts in his own translations, and there are more texts given in the appendices which make up more than a tenth of the book.
September 27, 2024
While I mostly read for my enjoyment once a quarter or so I undertake to read a book that will educate me. While I enjoy learning, some of these books are horribly dry. Sometimes I need to take a break and return to it.
Not so with this tome! Very readable and entertaining and enlightening. I wish I had had this guy as a teacher. The reading is crisp and easy, while it is a text book (more or less) he (the author) tells stories and he's a wonderful story teller.
I've read other reviews that some of the information in here is out of date - well the book is nearly as old as I am and people keep finding things so no doubt. But I feel it gave me good feel for a part of ancient history I was largely unfamiliar with.
I cannot recommend this book strongly enough - if you have a touch of curiosity about the ancient world.
Not so with this tome! Very readable and entertaining and enlightening. I wish I had had this guy as a teacher. The reading is crisp and easy, while it is a text book (more or less) he (the author) tells stories and he's a wonderful story teller.
I've read other reviews that some of the information in here is out of date - well the book is nearly as old as I am and people keep finding things so no doubt. But I feel it gave me good feel for a part of ancient history I was largely unfamiliar with.
I cannot recommend this book strongly enough - if you have a touch of curiosity about the ancient world.
April 17, 2021
A very good introduction to Sumerian culture. The book covers multiple facets, starting with the archeological discoveries and the deciphering of cuneiform. From there, Kramer discusses it's history, society, religion, literature and education. The final chapters describe the drives, motives and values of the Sumerian people, and a summary of their achievements and heritage. The reader is left with a sufficient understanding of this fascinating civilization. I initially began this book interested in their mythology. I will probably search out another book to further my understanding, but was happy to have this broad comprehension of the culture as a whole for context.
August 15, 2021
I feel a little badly giving this three stars. Samuel Noah Kramer is one of the giants in his field, and at this time this book was written in the early 1960s this was cutting-edge stuff. Each chapter in the book is a separate essay on ancient Sumerian civilization regarding a particular topic: history, religion, writing, education, etc. analyzing the same small body of Akkadian and Sumerian writing from different perspectives. I do recommend this book, due to its thoroughness, but with the caveat that more recent works will be more accurate, as the field has advanced significantly over the past 60 years.
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