Who was Samuel Noah Kramer. What were his major contributions to Sumerian studies. How did Kramer’s work transform our understanding of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. What impact did Kramer’s research have on the field of Assyriology. Why is Samuel Noah Kramer considered a leading authority on Sumer.
The Life and Legacy of Samuel Noah Kramer
Samuel Noah Kramer, a renowned scholar and pioneering authority on ancient Sumerian language and literature, passed away at the age of 93 in Philadelphia. His groundbreaking work in Assyriology and Sumerian studies spanned over six decades, leaving an indelible mark on our understanding of one of the world’s earliest civilizations.
Early Life and Education
Born as Simcha Kramer near Kiev in 1897, he immigrated to Philadelphia with his family in 1905. His journey to becoming a preeminent Sumerologist was not straightforward. Initially aspiring to be a writer, Kramer explored various academic paths before discovering his passion for Egyptology at Dropsie College. A disagreement with his professor led him to the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his doctorate in Oriental studies in 1929, specializing in Mesopotamian languages.
Groundbreaking Research and Discoveries
Kramer’s career took a decisive turn in 1930 when he joined an archaeological expedition to Iraq. This experience ignited his lifelong dedication to Sumerian studies. He began transcribing clay tablets as a Guggenheim Fellow in Istanbul and contributed to the Assyrian dictionary project at the University of Chicago.
- Excavated and translated Sumerian tablets from Iraq
- Worked on collections in Istanbul and the University of Pennsylvania
- Rediscovered and reconstructed Sumerian literature
- Authored over 30 books on Sumerian culture and history
Kramer’s Contributions to Sumerian Studies
Dr. Ake Sjoberg, curator of the Babylonian tablet collection at the University of Pennsylvania, credited Kramer with “really rediscovering the whole Sumerian literature.” His work was so fundamental that it transformed the entire field of Sumerian studies.
Unveiling Sumerian Culture and Society
Through his meticulous translations and analyses, Kramer brought the ancient Sumerian civilization to life. He revealed a rich tapestry of myths, epics, lamentations, and proverbs that painted a vivid picture of Sumerian society. His work showed that the Sumerians, despite living over 4,000 years ago, grappled with many of the same concerns as modern humans.
Can you imagine an ancient civilization with relatable problems? Kramer’s research revealed that Sumerians:
- Worked hard to earn a living
- Worried about their children’s futures
- Engaged in disputes over land and business matters
- Disliked paying taxes (as evidenced by the proverb: “You can have a lord, you can have a king, but the man to fear is the tax collector”)
The Impact of Kramer’s Work on Modern Scholarship
Kramer’s contributions extended far beyond academic circles. His ability to make ancient Sumerian culture accessible to a broader audience through both scholarly articles and popular books helped bridge the gap between the ancient past and the present.
Key Publications
Among his most influential works are:
- “History Begins at Sumer” (1959, reissued in 1990)
- “In the World of Sumer” (autobiography)
These books not only showcased Kramer’s extensive knowledge but also demonstrated his ability to convey complex historical concepts in an engaging and relatable manner.
Kramer’s Approach to Sumerian Studies
What set Kramer apart from his contemporaries? His approach to Sumerian studies was characterized by:
- Meticulous attention to detail in translating cuneiform texts
- A holistic view of Sumerian culture, encompassing literature, religion, and daily life
- The ability to draw parallels between ancient and modern societies
- A commitment to making Sumerian studies accessible to both academics and the general public
Innovative Research Methods
Kramer’s innovative research methods involved:
- Extensive fieldwork in Iraq, excavating Sumerian tablets
- Comparative analysis of tablet collections from various institutions
- Interdisciplinary approach, combining linguistics, archaeology, and cultural studies
- Continuous refinement of translations based on new discoveries
Recognition and Honors
Kramer’s groundbreaking work earned him numerous accolades and honors throughout his career. His contributions were recognized by prestigious institutions and organizations in the field of Oriental studies and archaeology.
Professional Affiliations and Awards
Kramer was a member of several esteemed academic societies, including:
- American Oriental Society
- Archaeological Institute of America
- Society of Biblical Literature
- American Philosophical Society
He received the John Frederick Lewis Prize from the American Philosophical Society and was awarded several honorary degrees in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Sumerian studies.
The Lasting Legacy of Samuel Noah Kramer
How did Kramer’s work continue to influence Sumerian studies even after his retirement? Despite formally retiring at age 70 in 1968, Kramer remained actively engaged in research and writing “almost to the last moment,” as noted by Dr. Sjoberg. His dedication to the field was celebrated on his 90th birthday with a public symposium titled “History Begins at Sumer,” which attracted Sumerian scholars from around the world.
Continuing Influence on Sumerian Studies
Kramer’s legacy in Sumerian studies is characterized by:
- A vast corpus of translated Sumerian texts
- Methodological innovations in cuneiform translation and interpretation
- Increased public interest in Sumerian culture and history
- Inspiration for new generations of Sumerologists and Assyriologists
The Future of Sumerian Studies Post-Kramer
As we reflect on Kramer’s monumental contributions, it’s natural to wonder about the future of Sumerian studies. How will the field evolve in the wake of Kramer’s pioneering work?
Emerging Trends in Sumerian Research
The future of Sumerian studies is likely to be shaped by:
- Advanced digital technologies for analyzing and preserving cuneiform texts
- Interdisciplinary collaborations combining linguistics, archaeology, and data science
- Renewed focus on lesser-known aspects of Sumerian culture and society
- Increased efforts to make Sumerian studies more accessible to the public through digital platforms and interactive exhibits
Kramer’s work laid the foundation for these future developments, ensuring that the study of Sumerian civilization will continue to evolve and captivate scholars and enthusiasts alike for generations to come.
Preserving Sumerian Heritage in the Modern World
In light of Kramer’s contributions, how can we ensure the preservation and continued study of Sumerian heritage in our rapidly changing world? The challenge of preserving ancient cultures becomes increasingly important as we navigate the digital age.
Strategies for Cultural Preservation
Several approaches can help maintain the relevance and accessibility of Sumerian studies:
- Digitization of cuneiform tablets and ancient artifacts
- Virtual reality reconstructions of Sumerian cities and daily life
- Educational programs focusing on the importance of ancient civilizations
- Collaborative international efforts to protect archaeological sites in modern-day Iraq
By building on Kramer’s legacy and embracing new technologies, we can ensure that the fascinating world of ancient Sumer continues to inform and inspire future generations.
Samuel Noah Kramer’s life work stands as a testament to the power of dedicated scholarship and the enduring fascination of ancient civilizations. His contributions not only transformed our understanding of Sumerian culture but also highlighted the timeless nature of human experiences across millennia. As we continue to uncover the mysteries of our ancient past, Kramer’s pioneering spirit and meticulous research methods remain an inspiration to scholars and enthusiasts alike.
Samuel Noah Kramer, 93, Dies; Was Leading Authority on Sumer
Samuel Noah Kramer, one of the foremost authorities on the ancient Sumerian language and literature, died yesterday at his home in Philadelphia. He was 93 years old.
The University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Kramer was a professor emeritus in Assyriology, said he died of throat cancer.
The Sumerians flourished in Mesopotamia more than 4,000 years ago, and their culture was one of the first to leave a written record in cuneiform script on clay tablets. In 1930, Dr. Kramer began the work that continued the rest of his life, excavating Sumerian tablets in Iraq and translating those, along with others from collections in Istanbul and at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ake Sjoberg, curator of the Babylonian tablet collection and director of the Sumerian dictionary project at the university, said Dr. Kramer “really rediscovered the whole Sumerian literature.” ‘Completely Transformed’ Field
Dr. Thorkild Jacobsen, a Sumerologist at Harvard University, said Dr.
Kramer was one of the rare scholars whose contribution to his field was “so basic that the field may be said to have been completely transformed, almost created, by him.”
As Dr. Kramer discovered in ample detail, the Sumerian scribes and poets sang of their gods and goddesses, of floods and kings, of school boys and apple polishing. They created a rich literature of myths, epics, lamentations and proverbs.
In scholarly articles and some 30 books for both academic and popular audiences, Dr. Kramer portrayed the Sumerians as people not very different from those in modern societies. They worked hard to earn a living, worried about their children, argued with each other about land and business and did not like to pay taxes. He discovered and enjoyed quoting one of their proverbs: “You can have a lord, you can have a king, but the man to fear is the tax collector.”
Among his books were “History Begins at Sumer,” published in 1959 and reissued three years ago, and his autobiography, “In the World of Sumer./images/books/948890/1462888064_dsc6979.jpg)
” With characteristic modesty, he once told an interviewer that he had managed to write so much only because he had lived so long.
Born near Kiev on Sept. 28, 1897, Simcha Kramer, as he was then named, came to Philadelphia with his family in 1905. His first public school teacher began calling him Samuel. Later, he enrolled at Temple University intending to become a writer. He also tried his hand at printing and made other false starts at law school and as a graduate student in philosophy.
At the age of 29, while taking courses at Dropsie College in Philadelphia, he discovered the excitement of Egyptology. But a falling out with his professor made him quit Dropsie and Egyptology. He entered the University of Pennsylvania as a graduate student in Oriental studies, specializing in Mesopotamian languages. He earned his doctorate in 1929 with a dissertation that gave no hint of the scope that he would bring to his later research. It was entitled, “The Verb in the Kirkuk Tablets.”
Dr.
Kramer spent 1930 on an archeological expedition to Iraq. It was a time of extraordinary ferment in Mesopotamian archeology with excavations of the ruins of Ur, Kish and Uruk, the great walled city to which the Sumerian hero Gilgamesh returned after many of his adventures.
Dr. Kramer began transcribing tablets as a Guggenheim Fellow in Istanbul and worked on the Assyrian dictionary being prepared at the University of Chicago. He returned to Pennsylvania as a faculty member in 1942 and was appointed Clark Research Professor of Assyriology in 1948.
His retirement at age 70 in 1968 was merely a formality. He continued to translate Sumerian texts and write books, “working almost to the last moment,” as Dr. Sjoberg recalled. On his 90th birthday, the University Museum honored him with a public symposium, “History Begins at Sumer,” that attracted most of the world’s Sumerian scholars.
Dr. Kramer 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.
He was the recipient of several honorary degrees.
He is survived by his wife, the former Mildred Tokarsky; a son, Daniel, of Staten Island; a daughter, Judith Kramer-Greene of Albany, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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44 – Noah Kramer
| Height: | 6-1 |
| Weight: | 195 |
| Year: | ’18 |
| Hometown: | New York, N.Y. |
| High School: | Stuyvesant HS |
| Position: | A |
Awards and AchievementsOne varsity letter
| Recent Games | ||
|---|---|---|
| Apr 9 | #3 Tufts | L, 19-10 |
| Apr 12 | at Williams | L, 10-9 |
| Apr 16 | at Connecticut College | L, 9-7 |
| Apr 19 | #17 Rensselaer | L, 13-10 |
| Apr 23 | at Trinity | L, 17-8 |
| Apr 26 | at St.  John Fisher | W, 10-7 |
| Statistics category | Overall | Conf | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | 4 | 1 | ||
| Points | 3 | 0 | ||
| Goals | 1 | 0 | ||
| Assists | 2 | 0 | ||
| Man-up goals | 0 | 0 | ||
| Man-down goals | 0 | 0 | ||
| Ground balls | 2 | 1 | ||
| Turnovers | 2 | 0 | ||
| Caused turnovers | 0 | 0 | ||
| Faceoffs | 0-0 | 0-0 | ||
| Faceoff percentage | 0. 0 | 0.0 | ||
| Shots | 2 | 0 | ||
| Shooting percentage | 50.0 | – | ||
| Shots on goal | 2 | 0 | ||
| Shots on goal percentage | 100.0 | – | ||
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Sumerian Mythology, by Samuel Noah Kramer – Free ebook
Excerpt from ‘Sumerian Mythology’
The study of Sumerian culture introduced by the present volume, Sumerian Mythology, is to be based largely on Sumerian literary sources; it will consist of the formulation of the spiritual and religious concepts of the Sumerians, together with the reconstructed text and translation of the Sumerian literary compositions in which these concepts are revealed.
It is therefore very essential that the reader have a clear picture of the nature of our source material, which consists primarily of some three thousand tablets and fragments inscribed in the Sumerian language and dated approximately 1750 B. C. It is the first aim of the Introduction of the present volume to achieve such clarification. It therefore begins with a brief sketch of the rather rocky road leading to the decipherment of the Sumerian language and continues with a brief résumé of the excavations conducted on various Sumerian sites in the course of the past three-quarters of a century. After a very brief general evaluation of the contents of the huge mass of Sumerian tablet material uncovered in the course of these excavations, it turns to the Sumerian literary tablets which represent the basic material for our study, and analyzes in some detail the scope and date of their contents. The Introduction then concludes with a description of the factors which prevented in large part the trustworthy reconstruction and translation of the Sumerian literary compositions in the past; the details, not uninteresting in themselves, furnish a revealing and illuminating commentary on the course and progress of one of the more significant humanistic efforts of our generation.
The decipherment of Sumerian differed from that of Accadian and Egyptian in one significant detail, a detail which proved to be one of the factors in hampering the progress of Sumerology to no inconsiderable extent. For in the case of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia, the investigating scholars of western Europe had at their disposal much relevant material from Biblical, classical, and postclassical sources. Not only were such names as Egypt, Ashur, and Babylon well known, but at least to a certain extent and with much limitation and qualification, even the culture of the peoples was not altogether unfamiliar. In the case of the Sumerians, however, the situation was quite different; there was no clearly recognizable trace of Sumer or its people and language in the entire Biblical, classical, and post-classical literature. The very name Sumer was erased from the mind and memory of man for over two thousand years. The discovery of the Sumerians and their language came quite unexpectedly and was quite unlooked for; and this more or less irrelevant detail was at least partially responsible for the troubled progress of Sumerology from the earliest days to the present moment.
Historically, the decipherment of Sumerian resulted from that of Accadian, which in turn followed the decipherment of cuneiform Persian. Briefly sketched, the process was as follows. In 1765, the Danish traveler and scholar, Carsten Niebuhr, succeeded in making careful copies of several inscriptions on the monuments of Persepolis. These were published between the years 1774 and 1778, and were soon recognized as trilingual, that is, the same inscriptions seemed to be repeated in three different languages. It was not unreasonable to assume, since the monuments were located in Persepolis, that they were inscribed by one or more kings of the Achaemenid dynasty and that the first version in each inscription was in the Persian language. Fortunately, at approximately the same time, Old Persian was becoming known to western European scholars through the efforts of Duperron, who had studied in India under the Parsees and was preparing translations of the Avesta.
And so by 1802, with the help of the newly acquired knowledge of Old Persian and by keen manipulation of the Achaemenid proper names as handed down in Biblical and classical literature, the German scholar, Grotefend, succeeded in deciphering a large part of the Persian version of the inscriptions. Additions and corrections were made by numerous scholars in the ensuing years. But the crowning achievement belongs to the Englishman H. C. Rawlinson. A member of the English Intelligence Service, Rawlinson was first stationed in India, where he mastered the Persian language. In 1835 he was transferred to Persia, where he learned of the huge trilingual inscription on the rock of Behistun and determined to copy it. The Persian version of the Behistun inscription consists of 414 lines; the second, now known as the Elamite version, consists of 263 lines; while the third, the Accadian (designated in earlier Assyriological literature as Assyrian or Babylonian) version, consists of 112 lines. During the years 1835-37, at the risk of life and limb, Rawlinson succeeded in copying 200 lines of the Persian version.
He returned in 1844 and completed the copying of the Persian as well as the Elamite version. The Accadian inscription, however, was so situated that it was impossible for him to copy it, and it was not until 1847 that he succeeded in making squeezes of the text. To return to the decipherment of cuneiform Persian, by 1846 Rawlinson published his memoir in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, which gave the transliteration and translation of the Persian version of the Behistun inscription together with a copy of the cuneiform original.
Long before the final decipherment of the Persian text, however, great interest had been aroused in western Europe by the third version of the Persepolis inscriptions. For it was soon recognized that this was the script and language found in numerous inscriptions and bricks, clay tablets, and clay cylinders which were finding their way into Europe from sites that might well be identified with Nineveh and Babylon.
In 1842 the French under Botta began the excavation of Khorsabad, and in 1S45 Layard began his excavations of Nimrud and Nineveh. Inscribed monuments were being found in large quantities at all three sites; moreover, Layard was uncovering at Nineveh a large number of inscribed clay tablets. By 1850, therefore, Europe had scores of inscriptions coming largely from Assyrian sites, made in the very same script and language as the third version of the Persepolis and Behistun inscriptions. The decipherment of this language was simplified on the one hand by the fact that it was recognized quite early in the process that it belonged to the Semitic group of languages. On the other hand, it was complicated by the fact that the orthography, as was soon recognized, was syllabic and ideographic rather than alphabetic. The leading figure in the decipherment of Accadian, or Assyrian as it was then designated, was the Irish scholar Edward Hincks. But once again a major contribution was made by Rawlinson.
In 1851 he published the text, transliteration, and translation of the Accadian version of the Behistun inscription, the large trilingual to whose text he alone had access.
Noah Kramer, 3-star DT, would commit to Oregon Ducks if offered
Noah Kramer
Scout three-star prospect Noah Kramer poses in an Oregon jersey during his unofficial visit to Eugene
(Courtesy of Noah Kramer)
Scout three-star defensive tackle Noah Kramer has lived in Utah for the past eight years, but one can’t blame him for feeling like he was returning home during an unofficial visit to the University of Oregon on Monday.
The 6-foot-3, 270-pound spent the first nine years of his life in Lake Oswego and returned to Oregon this week for the first time since his move to Utah.
But beyond that, Kramer said he was comfortable around the program during his unofficial visit and viewing of spring practice.
“The coaches were friendly. It was great.
They are very welcoming and very patient with the players,” he said. “They make them work hard and get on them, but it’s because they want what’s best for them. They want to be the best.”
Kramer did not receive an offer during his quick stop in Eugene, but he was happy to be met with an honest evaluation from the coaching staff, particularly defensive line coach Ron Aiken.
“They are looking at three or four more nose guards, but I’m just in the mix right now,” he said. “I’m trying to work my way on top.”
In nine games at Northridge last season the space eater finished with 32 tackles and 1 sack.
Those are decent numbers given his responsibility to absorb blockers and take up space, but it’s possible Oregon coaches would like to see a bit more production before they extend a scholarship offer.
But if that offer does come?
“To be honest, I think I would commit on the spot, just because I’m an Oregon native,” he said. “I have a lot of family out here, a lot of friends.
I have a great support group and the coaches have been really supportive. The whole feel of Eugene really catches my eye.”
For now, BYU remains Kramer’s lone offer, and despite his excitement about the Ducks, the defensive lineman insists the Cougars are in it.
“BYU is definitely in the mix,” he said. “It’s a great school with great academics and they’ve got a really good football program.”
Far from Oregon’s strength, the defensive line has been an on-again, off-again concern for some time. Kramer is hoping that he can land an offer from the Ducks and help shore up the trenches for the next few seasons.
— Andrew Nemec
[email protected]
@AndrewNemec
Myspace | Author of Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from SumerIncludes the names: S.N. Kramer, Noah Kramer, S. N. Kramer, Samuel N. Kramer, Samuel Noab Kramer, Sameul Noah Kramer, Samual Noah Kramer, Samuel Noah Kramer, Kramer Samuel Noah, Samuel Noah ed.
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Samuel Noah Kramer – Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian.Sіmkha Noy Kramer, eng. Samuel Noah Kramer, 1897 1990) orientalist, one of the world’s leading Sumerian scholars. Samuel Kramer Biography Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in the city … … Wikipedia
Kramer, Samuel – Samuel Kramer eng. Samuel Noah Kramer Date of birth … Wikipedia
Kramer S. – Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian Simha Noah Kramer, English Samuel Noah Kramer, 1897 1990) orientalist, one of the world’s leading Sumerian scholars.
Samuel Kramer Biography Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in the city … … WikipediaKramer Samuel – Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian Simcha Noah Kramer, English Samuel Noah Kramer, 1897 1990) orientalist, one of the world’s leading Sumerian scholars. Samuel Kramer Biography Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in the city … … Wikipedia
Samuel Kramer – Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian.Sіmkha Noy Kramer, eng. Samuel Noah Kramer, 1897 1990) orientalist, one of the world’s leading Sumerian scholars. Samuel Kramer Biography Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in the city … … Wikipedia
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Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian Simha Noah Kramer; English Samuel Noah Kramer; July 28, 1897, Zhashkov – November 26, 1990) – orientalist, one of the leading Sumerologists in the world. Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 in the city of Zhashkov (now the Cherkasy region of Ukraine) in a religious Jewish family. The boy by birth received two names Simcha (joy) and Noah (in honor of the biblical patriarch Noah). In 1905, the Kramer family, fleeing the Black Hundred pogroms under Tsar Nicholas I…
Samuel Kramer (alternative spelling Samuel Noah Kramer, Ukrainian Simcha Noah Kramer, English Samuel Noah Kramer; July 28, 1897, Zhashkov – November 26, 1990) – orientalist, one of the leading Sumerologists in the world. Samuel Kramer was born on September 28, 1897 years in the city of Zhashkov (now the Cherkasy region of Ukraine) in a religious Jewish family. The boy by birth received two names Simcha (joy) and Noah (in honor of the biblical patriarch Noah).
In 1905, the Kramer family, fleeing the Black Hundred pogroms under Tsar Nicholas II, emigrated to the United States.Samuel Kramer studied Yiddish and Hebrew from childhood, as well as biblical legends. In the United States, Kramer initially chose the career of a teacher, graduated from the School of Education in Philadelphia, but became interested in philosophy and literature. I tried to write works of fiction, but became disillusioned with my literary abilities. Then Kramer tried to go into business, again without pleasure for himself, and at the age of thirty he became interested in oriental studies. Samuel Kramer entered the Eastern Branch of the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Egyptology and Assyriology.In 1930 he defended his dissertation on the Akkadian verb, and finally settled on Sumerology. In the same year he participated in his first excavations in Iraq. After returning from the Middle East in 1932, he participated in the compilation of the Assyrian dictionary.
Samuel Kramer became an expert on ancient Sumerian texts, he managed to collect, reclassify and translate from the Sumerian language many monuments of Sumerian literature, sometimes literally discovering small fragments of the same clay tablet in museums of different continents.Samuel Kramer published more than 250 works, and until his death was considered the leading Sumerologist in the world, the scientist had a remarkable scientific intuition, backed up by deep knowledge. Samuel Kramer made a huge contribution to Sumerology, popularized Sumerian literature, making it accessible to the general reader. Known for his translation of one of the first legislative collections in history – the laws of Ur-Nammu. He also studied in detail the Sumerian-Akkadian epic and defended the progressiveness of the reforms of Uruinimgina. He was a supporter of the “banana tongues” hypothesis.Samuel Kramer maintained close ties with foreign, including Soviet, Assyriologists. In 1957, he visited the USSR to transliterate two Sumerian elegies from a unique clay tablet kept in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, and met with leading Soviet orientalists V.
V. Struve, I. M. Dyakonov and their students. Samuel Kramer retired in 1968, but continued to actively engage in the study of Sumerian history. He died in 1990 in the United States.
On our book site you can download books by the author Samuel Kramer in a variety of formats (epub, fb2, pdf, txt and many others).And also read books online and for free on any device – iPad, iPhone, Android tablet, on any specialized reader. The electronic library BookGuide offers literature by Samuel Kramer in genres.
The first cities, inventions and the calendar: what do we still know about the Sumerians
We live in cities, keep track of time and days, travel on vehicles with round wheels, use money, pay taxes, send children to school and read comics about superheroes, without even realizing that the Sumerians are behind all this.
39 things important for humanity were invented
The largest expert on Sumer, Professor Samuel Noah Kramer, counted 39 things that the Sumerians invented.
And what are these things! Writing, glass, plow, cart on wheels, irrigation system, money, laws, taxes, school, parliament, board games and newspaper. They also built cities, established a monarchy, and carried out social reforms. If some ancient civilization had invented one thing, it would have gone down in history forever. And here as many as 39 achievements, and one more significant than the other!
More people lived in Sumerian cities than in medieval London or Paris
The Sumerians founded about a dozen city-states, which consisted of a walled metropolis, in the center of which was a ziggurat – a multi-tiered temple in the shape of a pyramid.Houses were built of reeds or mud bricks, and elaborate irrigation canals were dug for agriculture. The largest Sumerian city was Uruk, with a population of 40,000 to 80,000. For comparison: in the Middle Ages, no more than 50,000 inhabitants lived in Florence, Milan, Paris or London.
Loved beer, but drank it in an unusual way
El Sumerian was such a thick barley-based mixture that it had to be passed through a special straw for filtration.
The Sumerians prized their beer for its nutrient-rich ingredients and considered it the key to “a joyful heart and a contented liver.”
“Discovered” the time
It was the Sumerians who divided the day into two halves, 12 hours each, and the hour into 60 minutes. They believed that the new day and, accordingly, the new year began not at 12 o’clock, but in the evening of the previous day. This system was later adopted by the Jews, from whom, for example, the Sabbath begins on Friday night.
Watch the new episodes of the “Exploding History” program on Tuesdays at 21:05 (Moscow time) on the Discovery channel.
Fersman Mineralogical Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Mineralogical Museum. A.E. Fersmana
Moscow, Leninsky Prospect 18 building 2,
tel. (495) 954-39-00
Exposure Exp84.
Solikamskoe deposit, 180 km north of Perm, Urals, Russia
former Perm province, Ural, Russia
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
Solikamsk, 180 km north of Perm, Urals, Russia
Artemovskoe deposit, Donetsk basin, Ukraine
Kalush deposit, Prykarpattya, Ukraine
Khoja-Mumyn salt dome, 25 km south-west of the city of Kulyab, Tajikistan
Searles Lake, California, USA
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Novomoskovsk, Tula region, Russia
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Stebnik deposit, 8 km south of Drohobych, Prykarpattya, Ukraine
Wathlingen, 30 km northeast of Hannover, Germany
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co.
, California, USA
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
Kalush deposit, Prykarpattya, Ukraine
Lake Inder, Kazakhstan
Starobinskoe deposit, outskirts of the city of Soligorsk, Belarus
Starobinskoe deposit, outskirts of the city of Soligorsk, Belarus
Saki Lake, near the city of Evpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine
Saki Lake, near the city of Evpatoria, Crimea, Ukraine
Boron open pit, 10 km west of Kramer, Kern Co., California, USA
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