Sumerian
Early cuneiform civilization
Sumerian refers to the ancient civilization of Sumer in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), one of the earliest known urban societies, flourishing from roughly 4500 to 1900 BCE.
The Sumerians developed cuneiform writing, one of the first writing systems.
Sumerian also names their language, unrelated to any other known language family: Sumerian clay tablets, a Sumerian text.
Early Mesopotamian metropolis
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
- city-stateSelf-governing urban territory
- irrigationArtificial water supply for agriculture
- Bronze AgeEarly metalworking civilization period
Tigris · Euphrates · temple · priest-king · agriculture · canal · dynasty · urban
Stylus-impressed ancient script
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
- logogramSymbol representing entire word
- clay tabletInscribed earthen slab
- MesopotamianOf the two-rivers land
Semitic · dead language · Gilgamesh · scribal · syllabary · determinative · phonogram · lexicon
Mesopotamian heaven deity
- pantheonAll gods of a religion
- deityWorshipped supernatural being
- templeSacred worship structure
- offeringSomething presented or given
ritual · mythology · underworld · creation myth · divine · priestess · sacred · ziggurat
Mesopotamian epic protagonist
- epicImpressively grand in scope
- mythTraditional explanatory tale
- hymnReligious song of praise
- proverbTraditional saying expressing truth
lamentation · poetry · narrative · scribe · composition · oral tradition · flood story · descent
Very old indeed
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
- collapseSudden structural failure
- successionFollowing in order
- archaeologyStudy of physical remnants
excavation · stratigraphy · artifact · chronology · prehistory · foundation · origin · timeline
Ur
Early Mesopotamian metropolis
- zigguratStepped ancient temple mound
- city-stateSelf-governing urban territory
- irrigationArtificial water supply for agriculture
Bronze Age · Tigris · Euphrates · temple · priest-king · agriculture · canal · dynasty · urban · settlement
cuneiform
Stylus-impressed ancient script
- AkkadianAncient Semitic Mesopotamian language
- logogramSymbol representing entire word
- clay tabletInscribed earthen slab
Mesopotamian · Semitic · dead language · Gilgamesh · scribal · syllabary · determinative · phonogram · lexicon · bilingual
Anu
Mesopotamian heaven deity
offering · ritual · mythology · underworld · creation myth · divine · priestess · sacred · ziggurat · hymn
Gilgamesh
Mesopotamian epic protagonist
proverb · lamentation · poetry · narrative · scribe · composition · oral tradition · flood story · descent · verse
ancient
Very old indeed
- antiquityGreat age, ancient era
- collapseSudden structural failure
- successionFollowing in order
archaeology · excavation · stratigraphy · artifact · chronology · prehistory · foundation · origin · timeline · dating
- languagesEnglish, Arabic, Chinese, German, French
- ancient historyancient history, ancient world, classical antiquity, ancient empires, Babylon
- Ancient MesopotamiaBabylon, Assyria, cuneiform, Nineveh, Akkadian
- IraqBaghdad, Basra, Mosul, Fallujah, Kurdistan
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Tigris, Euphrates, cuneiform, Tigris River
- writing historyalphabet, cuneiform, hieroglyphics, hieroglyphs, scripts
SumerianAkkadian
Ancient Semitic Mesopotamian language
Semitic · Assyrian · Babylonian · Aramaic · Chaldean
SumerianIndo-European
Vast language family
Semitic · proto-language · living language · modern language · spoken language
SumerianEgyptian
Relating to the pharaohs' land
Indus Valley · Chinese · Minoan · Phoenician · Vedic