Who were the Sumerians?

Before the Egyptian, Greek or Roman civilization began to stand out among the most important of ancient cultures, the Sumerians had already developed much of life as the oldest civilization on the planet. the most historic in the Middle East, the main enclave of this civilization is found between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Their origin, to this day, remains a mystery, although they are usually related to the term ‘mat Sumeri’ which means ‘land of Sumer’. First great civilization The Sumerians were the first to settle in relatively large cities. One of its most outstanding achievements is found in the invention of the wheel, around 3,500 BC, which they came to use in multiple ways to make life easier for its inhabitants, although the most significant thing about this civilization was the creation of the first type of writing, known as cuneiform writing. In addition, they made important advances in other areas that later, later civilizations, developed much more.For example, the Sumerians are credited with creating the concept of city, represented in Uruk, Ur, Lagash or Larsa, as the most important of the time. Among them there were power disputes to seize the neighboring territories. They also left the first written laws, advances in medicine, the sexagesimal system, adobe bricks or the first constructions with arches of which there is evidence. The first cities As we say, the Sumerians were the first to develop city-states. These cities were a set of independent states that served as mercantile nuclei.Each area had a particular god to whom they paid tribute and was represented on Earth by a ruler or king.Sumerian cities were built around the temple for the gods, as the daily life of these early urban men was centered on the cult, that is why the first priests arose, as well as the first armies. This temple, the nerve center of the cities, had lands that were cultivated, livestock and trade with friendly cities. The priest was known as “En” and, usually, being the representative of the gods in the world, he also served as the highest political authority. In these Sumerian cities the different social classes began to appear at the same time that the population was divided into various groups: artisans, farmers, priests and soldiers.