Check out nine fascinating facts about one of the earliest sophisticated civilizations known to history.
One of the larger Sumerian cities may have had 80,000 residents.
The origins of Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia are still debated today, but archaeological evidence
indicates that they established roughly a dozen city-states by the fourth millennium B.C. These usually
consisted of a walled metropolis dominated by a ziggurat—the tiered, pyramid-like temples associated with the
Sumerian religion. Homes were constructed from bundled marsh reeds or mud bricks, and complex irrigation
canals were dug to harness the silt-laden waters of the Tigris and Euphrates for farming. Major Sumerian city-
states included Eridu, Ur, Nippur, Lagash and Kish, but one of the oldest and most sprawling was Uruk, a
thriving trading hub that boasted six miles of defensive walls and a population of between 40,000 and 80,000.
At its peak around 2800 B.C., it was most likely the largest city in the world.
The hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh was probably a real Sumerian historical figure.
One of the crowning achievements of Mesopotamian literature is the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” a 3,000-line
poem that follows the adventures of a Sumerian king as he battles a forest monster and quests after the secret of
eternal life. While the poem’s hero is a demigod with Hercules-like strength, most scholars believe he is based
on an actual king who served as the fifth ruler of the city of Uruk. The historical Gilgamesh appears on the
Sumerian “King List” and is thought to have lived sometime around 2700 B.C. Few contemporary accounts of
his reign have survived to today, but archeologists have found inscriptions that credit him with building Uruk’s
massive defensive walls and restoring a temple to the goddess Ninhil, which suggests he may have been a real
ruler whose deeds were later repurposed as myth.
Classroom Activity:
1. Read each section of the text
2. Create the vocabulary list
3. Underline the important information to help you determine which section of the wheel of
civilization each topic would cover.
4. In a paragraph form, describe which aspect of the civilization you find most interesting, why?