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Ancient Man and His First Civilizations

Sumer

Modern "Iraq"

 

 

Throughout the pages of Realhistoryww we rail against the lies of Albinos as relates to history and Race. We offer proof of our claims and hope to shame Albinos into better behavior. But alas, it has all been for naught, Albinos haven’t gotten better, they have gotten even worst! Note these latest examples.

 

 
     
This is the authentic face mask of King Tut found in his tomb   This is the forensic mockup of King Tut created by a French artist named Élisabeth Daynès. This mockup is displayed in National Geographic and many academic venues.

 

 

Élisabeth Daynès

Élisabeth Daynès is a French sculptor (self-taught, without formal education). In 1981 she worked with the Théâtre de la Salamandre in Lille creating masks for the theatre. In 1984, she founded her own studio, Atelier Daynès, in Paris. A few years later the Thot Museum in Montignac, close to the Lascaux caves, asked her to sculpt a life size woolly mammoth with a group of hominids. She has since specialized in reconstructing hominids from remaining bones. Her work is present at museums all over the world, like Musée des Merveilles in Tende, Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Transvaal Museum in Pretoria, Sangiran Museum in Indonesia, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet in Stockholm and Museum of Human Evolution in Burgos (Spain). One of her most notable sculptures is at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum in northern Croatia where she made a reconstruction of an entire seventeen member Neanderthal family. In 2005 she created a life like model of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in a project with National Geographic. In 2010 Daynes won the John J. Lazendorf Paleoart prize, widely regarded as the most prestigious reward given to artists in science art related to paleontology, in the 3-Dimensional Art category.

 

 

Just look at that, the Albinos are so desperate to get their lies out, with at least some support, that they are now taking UNEDUCATED hacks and commissioning them to make forensic mockups of ancient Blacks.

And then Albinos had the nerve to give them prizes, as if they had done something worthwhile: when in fact all they had done was to do great injury to truth, and hopes for Brotherhood and understanding.

 

 

Here is what it takes to actually do "REAL" forensic mockups

Google search: Requirements to Become a Forensics Anthropologist

This is a career requiring extensive education. You will need a bachelor’s degree in anatomy, biology, chemistry, physiology or anthropology as well as a graduate degree in human biology or anthropology. Though a degree at the Master’s level may qualify you to begin your investigative career, most forensic anthropologists have a Ph.D. degree.

 

 

 

Here is more of Élisabeth Daynès lying handiwork.

 

   

Magdalenian Girl is the common name for a skeleton dated ca. 15,000 to 13,000 years ago, in the Magdalenian period. The remains were discovered in 1911 in the Dordogne region of southwestern France in a limestone cave known as the Cap Blanc rock shelter.

Below is how the racist, lying, Élisabeth Daynès made that Black woman look!

 

The "Pataud woman" is the name given to the remains of a young woman, about 20 years old, deposited with the body of a newborn child in the Abri Pataud shelter in southwestern France. The remains are about 21,000 years old.

Below is how the racist, lying, Élisabeth Daynès made that Black woman look!

 

The Chancelade man was discovered in 1888 in the cave of Raymonden Chancelade in Dordogne France. The skeleton was that of an adult man, estimated to have been between 55 and 65 at death. The man had been intentionally buried and liberally coated with ochre. The grave also contained Magdalenian tools, dating from 17,000 to 12,000 years before present.

Below is how the racist, lying, Élisabeth Daynès made that Black Man look!

   

 

These "REAL" people, not the silly Albino mockups of Albino imagination above: were of course Africans settling Europe at the end of the last "Ice Age". In all pages in Realhistoryww relating to Europe, you will find the scientific proof of that. We are particularly fond of the scientific Study "Cranial Discrete Traits in a Byzantine Population and Eastern Mediterranean Population Movements": but for those wanting more, there are many other scientific studies cited and displayed on our pages.

 

 

So why are we making so much fuss about a simple Albino lie, one of so many? Because it feeds into the overall Albino lie methodology used to keep Blacks ignorant and powerless. We have said that Albino media, Academia, and Institutions, are all a part of the Albino lie infrastructure. Here is a nice example of Albino Newspapers promoting the lies.

 

 

 

 

SEE NOW HOW THE PHONY PICTURES OF ALBINO EUROPEANS ABOVE, COME INTO PLAY?

 

 

 

Now here is the "REAL" story

 

 

Quote above: Strikingly, the mummies were more closely related to

ancient Europeans and Anatolians than to modern Egyptians.

 

 

Well here are the ancient Europeans!

   

 

 

And here are the ancient Egyptians!

   

There are TWO kinds of MODERN Egyptians,

Anatolians (Turkey), Arabians, and Middle Easterners generally:

The White and Mulatto ones are Turks!

 

 

 

 

The others are the Black ones

that Albino media never show you!

 

 

 

Modern Egyptians

 

 

Modern Persians aka Iranians

 

 

 

 

Modern Arabs

 

 

Now do you see how the Albino Lie Machine Works?

 

 

 

 

The Nonsense that White People are Cold Adapted Humans

One of the Albinos most outrageous lies is that they are “WHITE SKINNED” because they are a “COLD ADAPTED” People who EVOLVED light Skin to better absorb Sunlight for vitamin “D” synthesis. That is a ridiculous lie, and it is thoroughly and scientifically debunked Here: << Click here >>

 

 

 

 

 

Before going on to Ancient History,

let us first establish some "Modern" backgrounds.

 

 

2016 study - The genetics of an early Neolithic pastoralist from the Zagros, Iran.

 

White people (Albinos) invariably state or imply that they were the founders of civilization. As a matter of fact, even in scientific studies like this one, which disproves that assertion, they NEVER say that it's Blacks they are talking about. Instead they hide that truth behind scientific "Mumbo jumbo" intended to obfuscate the race of the subjects and confuse the reader. Assuming most Black readers of this material have a similar experience in Albino schools and universities with Albino books, materials and curriculums, and Albino teachers. How often, if EVER, have you been clearly informed as to the "Race" of any people or individual? Most likely NEVER, because Albinos "Condition" you to assume that they are talking about people like themselves, NOT you.


The fact is that neither they nor us have any idea when "OUR" Albinos first grouped together to form a racial entity. Some say it was 5,000 - 12,000 years ago, but that has not been proven. Needless to say, we have no idea when Humans (Blacks); first developed the genetic mutations which causes the disease of Albinism. But of course, whatever the time, that would have been long before Albinos chose to group together in Central Asia.


Additionally - they never admit that they are Albinos - or derived from Albinos for those later admixed with Blacks, who reacquired pigmentation and the ability to tan. All the while, in studies like this one, they use the presence or absence of Albinism genes SLC45A2 and SLC24A5 to determine if the subject was WHITE or BLACK! Ponder that for a moment: scientifically they test for Albinism to determine if a subject was like THEM or Black. Yet all the while, denying that they are Albinos.


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TEXT OF STUDY


The agricultural transition started in a region comprising the Ancient Near East and Anatolia ~12,000 years ago with the first Pre-Pottery Neolithic villages and the first domestication of cereals and legumes1,2. Archaeological evidence suggests a complex scenario of multiple domestications in a number of areas3, coupled with examples of trade4. Ancient DNA (aDNA) has revealed that this cultural package was later brought into Europe by dispersing farmers from Anatolia (so called ‘demic’ diffusion, as opposed to non-demic cultural diffusion5,6) ~8,400 years ago. However a lack of aDNA from early Neolithic individuals from the Near East leaves a key question unanswered: was the agricultural transition developed by one major population group spanning the Near East, including Anatolia and the Central Zagros Mountains; or was the region inhabited by genetically diverse populations, as is suggested by the heterogeneous mode and timing of the appearance of early domesticates at different localities?

(Please note: we present this study simply to augment our proofs of Albino falsification of history. It is NOT intended to provide factual history! Consider the absurdity of the above assertion - to wit: Africans came up through Africa, then through the Levant and into Anatolia (now Turkey). In the Levant or Anatolia; they "Suddenly" figured out that they could "plant" Flora, watch it grow, then harvest it when it ripened: Instead of constantly moving around to find already ripened Flora. Then once they learned this, they sent word back to Africa! We wonder if they are really that stupid, or just that racist. {Note: Modern Man (Blacks) were in the Levant prior to 100,000 B.C. and in Europe - after the passing of the Ice age - at about 45,000 B.C.}

Note_2: Levant is the name applied widely to the eastern Mediterranean coastal lands of Asia Minor and Phoenicia (modern-day Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon). In a wider sense, the term can be used to encompass the entire coastline from Greece to Egypt. The Levant is also part of the Fertile Crescent.

 

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Back to the study:
To answer this question, we sequenced the genome of an early Neolithic female from Ganj Dareh, GD13a, from the Central Zagros (Western Iran), dated to 10000-9700 cal BP7, a region located at the eastern edge of the Near East. Ganj Dareh is well known for providing the earliest evidence of herd management of goats beginning at 9,900 BP7,8,9. It is a classic mound site at an altitude of ~1400 m in the Gamas-Ab Valley of the High Zagros zone in Kermanshah Province, Western Iran. The individual sampled, 13A (referred to as GD13a throughout the text), was a 30–50 year old female; the other individuals in the burial unit were a second adult (13B) and an adolescent (13). The mitochondrion of GD13a was assigned to haplogroup X, most likely to the subhaplogroup X2, which has been associated with an early expansion from the Near East and has been found in early Neolithic samples from Anatolia5, Hungary and Germany.

We compared GD13a with a number of other ancient genomes and modern populations using principal component analysis (PCA)28, ADMIXTURE29 and outgroup f3 statistics30. GD13a did not cluster with any other early Neolithic individual from Eurasia in any of the analyses. ADMIXTURE and outgroup f3 statistics identified Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers of Western Georgia, just north of the Zagros Mountains, as the group genetically most similar to GD13a:

 

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Recall our statement: "Albinos "Condition" you to assume that they are talking about people like themselves, NOT you." Well we have just experienced a perfect example of that very thing. Haven't we all been conditioned to associate the Caucasus (Caucasians - Caucasoid) with WHITE people?

Here is how the TERM came about - from Wikipedia:

The term Caucasian originally referred in a narrow sense to the native inhabitants of the Caucasus region. In his The Outline of History of Mankind (1785), the German philosopher Christoph Meiners first used the concept of a "Caucasian" (Kaukasischen) race in its wider racial sense. Meiners acknowledged two races: the Caucasian or beautiful, and the Mongolian or ugly. His Caucasian race encompassed all of the ancient and most of the modern native populations of Europe, the aboriginal inhabitants of West Asia (including the Phoenicians, Hebrews and Arabs), the autochthones of Northern Africa (Berbers, Egyptians, Abyssinians and neighboring groups), the Indians, and the ancient Guanches.

In his earlier racial typology, Meiners put forth that Caucasians had the "whitest, most blooming and most delicate skin". In a series of articles, Meiners boasts about the superiority of Germans among Europeans, and describes non-German Europeans' color as "dirty whites", in an unfavorable comparison with Germans. Such views were typical of early proto-scientific attempts at racial classification, where skin pigmentation was regarded as the main difference between races. This view was shared by the French naturalist Julien-Joseph Virey, who believed that the Caucasians were only the palest-skinned Europeans. (Comment - yet they refuse to accept that they are Albinos)!

 

 


Before returning to the study, let us first establish who were the "REAL" Caucasians:

 

 

The first civilization in the Caucuses was the Colchian culture. Here is how the Greek historian Herodotus (c. 440 B.C.) described the Colchians - Quote: "Egyptians said that they believed the Colchians to be descended from the army of Sesostris. My own conjectures were founded, first, on the fact that they are black-skinned and have woolly hair, which certainly amounts to but little, since several other nations are so too; but further and more especially, on the circumstance that the Colchians, the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians (Nubians) , are the only nations who have practised circumcision from the earliest times."

 

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Back to the study:


whilst PCA also revealed some affinity with modern Central South Asian populations such as Balochi, Makrani and Brahui. Also genetically close to GD13a were ancient samples from Steppe populations (Yamanya & Afanasievo) that were part of one or more Bronze age migrations into Europe, (Kinda - but not fully - admitting that Whites are NOT native to Europe); as well as early Bronze age cultures in that continent (Corded Ware) in line with previous relationships observed for the Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers.
GD13a appears to be related to Caucasus Hunter Gatherers and to modern South Asian populations.


The phenotypic attributes of GD13a are similar to the neighboring Anatolian early farmers and Caucasus Hunter-Gatherers. Based on diagnostic SNPs, she had dark, black hair and brown eyes (see Supplementary). She lacked the derived variant (rs16891982) of the SLC45A2 gene associated with light skin pigmentation (In other words - SHE WAS A BLACK WOMAN!), but likely had at least one copy of the derived SLC24A5 allele (rs1426654) associated with the same trait. The derived SLC24A5 variant has been found in both Neolithic farmer and Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer groups suggesting that it was already at appreciable frequency before these populations diverged. Finally, she did not have the most common European variant of the LCT gene (rs4988235) associated with the ability to digest raw milk, consistent with the later emergence of this adaptation5,15,21.

{Could she be of the Gutians? - just a thought}

 

Partial Albinism list

 

Note: The ability to digest raw milk is a nonsense "Tell" and of unknown purpose. As BOTH Blacks and Whites happily drink Milk, and BOTH populations have people who can't digest Milk - what's the point?

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The question is often asked: "if White people are really Albinos,

then how can there be SO MANY of them: especially since Albinism is so RARE?


Firstly - WHO told you that it's rare? This is where the axiom "Consider the source" comes into play.
Secondly: let’s look at the Worlds Populations:


There are approximately 7.6 billion people on this Earth.
Between Europe and the Americas, it is estimated that there are 800 million Albinos on this Earth.
There are about 1.5 Billion "light-skinned" Mulatto Mongols (formerly called the "Yellow Race" because of the tell-tale yellow hue of some mulattoes - of ANY race): these are the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The number of "Pure" Albinos in these countries is unknown and probably exaggerated because these societies tend to "Feature" them to outsiders. Likewise the number of Native Blacks in these societies (Jomon, Ainu, Nigrito, Mon), is unknown because these societies tend to hide them from outsiders: (see the China section for more).


The South East Asian populations (Philippines, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia: are darker, and obviously Mulatto from the migrations of Chinese into those Nigrito/Mon lands starting in the 1600s. Indonesia is actually still mostly Black, but with a Chinese ruling elite. See the relevant section or “Special Subject Page” for more. So for obvious reasons, we make no attempt to racially classify these people - as with the Mulatto populations of North Africa, the Middle-East, and the Americas.

 

The rest of the Worlds people (Over 5 Billion of them) are Blacks of every kind!


So in answer to the question: "how can there be SO MANY of them".


Actually there is not as many of them as they make it seem:

and it appears that in "certain" populations, the MAJORITY of the offspring are Albino.

 

While in other populations, Albinism is truly rare.

 

But one thing is certain, Albinos mating with Albinos, can ONLY produce more Albinos.

Only Blacks can make Blacks AND Albinos too!


 

BACKGROUND:

Turks

It was not that long ago when Albino and Mulatto media told us that those "Half-White" and White people in North Africa, the Middle-East, and Arabia, were Berbers, Arabs, Egyptians or Persians. But now, with the conflict between them and European Albinos heating up, it appears that a crack has developed in their common anti-Black armor. Some European Albinos no longer feel the need to continue those parts of Albino Race and History lies, which served to legitimize them as descendants of the aforementioned ancient Black people.

Oghuz Turks

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Oghuz, Oguz or Ghuzz Turks were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz languages from the Common branch of Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia. The name Oghuz is a Common Turkic word for "tribe". Byzantine sources called the Oghuz the Uzes. By the 10th century, Islamic sources were calling the Muslim, as opposed to shamanist or Christian Oghuz, the Turkmens. By the 12th century this term had passed into Byzantine usage, and the Oghuzes were now overwhelmingly Muslim.


The Oghuz confederation migrated westward from the Jeti-su area after a conflict with the Karluk branch of Uigurs, (Jeti-su/Zhetysu: is the historical name of a part of Central Asia, corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan). The founders of the Ottoman Empire were descendants of the Oghuzes.


Today the residents of Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Khorezm, Turkmens of Afghanistan, Balkans, Iraq and Syria are descendants of Oghuz Turks and their language belongs to the Oghuz (also known as southwestern Turkic) group of the Turkic languages family.

Comment - Why this Albino source fails to include the residents of Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel (Jews are Khazar Turks), Palestine, etc. as also being Turks, is unknown and incorrect.

 

 

 

They were White!

 

As anyone who has ever read modern Albino history, or watched an Albino movie, or done any such thing can tell you, all of the original ancient cultures of man were made up of White people. Forget that the average European would quickly die from UV exposure working the fields of Egypt, Mesopotamia (Sumer, Akkadia, Assyria, Babylonia), Arabia, etc: bare-chested as the ancient art indicates. But it doesn't matter, in their delusion European Albinos sincerely believe that they are old, and not Albinos. Therefore it is illuminating when we see that the old guard of Albino historical scientists were not so crazy, they actually admitted that the original founders of mans cultures and civilizations were Africans.

 

 

PREHISTORIC MAN AND HIS STORY.

By Professor G. F. SCOTT ELLIOT, M.A., B.Sc., F.L.S., F.R.G.S.

With Seventy Illustrations and Diagrams. Demy 8vo. 7/6 net.

THE NEGROID OF GRIMALDI

The Aurignacians found the Moustierian or Neander-thaler in France, and during all the changes sketched above, the former seem to have held their own in that country. After the Wurm Ice Age the Aurignacians modified their weapons and mode of life, and, after the theory which we have adopted, became the men of La Madeleine.

These Aurignacians and their Magdalenian descendants pervaded all Central and Southern Europe. Their remains have also been discovered in Valetta (Malta), in Phoenicia (Nahr Antelias), and elsewhere, as we shall try to show later. But during this long period of time two other races also succeeded in entering France and Italy. These were a “ negroid,” perhaps pygmy, folk and the men of Solutrean.

We have seen that the Aurignacian was originally an African, and if he traversed North Africa on his way from Egypt and Mesopotamia, it would have been a very remarkable fact if he had not come in contact with the African pygmy or his ancestors, for the Bushman, Wam-battu, and the other pygmies are the oldest African race known to us.

The “ negroids ” discovered by Dr. Verneau in the Grotte du Grimaldi, though differing greatly from modern Bushmen, show that the Aurignacians were acquainted with a negroid stock, which may perhaps be assumed to be an ancestor of, or allied to, the pygmy. It is difficult to say exactly what was the relation between the Aurignacian and this “ negroid ” race.

Moreover, since the discovery of this burial, characteristic skulls of the same negroid affinity have been found in Spain, in Brittany (of Neolithic date), at Sierra (not earlier than the thirteenth century), in Sardinia, at Ostorf, and perhaps in Caithness.

 

 

 

 

 

Concerning Literature

Egyptians, Sumerians, Mohenjo-daroans, Harappans, and Cretans, Elamites, and Nubians, were literate 3,000 years, 4,000 years, who knows how many thousands of years, before the world ever heard of Greeks or Romans. And there is ample evidence of their literacy.

Yet there is not one single entry: describing any of the people of their times, whether it be friends, foes, or invaders: or even more incredulously, there is not one single entry describing invading Whites in any of their literature, (Except the Sumerian Guti quote).

Contrast that with Greek and Roman writings, in which these NEWLY literate people, describe EVERYTHING and EVERYONE!

The discrepancy is of course, not accidental, nor for lack of material.

Hopefully, the White man has simply withheld this material, and not destroyed it.

 

 

First some fast facts:

The name "Sumer" is derived from the later Babylonian name for southern Babylonia, ("mät umeri"), the land of Sumer. The later Greeks, called it Mesopotamia: (mesos "middle" and potamos "river"), so "land between the rivers". The Sumerians themselves, called their country, "The Civilized land" and themselves "The Black Headed One's".

Other people of the area were known as Akkadians, they inhabited the land just north of Sumer. The Assyrians, inhabited the land just north of the Akkadians. Akkadians are known by that name because "Sargon the great" built a city called "Agade". Akkadians and Sumerians did not make a distinction between themselves. The name Babylonia, is taken from the minor Amorite town of Babilla. After the ascension of Hammurabi, it become the major city of the region. Therefore in historical writing, Mesopotamia and Babylonia, are commonly used to refer to the entire region.

The ancient country of Sumer was located in the southern part of the modern state of Iraq. In early times, Sumerians like Egyptians, were fastidious about cleanliness, and like the Egyptians, they were for the most part “Head Shavers”. However, unlike the Egyptians, they did not wear wigs to cover their shaved heads, they seem to have preferred wearing caps. It is not known if they also practiced circumcision, as did the Egyptians.

 

Note: In keeping with our mission to present accurate and truthful history, artifacts such as the plaques, lintels etc. showing depictions of people, identified as Sumerian, with crudely carved faces and bulbous noses will not be presented. Some of these are obviously NOT Sumerian: perhaps Hittite in provenance? (such as it is). The rest are modern fabrications.

Authentic material from the area and time, fails to show any people, who look like that, or depicted themselves like that, (except perhaps those known as Hittites). Special attention should be paid to NOSES: Compare statue noses with the noses on finely detailed Sumerian Cylinder Seal figures such as below. (Those Cylinder Seals of poor quality, with little detail, and pointy facial features are of dubious authenticity).

It must be acknowledged that certain "Liberties" have been taken with Egyptian and Sumerian statuary, as well as the artifacts of others. We must all be mindful that by virtue of victorious war and invasion, these artifacts are now in the hands of people who are NOT their originators

Consequently; there has been attempts to establish ethnic commonalities and affinity with these original people, where none exists. Unfortunately, these attempts at commonality and affinity have taken the form of alterations, mutilations, forgeries and misrepresentations.

As with almost all statues of Egypt, Sumer, and the Middle East in general, certain modifications were made to the facial features – chiefly the Nose - so as to make the face look Caucasian. In cases where modification was too difficult, the nose was simply broken off.

These practices are despicable and at the same time pathetic. But the damage is already done, and cannot be undone. Since new sites, are even now being found, we can only hope that in the future, men will not feel themselves so "Lacking", that they will feel the need to do such things.

Please see "Sumer" in the Additional Material Menu Area for more on this issue - Blue Banner below - or <<Click Here>>

 

 

Sumer Culture

 

 

In Sumer, society adhered to a class system comprised of three tiers: amelu, mushkinu, and slaves. The amelu were at the top rung of the class system. Nobles, government officials, professional soldiers, and priests were found in this class. Next were the mushkinu, the "middle class" of Sumerian society. These were the shopkeepers, farmers, merchants, and laborers. Slavery was an integral part of life in Sumer, and slaves were the lowest in the class system.

A person could find themselves a slave for several reasons, such as a prisoner of war, people unable to pay their debts, or people born into slavery. Husbands could sell their wives into slavery, and parents could sell their children into slavery. However, slaves did hold a few rights, they could borrow money, own property, engage in trade, serve as a witness in a legal matter, and even buy their freedom. Slaves who purchased their freedom, or who were freed by their owner, could not be forced back into slavery. The slave class did not appear to hold any particular negative social stigma with Sumerian citizens, they held the belief that persons who found themselves slaves, did so out of misfortune, rather than any fault of their own.

 

Sumer Kingship

Ancient Sumers civic structure, was comprised largely of freemen, who met in concert to govern themselves. The citizens initially held power, and decisions were made in an assembly. In times of need, such as war, a lugal (big man) was elected only for the duration of that threat. Over time however, this position became permanent and hereditary, a kingship: father to son.

Sumerian society and prosperity, was based on agriculture and commerce, fields irrigated by man-made canals produced an assortment of crops. The king, and the Temple of a cities patron god, - {thus the priests} - owned much of the land, but it was very common for the "average" man to own property. There was a large disparity between the rich and the poor, but even the poor, could own their own land and livestock. Coins were not used, commerce was accomplished through barter, or by payments of silver and gold. Purchases of even the smallest things, were almost always confirmed in writing.                                        

In family Life, Monogamy was the normal practice, although concubines were tolerated. Family elders often arranged marriages. Part of the marriage ceremony, consisted of the presentation of a sealed tablet, in which the guidelines for the marriage, and later if necessary divorce, were laid out. Marriage was a complex institution regulated by many laws. Children had no legal rights, their parents, simply by publicly disowning them, could have them banished from the community, in all likelihood there was age restrictions for this practice. Normally however, children were loved and cared for, and adoption was very common. But if necessary, children could also be disowned and sold into slavery, to repay a debt.

 

 

 

 

Religion

Sumerian religion had its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water and animals. The ancient sages of Sumer found it necessary to bring order, to that which they did not understand. And to this end, they came to the natural conclusion that a greater force was at work. The forces of nature were originally worshipped, as entities onto themselves. However over time, the human form became associated with these forces. Gods in human form, were then seen as having control over nature. As in Egypt, figures with human bodies and animal heads are common.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sumerian theologians believed that every intricacy of the cosmos, was controlled by a divine and immortal being, and that the cosmos adhered to established rules.

The world below was known as the nether world. The Sumerians believed that the souls of the dead, descended into the nether world from their graves. But there were also special entrances to the nether world, in the cities. A person could enter the nether world from one of these special entrances, but once there, could not leave, unless a substitute was found to take their place in the world below. A person entering the nether world must adhere to certain rules:

He must not make any noise.
He must not carry any weapons.
He must not wear clean clothes.
He must not behave in a normal manner towards his family.
He must not wear sandals.
He must not douse himself with "good" oil.

Failure to adhere to these rules would cause the person to
be held fast by the denizens of the nether world, until a god intervened on their behalf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gods of Sumer were human in form, and maintained human traits. They ate, drank, married, and fought amongst themselves. Even though the gods were immortal and all-powerful, it was apparent that under certain circumstances, they could still be hurt and even killed.

Each god adhered to a set of rules of divine authority, known as the "Me". The Me ensured that each god was able to keep the cosmos functioning, according to the plans handed down to them by the paramount god "Enlil".

Hundreds of deities were recognized in the Sumerian pantheon. Many of these were wives, children, and servants of the more powerful deities. The gods were organized into a caste system, at the head of this system were the kings or supreme gods. The four most important deities were An, Enlil, Enki, and Ninhursag. These were the four creator deities who created all of the other gods. "An" was initially the head of the pantheon, but he was eventually seceded by Enlil. Enlil was then seen as the most important god. He is known as "the king of heaven and earth," "the father of the gods," and "the king of all the gods". Enlil was thought to have developed the broad designs for the universe. However, it was Enki who further developed and carried out his plans. Ninhursag was regarded as the mother of all living beings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Under the four creator deities, there was the group of seven gods, who "decree the fates." These were An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Nanna, Utu, and Inanna. These were then followed by the 50 "great gods" or the Annunaki, the children of An.

Sumerians believed that their role in the universe was to serve the gods. To this end, the ancient Sumerians devoted much of their time, to ensuring favor with the gods. This was done with worship and sacrifice. The high gods however, were believed to have more important things to do, than to attend to the common man's everyday prayers. And so personal gods were devised, as intermediaries between man, and the high gods. The personal gods listened to prayers and relayed them to the high gods.

Religion was an important part, of the daily life of a Sumerian citizen. Accordingly, the largest and most important structure in the city was the temple. Each city had a patron deity, to which its main temple was dedicated. However, a multitude of Gods were recognized, and so some of them might have shrines located in the main temple, while others might have their own smaller temple nearby.

 

Education

The temple served several purposes, most importantly worship and education. Each temple had an educational center, in which students learned mathematics and scribing (writing). The Mathematics taught, included simpler skills such as addition and multiplication, but also went on through to the more complex, such as geometry and square roots. Scribing students would spend many years in study, learning the intricacies of grammar and the thousands of cuneiform symbols. The Sumerian teacher was known as an ummia.

 

 

 

   

 

 

Writing

 

Whether the Sumerians were the first to develop writing is uncertain, but theirs is the oldest known writing system. The clay tablets on which they wrote, were very durable when baked. Archaeologists have dug up many thousands of them - some dated earlier than 3000 B.C. The earliest writing of the Sumerians was picture writing, similar in some ways to Egyptian hieroglyphs. They began to develop their own special style, when they found that on soft wet clay, it was easier to impress a line than to scratch it. To draw the pictures they used a stylus, probably a straight piece of reed with a frayed end. An unexpected result came about: the stylus could best produce triangular forms (wedges) and straight lines. They soon found that a set of these wedges and straight lines, could more efficiently represent words and thoughts. Pictures lost their usefulness and became stylized symbols. This kind of writing on clay, came to be called cuneiform, from the Latin cuneus, meaning "wedge."

 

 

 

 

Cylinder seals

Cylinder seals were another Sumerian invention; they were first used to roll one's signature into the wet clay of a tablet, thus recording a commercial transaction or a short inscription. Over time, Cylinder seals evolved so that they could reproduce pictorial scenes such as banquets. Thousands of these tablets and seals have been found in excavated temple compounds.

 

 

 

 

Sumerian Technology

As said before, there is always an argument, as to whether it was the Sumerians, Egyptians or Indus valley people, who invented writing, mathematics, calendars etc. Suffice to say, that Sumer had developed a complex commercial system, including contracts, grants of credit, loans with interest, and business partnerships. Moreover, the planning of the vast public works under their control, led priests to develop useful mathematics, including both a decimal notation and a number system based upon 60, which has given us our sixty-second minute, our sixty-minute hour and our division of the circle into 360 degrees. They invented mathematical tables and used quadratic equations. They studied the heavens, both for religious and agricultural purposes, and they created a lunar calendar, with a day of 24 hours and a week of seven days. Sumerians are also credited with inventing the Wheel and the wagon, as well as the boat sail.

 

 

 

 

Everyday Life

The average house of a Sumerian, was a one-story structure built from baked or Sun-dried mud-brick. It consisted of several rooms surrounding an open court, wealthier citizens lived in two-story brick structures. The typical wealthy house included reception rooms, kitchens, lavatories, servants quarters, and perhaps a private chapel. Music was an important part of life, instruments included harps, drums, tambourines, and pipes. Poems and songs dedicated to the gods were also very common.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: There is in all likelihood, some translation problems with Sumerian writing, the great bulk of their early writings still cannot be translated. Unlike most others in the Middle-east, the Sumerian language was not Semitic (Egyptian), but rather, a so-called agglutinating language, we think. Sumerian has no known relationship to any other language. There seems to be a remote relationship with Dravidian languages, (like that spoken by the Tamils in the south of India). However no one has any real idea of what the language sounded like. The information that we have, is gleaned from Akkadian translations of the Sumerian language.

 

 

 

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