The People of the Black Heads
The Sumerians were referred to as the Sag-gi (Black Heads) by the later peoples in the region, yet they called themselves the Black Heads. They spoke a language that has not been linked to any other known language. They may be the oldest people to have learned to use writing, developing the alphabet whose characters we now call cuneiform. The clay tablets preserve the names of the kings who ruled over Sumerian cities, but the earliest figures are mythical rather than historical. One of these semi-legendary figures, Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, is the protagonist of the oldest cycle of epic poems in human history, which recounts his battles with various monsters and his quest for immortality. During this same period, the use of bronze weapons and tools began to spread in Mesopotamia. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, much stronger than the copper used previously. The introduction of bronze represents such a significant advancement that the entire period during which it was used, before the discovery of iron, is known as the "Bronze Age."
The Sumerian cities were independent city-states, each ruled by its own king. This political structure, which, as we will see in the coming chapters, was also fundamental for other ancient peoples like the Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, originated with the Sumerians. However, often one city would become more powerful than the others and assert dominance over Mesopotamia; for a long time, the rivalry was primarily between Uruk and Ur. The first conquering king whose name we know, who subdued all the Sumerian cities from the Persian Gulf to Mari, was Eannatum, king of Lagash, who reigned until 2425 BC. His reign saw the creation of the oldest known stone inscription in Mesopotamia, the so-called "Stele of the Vultures," which depicts the king's victory over one of his rivals.
Reconstruction design in which it imagines the transport of a golden cult statue inside a ziqqurat, the typical Mesopotamian templar tower that rose up through declivity terraces, until hosting on the last a temple or templar cell, residence of a god.
Last update: October 11, 2024
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