The Sumerians and the Elamites

It is important to note that the history of Iran does not start with the Sumerians, but with the Elamites. However, some scholars believe that the Sumerians may have originated from the mountainous regions of western Iran, since their epic poems refer several times to western part of Iran as their original homeland.

Old World Archaeology: Foundations of civilizations:          by Samuel Noah Kramer

"There is some reason to believe that their original home had been in the neighborhood of a city called Aratta, which may have been near the Caspian sea: Sumerian epic poets say something of Aratta, and its people were said to speak the Sumerian language."

by Martha Lamberg Karlovsky

"The kingdom of Elam and its somewhat better-known neighbor, Sumer, were the two earliest urban states to arise in the Mesopotamian area during the fourth millenium B.C. Proto-Elamite inscriptions and early Sumerian ones are the earliest known Mesopotamian writings, which are the oldest known anywhere."

Eventually, the Sumerians migrated to the north of the Persian Gulf since it was more habitable than other regions. Around  3 500 B.C. the Sumerians created the world’s first civilization and were no longer considered to be nomads or hunter and gatherers.

Although the Sumerians did not spoke the same language as the Elamites, there are good indications that these two early civilizations were the same people and in fact shared many aspects of their civilizations.

According to Dr. Samuel Noah Kramer, “The Sumerian paradise was located, according to our poem, in the land of Dilmun, a land that was probably situated in south-western Persia… There is good indication that that the biblical paradise, which is described as a garden planted eastward in Eden, from whose waters flow the four world rivers including the Tigris and Euphrates, may have been originally identical with Dilmun, the Sumerian paradise-land.”

Some important Sumerian inventions:

-Writing (cuneiform)

-Wheels

-Beer 

-The first political “congress” (war congress) in man’s recorded history.
As stated by Dr. Kramer “they took the first steps toward democratic government by curbing the power of the kings and recognizing the right of political assembly.”

-The first Pharmacopoeia

-The first moral ideals (the precursors of the Biblical stories, ex: the story of the great flood is recorded in a Sumerian tablet)

-The first tale of resurrection

-The first proverbs and sayings:

            Who possesses much silver may be happy,
            Who possesses much barely, may be happy,
            But who has nothing at all, can sleep


             For his pleasure: marriage.
             For his thinking it over: divorce 


             A joyful heart: the bride.
             A sorrowful heart: the groom. 


             You go and carry off the enemy’s land;
             The enemy comes and carries off your land.