Sumerian Language

The Influential Sumerian Language

The Sumerian civilization and their language is one of the oldest and most influential cultures in human history. The Sumerian civilization was based in Mesopotamia, what is modern-day Southeastern Iraq. The terrain was punishable, and they had to endure arid conditions and annual flooding of the nearby Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. They managed to overcome these hardships, and build a society that can be credited with many inventions that we still use today. 

"Sumerian" is a term given to the cultural group by the Akkadians (who took over their rule around 2000 BCE). The Sumerians identified themselves "the black-headed people". Archaeological evidence suggests that they were farmers who perfected irrigation methods that would have made living in the dry floodplains of the region and dealing with the temperamental rivers easier to live in. They mastered the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and were able to thrive on year-round crop cultivation. Their Sumerian language, though not spoken today, paved the way for the first written alphabet in human history, and ushered in the era of recorded knowledge and information.

The Sumerian language was spoken in Southern Mesopotamia starting around the fourth millennium BC.  Though it was replaced with the Akkadian language around 2000 BC, it continued to be used in Mesopotamia until the first century AD as a scientific and ceremonial language. The Sumerian language is what is referred to by linguists as a language isolate. It was a natural language that could not be traced to any other living language.  It did not descend from any other tongue. It was its own language family.  It was known as an agglutinative language, meaning that words consisted of separable, but meaningful, suffixes.

The history of the Sumerian language was long. It was based on certain linguistic and historic factors that had to do with the people occupying and influencing the region at a particular time in the culture's record.  The language periods are as follows:
* The Archaic Sumerian language period - 3100 - 2600 BCE (Before the Christian Era)
* The Classical Sumerian language period - 2600-2300 BCE
* The Neo-Sumerian language period - 2300 - 2000 BCE
* The Post-Sumerian language Period - 2000-100 BCE
The Post-Sumerian language period occurred when Akkadian became the official language of Mesopotamia, but Sumerian continued to be utilized as a ceremonial and scholarly language (similar to how Latin is used by us today).

The Sumerian language holds the distinction of being known as the first identified written language. The written Sumerian language, known as Cuneiform ("wedge-shaped"), pre-dated Egyptian Hieroglyphics by nearly a century. It was deciphered in modern times by a man named Henry Rawlinson. The books of literature that he created based on his translations contain very little Sumerian because he used tablets from sights that were known to have spoken Akkadian, which post-date the Sumerian language. Despite this, they were still helpful in understanding the written Sumerian language.

There is no shortage of sources in existence today written in the Sumerian language of Cuneiform. There are clay tablets that contain business transactions, religious and astrological information, business and inventory lists, etc. There are also inscriptions on surviving statues and building bricks written in the wedge-shaped language.

The Sumerian civilization left a legacy of invention and scientific advancement that we are benefiting from today. They are credited with such marvelous developments as the wheel and the potter's wheel. They are also recognized as the first astronomers, having identified the planets, the sun, and the moon. They invented the 12-hour clock and 12-month calendar that we still use today, based on a number system they invented.  With the invention of Cuneiform, based on the Sumerian language, they were able to record notable events, information, and knowledge for others to learn from and refer to for years to come. Without a doubt, the Sumerians remain one of the most influential civilizations in human history.

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