The Sumerian Civilisation is perhaps the world’s oldest civilisation. By 3000 B.C., the civilisation had gained currency in the better part of Mesopotamia. It is essential to note that Sumer, which was in Southern Mesopotamia, would develop faster than the better part of Mesopotamia hence gain credit as the initial inductors of the civilisation of the world. The Sumerian civilisation was manifested in government, religious and cultural circles. However, the larger civilisation can be attributed to the nexus of operations between religion and government with priests wielding influential control that saw them become government leaders. Culture was radically changed due to the introduction of new foods, technologies in application and the social organisation within the newly developed cities colluded to make the world a different place hence the civilisation.
The Sumerian region developed tremendously such that by 3000 B.C., it had twelve developed, advanced and organized cities. These cities would be centres of rule of the land within the cities and the surrounding country communities. The cities were located in strategic geographical landscapes complete with resources such as water sources from Tigris and Euphrates. This ensured the cities were self-sustaining and productive. At the onset, the main activity was largely agriculture with the utility of irrigation schemes. However, religion also played an essential role in the making of the cities and the civilisation in general. Temples were built everywhere and employed by priests as avenues of getting the collective attention of the subjects of the land. In Ur, for instance, Ziggurats which were essential Sumerian temples were built all over. By around 2200 B.C., the cities had many ziggurats. In the long run, priests would control the ziggurats as well as irrigation effectively giving them political, economic and social control over the people.
This would effectively give them political power enabling them run governments within and without the cities. It is reported that the priests developed a system of government that would maintain order and rule of law among the communities. The rule of law was subject for the interpretation of the law. However, it depended on the singular judgement of the leaders. It allowed for order and social organisation that would culminate into the world civilisation and system of life that facilitates peaceful co-existence. This co-existence is mirrored in modern social organisation albeit with a more robust legal regime. Priests would be paid with grains in addition to controlling the irrigations schemes. This would enable them control wealth. The bearing between wealth and power is not an alien concept in life. Even in the Sumerian civilisation, the controllers of wealth were also the custodians of power. The only outstanding fact unique to the Sumerian civilisation was the fact that the custodians of power were also religious leaders. This also came out in the Roman civilisation but lost currency with the passage of time. Today, religious leaders hold between minimal and no political and or economic control in the world.
However, it is equally important to take note of what facilitated the political control by priests. This was partly enabled by the traditional Sumerian belief in religion. The larger part of Sumer believed in gods and goddesses. They subscribed to the idea that gods and goddesses were in-charge of various facets and products in life. A god was attributed for the rain, another for the floods, while another for food, among other things. This reduced the Sumerians to continuous submission to the divinities. These gods and goddesses, it was believed, were represented by the priests and hence the subscription to the ideologues and control by the priests. This developed a cohesive and orderly society that would work for the development and continued excellence of Sumer.
It should be appreciated that the civilisation of the Sumerians was premised on a number of factors that conspired to facilitate faster progress, innovation and development of a society. The political stability and rule led by the city priests effectively enable settlement of communities both in the cities and the country. The architecture and construction industry enabled the construction not only of the temples, but of better, safer and stronger houses. The agricultural progress enabled food security which is a requisite for peace and development. With the substantive development in agriculture and religion, Sumerian was fast attracting orderly organisation, social concentrations and cooperation among communities. This would finally occasion the development of great cities and establishments that would lay the ground for the civilisation. Ultimately, the establishment of cities in would lay the ground for rural to urban migration and the culture of concentrating industries in urban areas and agricultural farming in the country. This situation is still mirrored in the modern world.
Finally, the political stability should be seen as the outstanding factor that facilitated the civilisation. With the agricultural changes and innovations, it would have been impossible to realise the civilisation in the absence of stability. This should be credited to the Sumerian reverence to their gods and goddesses.
Works Cited
Crawford, Harriet. Sumer and the Sumerians. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Peter, Edward. Longman History & Civics. New York: Pearson Education, 2009.
Sotysiak, Arkadiusz . "Physical anthropology and the “Sumerian problem”." Studies in Historical Anthropology 4.1 (2006): 145-158.
