Countless civilizations have risen and fallen over thousands of years, but which is the oldest on record? About 30 years ago, this question had a direct answer, which we will review in the following lines.
The civilizational rivalry between the Sumerians and the Pharaohs in ancient times
From about 4000 BC,
the first phase of Sumerian culture arose as the oldest civilization in the
Mesopotamian region, in what is now Iraq.ً
The Sumerians were
named after the ancient city of Sumer, which was a few miles south of the
modern city of Kut in eastern Iraq.
Archaeologists call
the first Sumerian phase the Uruk Period. Many older Sumerian artifacts have
been found, but evidence uncovered in the past few decades suggests that the
Sumerians have a few contenders, most notably ancient Egypt, which vie for the
title of "oldest civilization."
But in general culture
must achieve several distinctive features, especially urbanization - that is,
cities - irrigation and writing; As well as practicing religious rituals.
Some scholars argue
that other civilizations may be as old or older than the Sumerians. “I would
say that Egypt and Sumer were essentially contemporary in their appearance,”
said Philip Jones, associate curator and curator of collections in the
Babylonian section of the Penn Philadelphia museum.
The beginning of human civilization with the Sumerians
The
108-year-old Turkish Sumerian scholar, Muazzaz Ilmiyeh Ceg, said in an
interview with Anatolia News Agency that human culture and civilization started
from Sumer (southern Mesopotamia), and that the Sumerian civilization
represented the “mother” of all cultures in the world.
The
Sumerian civilization is one of the rich, diverse and ancient civilizations
known in southern Mesopotamia, and its history is known from clay tablets
written in cuneiform script.
The
name Sumer appeared at the beginning of the third millennium BC, during the
period of the emergence of the Hittites, but the beginning of the Sumerians was
in the sixth millennium BC, where the Ubaid people settled in southern Iraq and
built the main Sumerian cities such as Ur, Nippur, Larsa, Lagash, Kulab, Kish,
Isin, Eridu, and Adab.
The
Ubaidis mixed with the people of the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula through
migration or raids against them, and after that they invented writing on clay
tablets, which are manuscripts on clay tablets.
The
Sumerian scholar Moazaz Alijig, along with a group of foreign academics, wrote
a group of important books that research the Sumerian civilization and dive
into its secrets.
The
researcher considered that there is not enough interest in the world in
Sumerian science, even though human culture and civilization started from
Sumer, and she cited this in a book titled “History Begins in Sumer.”
The history of the Sumerian civilization was recorded on clay
tablets in cuneiform script in the regions of southern Iraq today. The
Sumerians founded the cities of independent kingdoms, the most famous of which
were Ur, Uruk, and Uma. They were known for the development of ancient arts,
architecture, and sciences, the epic of the Sumerian king of Uruk, Gilgamesh,
is considered one of the oldest literary and religious texts in history.
Fields of influence of Greek civilization on the West
As for
the fields in which the Greek civilization benefited from the Mesopotamian
civilization - which historians truly consider the cradle of human civilization
- there were many, and foremost among them was cuneiform writing, the invention
of which by the Sumerians (about 3200 BC) constituted the decisive starting
point in the progress of human civilization. Because all peoples used cuneiform
in writing their languages.
The
Greeks also benefited from the Mesopotamian heritage in the field of
mathematics, both practical and theoretical. References confirm that the
mathematician Pythagoras relied heavily in building his mathematical theories
on the theories that had been reached by Mesopotamian scholars.
The
Greeks learned from the Babylonians, and then the Chaldeans, the principles of
astronomy, methods for observing celestial bodies and its tools, astronomical
tables, geographical maps, and astronomical calendars, to the point that the
Babylonian and Chaldean calendar became a model for the Greek and Roman
calendars before the introduction of the Julian calendar.
The Greek
scientist Thales predicted the solar eclipse that occurred on May 28, 585 BC.
After he learned about the astronomical sciences of the Babylonians.
There is
no doubt that the Greeks benefited from the Babylonians in the field of law,
especially since the Code of Hammurabi (1750 BC) became a model for all laws
that prevailed in the West and East in ancient times.
The
Greeks were widely and deeply influenced by the epic literature that flourished
in Mesopotamia, perhaps the most prominent example of this is the influence of
the Greek poet Homer (who lived in the eighth century BC) in his epics “The
Iliad” and “The Odyssey” by the famous Mesopotamian epic of Gilgamesh.
Modern
studies confirm that this Epic of Gilgamesh preceded the Epic of Homer by more
than one thousand five hundred years, and is considered the oldest heroic epic
in the history of civilizations, it addresses eternal human issues such as
life, death, immortality, wisdom, knowledge, freedom, and heroism.
That is
why Garudi was right when he said: “The Epic of Gilgamesh includes all the
elements of Western thought, which is considered the heir to ancient Greek
civilization.”
Ancient
Greek mythological literature was also influenced by ancient Babylonian myths,
especially those related to the story of the flood and creation.
This is
in addition to the Babylonian myth of Ishtar and Tammuz, which influenced the
Greek myth of Aphrodite and Adonis, this and other myths reached Greece through
the Phoenicians.
One
researcher believes that the people of Mesopotamia addressed basic problems
with their myths, most of which became philosophical topics that Greek
philosophers later addressed, and they added new additions to them that
constituted a major development in the field of human thought.
Income tax was first imposed by the Sumerians and ancient Egyptians and alcohol consumption appeared among the Sumerian .people
Crete and Greece were the link for the civilizational influences in Europe coming from the Iraqi country of Sur, and communication was through trade or war, and Greece was the spoiled heir to the Sumerian civilization, as Will Derratt says, and Deorat adds, “If we had studied the history of the East in depth, we would have known how much we owe to the countries of the ancient East in Iraq and Egypt for the emergence, development and continuation of European .civilization
Most of
the Sumerian men were bearded, and some of them were clean-shaven, they wore
clothes made of sheep skins and wool. At first, their garments reached the
middle of their bodies. With the development of industry, they covered their
entire bodies until they reached their necks, they wore caps on their heads and
shoes on their feet.
While the
women's clothes covered their shoulders and they wore leather shoes with laces
like Greek women's shoelaces, and their adornment was represented by bracelets,
necklaces, anklets, rings and earrings.
In 2013
BC, Sumerian poets, writers, and composers began writing about the beginning of creation
and the existence of a paradise that was uprooted by the great flood.
These
events were transmitted to the West and became part of Christian beliefs, but
there are certain sayings that the events of the beginning of creation and the
great flood were actually brought about separately in the heavenly books, but
they were known and circulated in Sumerian literature before the religions came
with them.
The Epic
of Gilgamesh was the first global epic literary work to appear in Sumer before
the well-known Greek and Roman epics, it was the oldest poem in human history
written in cuneiform on a clay tablet dating back approximately to 4800 BC.
This poem is in which a Sumerian poet laments the Sumerian deities that were
swept away by the flood.
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