Sumer

Sumer 𒆠𒂗𒄀
Map of ancient Sumerian cities
Common languages	Sumerian

Sumer was an early Bronze Age civilization located in modern-day Iraq.

History

In prehistoric times, Mesopotamia was made of swamps and deserts. Neolithic farmers drained the swamps and irrigated the sand to create extremely fertile land.

During the fourth and third millennia BCE, Sumer created massive agricultural surpluses and bronze tools that turned villages into the first cities. They invented writing to keep track of economic records, especially taxes and dues. Temples and estates formally belonged to the gods, and priests managed the land while wage workers or tenant farmers worked it. Priests developed into city governors, and later, kings who frequently went to war with each other.

In the middle of the third millennium BCE, the city of Kish became a major power, and its rulers declared themselves "king of the whole world."

King Eannatum of Lagash defeated Umma in the mid-25th century BCE. Entemena, who ruled about a century after Eannatum, ended the war by defeating Umma again. The war worsened the internal economy of Lagash.

Reforms of Urukagina

The masses supported Urukagina, who removed King Lugalanda from power and made himself king. Urukagina reigned for six years and enacted the first known laws in history. He reduced taxes on the clergy, increased payments to temple workers, and made temples independent from royal authority. He decreased the amount of religious payment and conscript labor required for free commoners and exempted craftsmen from some taxes. He reestablished rural courts and protected the citizens of Lagash against debt slavery. An alliance between the cities of Umma and Uruk conquered Lagash and reversed Urukagina's reforms. Lugalzagesi, the king of Umma then conquered Uruk, Adab, and Eridu to unite most of Sumer under his rule.