The Sumerians
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The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.
Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.
"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."--"American Journal of Archaeology"
"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."--"Library Journal"
Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.
"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."--"American Journal of Archaeology"
"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."--"Library Journal"
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First Sentence
Sumer, the land which came to be known in classical times as Babylonia, consists of the lower half of Mesopotamia, roughly identical with modern Iraq from north of Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
Sumer, the land which came to be known in classical times as Babylonia, consists of the lower half of Mesopotamia, roughly identical with modern Iraq from north of Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is an in-depth study of ancient Sumer, with a great focus on the actual writings of the Sumerians themselves. The author has chapters on history, society, religion, literature, education, and character. As a real bonus, instead of just referencing various Sumerian writings, the author actually reproduces them here with great frequency.
This is a great book, an excellent resource on Sumerian culture. Unfortunately, having been written in 1963, it is rather out-of-date, but is still a fascinating read, and is quite accurate in all of the important points. If you are interested in ancient Sumer, then you must read this book.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Kramer was the US Sumerian specialist of the post World War II period, and this book, written from his great knowledge of the major literary texts, remains a classic. It includes translations by Kramer of some of the most important literary texts. But it is lop-sided because of the author's complete reliance on the surviving texts. The main period of Sumerian civilization is almost a thousand years long, but there are very few archives of cuneiform texts. Writing a history from the mainly administrative documents and the few literary texts is very hazardous. While Kramer was a language and literature specialist without compare, as a historian he was naive. And he pays almost no attention to the archaeological record. There are more up-to-date general books available by Susan Pollock or Harriet Crawford's Sumer and the Sumerians.
20 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I was hoping to get some confirmation regarding the history of the Sumerians as it relates to the Eqyptians when I purchased this book; however, there was none, other than the fact that they traded with them. Apparently, there is not even any reference in the cuneiform tablets that had been translated to the date of this author's writing that mentions the pyramids of Egypt. Even though the Sumerians were quite exact in describing the plenitude of Egypt's natural resources, I find it odd that that there is no description of Egypt's most obviously recognized feature. I don't know if this is because the pyramids were not built then, or because they were so well-known they didn't feel it was necessary to write about them. Surely, if the pyramids were being built during this period, there would have been some mention of them in the cuneiform tablets, as the Sumerians designated neighboring areas by their most identifiable, visible topographical differences, or tradeable resources. Questions arise: Could this omission even suggest that the Sumerians knew the pyramids predated the Egyptians? Could it also be that the land our scholars think the Summerians referred to is not Egypt at all? Who knows.
Kramer wrote this book in the 1960s, using extant translations. However, more cuneiform tablets have been translated since. This book covers the history of the ancient cultures of Sumer, Ur, etc., their myths, religion, wars, kingship, government, etc. Although I found it somewhat redundant in many areas, I believe it is a good source of this history, if you know little about it.
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