Editing Sumer (section)

==Origins==
Most historians have suggested that Sumer was first permanently settled between {{circa|5500}} and {{circa|3300 BC}} by a [[West Asia]]n people who spoke the [[Sumerian language]] (pointing to the names of cities, rivers, basic occupations, etc., as evidence), a non-Semitic and non-[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[agglutinative language|agglutinative]] [[language isolate]].<ref name="SNK">{{cite book |last1=Kramer |first1=Samuel Noah |title=In the World of Sumer: An Autobiography |date=1988 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=978-0-8143-2121-8 |page=44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KliA7MjJEDQC&pg=PA44 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html|title=Ancient Mesopotamia. Teaching materials|publisher=Oriental Institute in collaboration with Chicago Web Docent and eCUIP, The Digital Library|access-date=5 March 2015|archive-date=5 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105200811/http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ubai/hd_ubai.htm |title=The Ubaid Period (5500–4000 B.C.) |work=Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History |publisher=Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art |location=New York |date=October 2003 |access-date=2014-02-22 |archive-date=2021-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707020947/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ubai/hd_ubai.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/articles/u/ubaid_culture.aspx|title=Ubaid Culture |publisher=The British Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc63.pdf|title=Beyond the Ubaid |editor-last1=Carter |editor-first1=Rober A. |editor-last2=Graham |editor-first2=Philip |publisher=University of Durham |date=April 2006|access-date=2014-02-22|archive-date=2014-03-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140321143949/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/saoc63.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Blau Monuments (front).jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|The [[Blau Monuments]] combine [[proto-cuneiform]] characters and illustrations of early Sumerians, [[Jemdet Nasr period]], 3100–2700 BC. British Museum.]]
Others have suggested that the Sumerians were a [[North Africa]]n people who migrated from the [[Green Sahara]] into the [[Middle East]] and were responsible for the spread of farming in the Middle East.<ref>{{Cite conference|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJWcSRSz9wEC&pg=PA22|title=Prehistoric Iberia: Genetics, Anthropology, and Linguistics |conference=International Conference on Prehistoric Iberia : Genetics, Anthropology, and Linguistics; November 16–17, 1998; Madrid, Spain |last1=Arnaiz-Villena|first1=Antonio|last2=Martínez-Laso|first2=Jorge|last3=Gómez-Casado|first3=Eduardo|date=2000|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-306-46364-8|pages=22}}</ref> However, contrary evidence strongly suggests that the first farming originated in the [[Fertile Crescent]].<ref name="Genomic insights into the origin of">{{cite journal |last1=Lazaridis |first1=I. |last2=Nadel |first2=D. |last3=Rollefson |first3=G. |title=Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East |journal=Nature |date=2016 |volume=536 |issue=7617 |pages=419–424 |doi=10.1038/nature19310 |pmid=27459054 |url= |pmc=5003663 |bibcode=2016Natur.536..419L }}</ref> Although not specifically discussing Sumerians, Lazaridis et al. 2016 have suggested [[Haplogroup E-M215 (Y-DNA)|a partial North African origin]] for some pre-Semitic cultures of the Middle East, particularly [[Natufians]], after testing the genomes of Natufian and [[Pre-Pottery Neolithic]] culture-bearers.<ref name="Genomic insights into the origin of"/> Craniometric analysis has also suggested an affinity between Natufians and ancient North Africans.<ref>{{Cite journal|quote=Craniometric analyses have suggested an affinity between the Natufians and populations of north or sub-Saharan Africa, a result that finds some support from Y chromosome analysis which shows that the Natufians and successor Levantine Neolithic populations carried haplogroup E, of likely ultimate African origin, which has not been detected in other ancient males from West Eurasia. However, no affinity of Natufians to sub-Saharan Africans is evident in our genome-wide analysis, as present-day sub-Saharan Africans do not share more alleles with Natufians than with other ancient Eurasians. |last1=Reich|first1=David|last2=Pinhasi|first2=Ron|last3=Patterson|first3=Nick|last4=Hovhannisyan|first4=Nelli A.|last5=Yengo|first5=Loic|last6=Wilson|first6=James F.|last7=Torroni|first7=Antonio|last8=Tönjes|first8=Anke|last9=Stumvoll|first9=Michael|date=August 2016|title=Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient Near East|journal=Nature|volume=536|issue=7617|pages=419–424|doi=10.1038/nature19310|pmid=27459054|pmc=5003663|issn=1476-4687|bibcode=2016Natur.536..419L}}</ref>

Some scholars associate the Sumerians with the [[Hurrians]] and [[Urartians]], and suggest the [[Caucasus]] as their homeland.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Sumerians had connections with the Caucasus|url=https://scientificrussia.ru/articles/shumery-imeli-svjazi-na-kavkaze|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415032734/https://scientificrussia.ru/articles/shumery-imeli-svjazi-na-kavkaze|archive-date=2021-04-15|access-date=|website=|publisher=Scientific Russia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|year=2014|title=Lexical Matches between Sumerian and Hurro-Urartian: Possible Historical Scenarios|url=https://cdli.ucla.edu/pubs/cdlj/2014/cdlj2014_004.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|issue=4|journal=Cuneiform Digital Library Journal|volume=2014|last1=Kassian|first1=A.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=The Diversity of the Chechen culture: from historical roots to the present|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000186004|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|year=2009|publisher=UNESCO|page=14|isbn=978-5-904549-01-5}}</ref> This is not generally accepted.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wilhelm |first=Gernot |year=2008 |chapter=Hurrian |editor-last=Woodard |editor-first=Roger D. |title=The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor |pages=81–104 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>

Based on mentions of [[Dilmun]] as the "home city of the land of Sumer" in Sumerian legends and literature, other scholars have suggested the possibility that the Sumerians originated from Dilmun, which was theorized to be the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sumerian Civilization |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/sumer.htm |access-date=2024-10-19 |publisher=San José State University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=April 18, 1960 |title=Science: Home City of Sumer? |url=https://time.com/archive/6811703/science-home-city-of-sumer/ |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KliA7MjJEDQC&pg=PA44 |title=In the World of Sumer: An Autobiography |date=1988 |publisher=Wayne State University Press |isbn=978-0-8143-2121-8 |language=en}}</ref> In Sumerian mythology, Dilmun was also mentioned as the home of deities such as [[Enki]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dilmun – Tilmun – Creation – Aliens – Middle East |website=Crystalinks |url=https://www.crystalinks.com/dilmun.html |access-date=2024-10-19 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Enki (Ea) in the mythology of creation |date=2015-10-01 |work=The God Enki in Sumerian Royal Ideology and Mythology |pages=139–188 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvc16s63.14 |access-date=2024-10-19 |last=Harrassowitz |first=O.|doi=10.2307/j.ctvc16s63.14 }}</ref> The status of Dilmun as the Sumerians’ ancestral homeland has not been established, but archaeologists have found evidence of civilization in Bahrain, namely the existence of Mesopotamian-style round disks.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1990-01-01 |title=Nimrod Before and After the Bible |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/harvard-theological-review/article/abs/nimrod-before-and-after-the-bible/0BC3FCE0DE038734776EDF2882A9580F |journal=Harvard Theological Review |language=en |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=1–29 |doi=10.1017/S0017816000005502 |issn=1475-4517 |last1=Van Der Toorn |first1=K. |last2=Van Der Horst |first2=P. W. }}</ref>

A prehistoric people who lived in the region before the Sumerians have been termed the "[[Proto-Euphratean language|Proto-Euphrateans]]" or "[[Ubaid period|Ubaidians]]",<ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia| url= http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/573176/Sumer |title=Sumer (ancient region, Iraq) | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=2012-03-29}}</ref> and are theorized to have evolved from the [[Samarra culture]] of northern Mesopotamia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kleniewski |first1=Nancy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dWuQ70MtnIQC&q=samarra+culture&pg=PA51 |title=Cities, Change, and Conflict: A Political Economy of Urban Life |last2=Thomas |first2=Alexander R. |date=2010 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-495-81222-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tupSM5y9yEkC&q=samarra+culture&pg=PA139 | title = The Near East: Archaeology in the "Cradle of Civilization" | isbn = 978-0-415-04742-5 | last1 = Maisels | first1 = Charles Keith | year = 1993| publisher = Psychology Press }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=i7_hcCxJd9AC&q=ubaid+samarra&pg=PA147 | title = Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China | isbn = 978-0-415-10976-5 | last1 = Maisels | first1 = Charles Keith | year = 2001| publisher = Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=zmvNogJO2ZgC&q=samarra+culture&pg=PA505 | title = A dictionary of archaeology | isbn = 978-0-631-23583-5 | last1 = Shaw | first1 = Ian | last2 = Jameson | first2 = Robert | year = 2002| publisher = John Wiley & Sons }}</ref> The Ubaidians, though never mentioned by the Sumerians themselves, are assumed by modern-day scholars to have been the first civilizing force in Sumer. They drained the marshes for [[agriculture]], developed trade, and established industries, including [[weaving]], [[Leather crafting|leatherwork]], [[Metalworking|metalwork]], [[masonry]], and [[pottery]].<ref name="britannica" />

[[File:Enthroned King of Ur.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Enthroned Sumerian king of [[Ur]], possibly [[Ur-Pabilsag]], with attendants. [[Standard of Ur]], c. 2600 BC.]]
Some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language; they think the Sumerian language may originally have been that of the [[hunting]] and [[fishing]] peoples who lived in the marshland and the [[Eastern Arabia|Eastern Arabia littoral region]] and were part of the Arabian [[bifacial]] culture.<ref>Margarethe Uepermann (2007), "Structuring the Late Stone Age of Southeastern Arabia". ''Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy,'' Vol. 3, Issue 2, pp. 65–109.</ref> [[Juris Zarins]] believes the Sumerians lived along the coast of [[Eastern Arabia]], today's [[Persian Gulf]] region, before it was flooded at the end of [[Last Glacial Period|the Ice Age]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hamblin |first=Dora Jane |date=May 1987 |title=Has the Garden of Eden been located at last? |url=http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf |journal=Smithsonian Magazine |volume=18 |issue=2 |access-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109135715/http://www.theeffect.org/resources/articles/pdfsetc/Eden.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2014 }}</ref>

Sumerian civilization took form in the [[Uruk period]] (4th millennium BC), continuing into the [[Jemdet Nasr period|Jemdet Nasr]] and [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic]] periods. The Sumerian city of [[Eridu]], on the coast of the Persian Gulf, is considered to have been one of the [[List of oldest continuously inhabited cities|oldest cities]], where three separate cultures may have fused: that of peasant Ubaidian farmers, living in mud-brick huts and practicing irrigation; that of mobile nomadic Semitic pastoralists living in black tents and following herds of sheep and goats; and that of fisher folk, living in reed huts in the marshlands, who may have been the ancestors of the Sumerians.<ref name="Leick, Gwendolyn 2003">Leick, Gwendolyn (2003), "Mesopotamia, the Invention of the City" (Penguin)</ref>

Reliable historical records begin with [[Enmebaragesi]] ([[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic I]]). The Sumerians progressively lost control to Semitic states from the northwest. Sumer was conquered by the Semitic-speaking kings of the Akkadian Empire around 2270 BC ([[short chronology]]), but Sumerian continued as a [[sacred language]]. Native Sumerian rule re-emerged for about a century in the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] at approximately 2100–2000 BC, but the Akkadian language also remained in use for some time.<ref name="Leick, Gwendolyn 2003" />