Origin of the Sumerians, hypotheses and facts. Some interesting facts about the Sumerian civilization

Along this once densely populated fertile land The countless troops of the Persians Cyrus and Darius were marching, the Greeks were gathering dust in the armies of Alexander the Great, troops of the prophet Muhammad and the Janissaries were galloping Ottoman Empire, Bedouin tribes roamed for centuries, not even suspecting what was under their feet.

Forgotten Sumer

The years passed, turning into centuries and millennia. Rare Europeans saw only strange hills on the desert plain, illuminated by the merciless sun. But, apparently, the time has come to learn about a completely forgotten past. In 1869, French archaeologist Jules Oppert found cuneiform inscriptions ancient kingdom, whose ruler - Sargon - called himself the king of Sumer and Akkad, and proposed to call the Sumerians the people who owned Mesopotamia, the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, long before the emergence of Assyria and Babylon.

At that time, no one knew the word “Sumer”. The fact of its existence was long forgotten. The land of Shinar mentioned in the Bible remained unexplained. And in this land rested unknown masterpieces of the worship and admiration of ancient people and objects of their everyday life.

The fourth expedition to excavate one of the most ancient cities of Sumer - Nippur - was successful for archaeologists.

- in 1889, led by Professor of the University of Pennsylvania (USA) H. Hilprecht. While studying a stepped ziggurat (temple tower), he found a library containing more than 20 thousand cuneiform tablets.

This mass of documents became a revelation to those who studied them. It is impossible to study them all at once in such a volume. However, even the translation of some of them provided an unprecedented collection of monuments of Sumerian literature, religious writings and commercial documents.

Under the protection of higher powers

There were plenty of difficulties in the work of researchers. Cholera, malaria and dust storms. The entire area was engulfed in war. Rebellious, wild and unbridled tribes were in a state of bloody feudal civil strife: discord, their enmity with the irregular troops and the authorities of the Ottoman Empire. There were constant threats of attacks by nomads, attempts to get to the expedition's weapons, and theft. There were cases of shootings and robbery of expeditionary property.

In order to somehow protect their lives, archaeologists had to intimidate the superstitious population with their “ magical power" The launch of rockets and fireworks terribly frightened not only the women and children, who ran away screaming madly in search of shelter, but also the men. Scientists have unearthed a giant human head made of alabaster, which plunged the local population into horror and confusion. Whatever happened, but, as they say, God had mercy on archaeologists. Great successes were achieved by P. Botha and R. Koldewey, O. Layard and L. Woolley. We found ancient Nineveh - the stronghold and capital of the mighty Assyrian kings, mentioned in the Bible, and Babylon, which in the days of the greatest glory of the forgotten Sumer was unknown to anyone famous village. Only under Hammurabi in the 18th century BC. e. Babylon began to thunder throughout Ancient world. It is unclear where the cuneiform tablet from the time of Sargon the Ancient came from. They found bilinguals - inscriptions in two languages, which made it possible to decipher ancient texts in a previously unknown language. By clearing away centuries-old debris and dirt, shoveling thousands of cubic meters of earth with the help of several hundred diggers, archaeologists discovered a whole layer of forgotten history.

From the darkness of centuries

Our newspaper wrote about the once sensational excavations of the city of Ur, where the biblical Abraham was born, in the spring of 2011 in the article “Sumerian Chronicles”. It was about the fabulous wealth of its forgotten kings, compared to whom the famous Tutankhamun is just a poor man. However, archaeologists also came across completely looted burials, in which the looters did not even spare the royal remains.
The ruins of ancient palaces and temples were found, giant statues winged bulls and lions with a human head and wonderful bas-reliefs of deities, sphinxes and winged creatures. Battle scenes of siege and battles are depicted on chariots made with great art and rich ornamentation.
What the ancient walls have not preserved: drawings of warriors dressed from head to toe in chain mail, with pointed helmets on their heads and shooting from bows; images of women begging for mercy and tearing out their hair in grief; figures of people with styled hair and curled beards in richly decorated clothes, decorated with embroidery and tassels that have not lost color; bricks with stamps of names are not for anyone famous kings and one with the name of the semi-mythical Naram-Sin (circa 3750 BC).
They also found terracotta figurines of bearded men and other devices in their hands, toys in the form of horses and riders, elephants and monkeys, rams, dogs and birds. Spearheads and daggers, coins and necklaces, bracelets and earrings, rings and clasps, brass hairpins and relics made of agate, turquoise, malachite and lapis lazuli, dishes and cups with ancient legends written on them, often covered with images of terrible demons, and much more were discovered other.

Unique information

Found and deciphered Sumerian texts made it possible to look into antediluvian history and learn about the emergence of homo sapiens, the arrival of aliens (nephilim) from the planet Nibiru and their life on Earth. The documents we read talk about how they passed on knowledge to people, taught them crafts and created ancient civilizations. There are references to two visits to Earth by Anu, the ruler of Nibiru, about the dynasty of antediluvian rulers and the first king of all Sumer after the flood, Mesannepadda.
Amazes high level knowledge of the Sumerians, especially in astronomy, mathematics and metallurgy. They had 23 types of copper alone. With the collapse of civilization, much knowledge was lost, but the legacy of the Sumerians is still present in our lives. We know the 12 signs of the zodiac and the 12 months of the year, use a clock with 60 seconds and minutes and divide the circle into 360 degrees.

Sumerian texts provided insight into many unexplained passages in Bible stories and the actions of its characters. Later, Zecharia Sitchin wrote a history of lost kingdoms and civilizations, and Alan Alford compiled a chronology of gods and men. A temple in Nippur, the religious center of Sumer, was excavated, and it became clear that important role In the life of the people in the past, the cult of the god Bel played a role, as evidenced by the huge ruins and a lot of cuneiform literature.

The temple library indicated the existence of a huge class of priests and clergy.

Sumerian priest helped

True, one day information came to scientists in a mysterious way. At the end of the expedition, Hilprecht finished a book about the excavations and their scientific results and had to give it to the publisher the next day. In it, he mentioned two fragments of agate found during the work. The archaeologist could not read the ancient Sumerian inscriptions on them. He sat in his office until late at night, trying to decipher the text and give the book a finished look.

Having dozed off (if it was a dream, and not something else in an altered state of consciousness), the scientist saw next to him a man in Sumerian priestly attire. The surprised archaeologist stood up, but not from his chair, but from the stone step on which for some reason he found himself. He was not even surprised that the priest told him in English: “Follow me! I will help you". They walked down the street past several massive buildings and entered the dimly lit hall of the next one, which seemed even larger. "Where are we?" – asked Hilprecht. “In Nippur, between the Tigris and Euphrates. We are in the temple of Bel, the father of the gods,” answered the priest.

During the excavations, archaeologists were unable to find the treasury - a room that must be at the temple, and the scientist asked his guide about it. He led him to a small room in the far corner of the temple. There in a wooden chest lay several pieces of agate, among which Hilprecht recognized two fragments that he could not decipher.

The priest explained that these were parts of a cylinder donated to the temple by Kurigalzu, the ruler of the Kassites. They wanted to use it to make ear decorations for a statue of a god. When sawing, one piece split. The inscriptions on the fragments, which the scientist could not read, were parts of the same text. At the request of the archaeologist, the priest read this inscription to him. Having woken up (or woken up), Hilprecht wrote down everything that the priest told him. The decipherment of the inscription, dating back to the very distant past, was considered flawless by other scientists. The location of the treasury in the temple indicated by the Sumerian priest, which was soon found by archaeologists, also turned out to be accurate. And thousands of unread cuneiform tablets are still waiting for their researchers, and no one knows what information they will bring to humanity.

Sumer was one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. More than 7,000 years ago, the Sumerians built the roads and walls of their first city. They were the first in the history of mankind to leave their homes, abandoning the usual farming and cattle breeding, and moved to live in real city.

There are few surviving artifacts that can tell us anything about life in 5000 BC, but scientists can nevertheless tell something about the life of the Sumerians.

Women had their own language

The Sumerians paid taxes before they invented money.

Life revolved around beer

Use of opium

New wife for the ruler every year

Priestesses were doctors and dentists

Literacy is wealth

Poor people living outside the city

Army of conquerors

Ritual burials

The Sumerian civilization is considered the most ancient on Earth. It appeared, presumably, at the end of the 4th millennium, and the most interesting thing is that it appeared as if out of nowhere. One might assume that the Sumerians belonged to a different ancient tribe of our planet - to the Semitic tribe. But researchers have not found any connection between the Sumerians and the Semitic tribes who settled Mesopotamia a little later. These civilizations were very different in both language and customs.

Moreover, so far no one has been able to determine the racial identity of the Sumerians. That's all historical events, associated with the Sumerians, are very amazing and mysterious.

It is with the Sumerian race that mankind acquired writing and skills in metal processing, the invention of the wheel and the potter's wheel. The Sumerians also possessed knowledge that science has only recently acquired. The Sumerians left behind great amount secrets and mysteries that still amaze and evoke a desire to conduct new research in an attempt to uncover the secrets of this ancient civilization.

In addition, the deciphering of Sumerian manuscripts, or rather cuneiforms, shocked researchers. Firstly, the Sumerians used a ternary number system. This system is used in modern computer technologies.

Secondly, the Sumerians knew the principle of the golden ratio, they used Fibonacci numbers, and had deep knowledge in the field of chemistry, surgery, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture, and herbal medicine. The Sumerians were the first to invent soap making, knew how to make beer, and practiced irrigation. It is safe to say that the Sumerian civilization, in terms of level, was very close to the modern one.

Thirdly, the Sumerians had a very developed government structure: They had democratic governments, trial by jury, laws protecting the rights of citizens, etc. Keep in mind that these were times when neither Ancient Greece, there was no trace of Rome.

The Sumerians were no strangers to the science of beauty. Many clay tablets contained proverbs, parables, poems and even adventure stories.

Archaeological finds have shown that it was the Sumerians who were the first to sculpt and burn bricks. From them they learned to build beautiful temples and amazingly beautiful palaces.

Also found were mines where the Sumerians mined gold on an industrial scale. The only question that arises is: why did people need so much gold in the Stone Age? The answer can be found in Sumerian mythology.

According to Sumerian records, twelve planets revolved around the Sun. In addition to those that we know today, between Jupiter and Mars there was a planet named Nibiru (“crossing planet”). Its orbit had an elongated ellipsoidal trajectory, as a result of which this planet appears in the Solar System only once every 3600 years. By the way, the passage of Nibiru near the Earth will presumably take place in the period from 2100 to 2158. In addition, recently astronomers shocked everyone unexpected discovery- fragments of an unknown object were discovered celestial body, which have an orbit similar to the planet Nibiru.

From the records of the Sumerians it became known that more than 4 billion years ago a great catastrophe occurred that completely changed the appearance of solar system, distorted the tilt of the axes of many planets. Maybe that’s why the Anunnaki needed to restore the planet after this universal catastrophe.

The Sumerians claimed that it was from Nabiru that the Anunaki descended to Earth. Even in the Bible there is a mention of them - there they were called “nifilim” (that is, “those who descended from heaven”). The Anunaki's lifespan was 360 thousand Earth years. They were real giants: women were about 4 meters tall, and men were 5 meters tall. The typical Anunaki is broad-faced and black-haired. They really liked to depict themselves with protruding ears, as this symbolized the presence of wisdom.

Researchers of the Sumerian civilization believe that the Anunaki created earthlings so that they would mine gold for them. At first the Anunaki tried unsuccessfully to mine gold from the waters of the Persian Gulf, but then they began to mine a precious metal in the mines. One of the versions explaining the need for gold mining on such a huge scale was the assumption that gold dust the planet Nabiru needed to protect its atmosphere. Note that similar technologies are still used today in space projects. Gold was transported from Earth to Nabiru once every 3600 years - when this planet came as close as possible to Earth.

Sumerian legends say that the Anunaki independently mined gold on Earth for 150 thousand years. But a fierce one broke out internal conflict between alien colonizers and this could interfere with the implementation of plans to save the planet Nabiru. Then, as deciphered ancient Sumerian records on clay tablets say, the Anunaki decided to create human assistants for themselves. From the same source it is known that the Anunaki had amazing knowledge in the field of genetics, which allowed them to create humans artificially. Here are just some of the information found detailed instructions to create Homo sapiens: it was necessary to carry out work in sterile conditions, an egg of a female monkey was required, then it was fertilized and a certain “essence” was added to it (perhaps DNA was meant), obtained from the blood of the Anunnaki, then: “the fertilized and modified egg was entrust to “a much-knowing, young Anunaki,” who will “bring the egg to the desired state.” According to legends, the aliens did not manage to create humans right away - many monsters were born. But finally, the Anunnaki managed to achieve the birth of a full-fledged person, but this path was considered too long to obtain a large number of workers. And then the Anunaki began cloning humans. After several generations, people “became beautiful” and the aliens began to take wives earthly women. From these marriages healthy offspring were born. Thus, as Sumerian legends say, Homo sapiens (reasonable man) was created on Earth more than 300 thousand years ago. Therefore, having recognized the reality of this, one must agree with the argument that modern civilization is a civilization of biorobots.

But having passed on to earthlings their ability for self-development and appearance, the Anunaki did not give man longevity.

But as for height... It is known that the ruler of Ancient Egypt, Akhenaten, was 4.5 m tall, and Nefertiti was 3.5 m tall. In our time, archaeologists discovered a coffin in Egypt with the bones of a seven-year-old child, whose height was 2.5 meters (now this coffin with the remains is on display in one of the Cairo museums).

It should be noted that the Sumerian civilization is not the only one on our planet, but it can be considered the most mysterious. Presumably, the Sumerian civilization for a long time assimilated with the inhabitants of the Earth, but the time came, and the “gods” left our planet...

Despite the fact that, thanks to researchers, we have learned a lot about the Sumerians, humanity still cannot say with certainty how this highly developed civilization arose. This means new discoveries and discoveries await us.

Sumer was one of the oldest civilizations on Earth. More than 7,000 years ago, the Sumerians built the roads and walls of their first city. They were the first in the history of mankind to leave their homes and tribal homes, abandoning the usual farming and cattle breeding, and moved to live in a real city. Today, few artifacts have survived that could tell something about life in 5000 BC, however, scientists are carefully studying all finds and could already

1. Women had their own language

Men and women were not equal in Sumer. When morning came, the man was sure that his wife had already prepared breakfast for him. When families had children, they sent the boys to school and left the girls at home. The lives of men and women were so different that women even developed their own language.

The main Sumerian language was called "Emegir", but the women had their own separate dialect called "Emzal" ("women's language"), and no records of it survive. Some sounds in the female language were pronounced differently, and representatives of the fairer sex also used some words and several vowels that were not in emegir.

2. The Sumerians paid taxes before they invented money.

Taxes have existed longer than the money to pay them. Even before the first coins and silver shekels appeared in Mesopotamia, the people had to give the ruler a part of their income. Often Sumerian taxes were no different from modern ones. Instead of money, the ruler took a percentage of what the people produced. Farmers sent crops or livestock, while merchants could pay in leather or wood.

Rich people were taxed much more - in some cases having to give the ruler half of what they earned. However, this was not the only way to pay taxes. The Sumerians practiced working on public projects. For a month each year, a man had to leave his home to work on a farm, dig irrigation canals, or fight. Only rich people could pay off such a duty (pay someone else to work in his place).

3. Life revolved around beer

There is a theory that civilization began because of beer. Allegedly, people began to engage in agriculture only to be able to get drunk. And they were “lured” to the city only by the promise of more beer. True or not, beer was certainly an important part of life in Sumer. It was served at every meal, from breakfast to dinner, and was not considered a staple drink in anyone's life.

Of course, Sumerian beer was different from modern beer. It had the consistency of something like porridge, with a dirty sediment at the bottom, a layer of foam on top, and small pieces of bread left over from fermentation floating on the surface. It could only be drunk through a straw. But it was worth it. Sumerian beer contained enough grain to be considered a nutritious part of a balanced breakfast. When workers came to work on public projects, they were often paid in beer. This is how the ruler “lured” farmers to work on his construction projects: he had the best beer.

4. Use of opium

Beer was not the only way to “relax” in Sumer. The Sumerians had opium and they definitely used the substance. The Sumerians have been cultivating opium poppies since at least 3000 BC. Today there is not much information about what they did with it, but the name that the Sumerians gave to the poppy clearly speaks for itself - they called it “the plant of joy.” There are theories that the Sumerians used these plants for medicine, in particular as a painkiller.

5. New wife for the ruler annually

Every year the ruler married a new woman. He was to marry one of the priestesses - a group of virgin girls chosen to be "perfect in body" - and make love to her. Otherwise, the gods would supposedly make the earth and the women of Sumer barren. The ruler and his chosen bride would "represent the act of lovemaking of the gods in the earthly world." On her wedding day, the bride was bathed, perfumed with incense and dressed in the most beautiful robes, while the ruler and his entourage walked to her temple.

In the temple, a crowd of priests and priestesses were waiting, who began to sing songs of love. When the ruler arrived, he presented gifts to the bride, and then they went together to a room smoked with incense and made love on a ceremonial bed, which was custom-made exclusively for this event.

6. Priestesses were doctors and dentists

Priestesses were not only the ruler's harem - they were among the most useful people in Sumerian society. These were poets, scribes and some of the first doctors in history. Sumerian cities were always built around a temple complex. At the center was a great ziggurat, surrounded by buildings in which priests and priestesses lived and artisans worked on public projects. It was a huge space that took up a third of the city, and it was used for more than just ceremonies.

There were also orphanages, astronomical centers and large business organizations here. However, it was outside the complex where the most historically important work was done. The sick came here and asked the priestesses to examine them. These women went outside and checked the health of the patients. They diagnosed the sick and prepared medicines for them.

7. Literacy is wealth

Reading and writing were fairly new concepts in ancient Sumer, but they were already incredibly important. People never became rich by working with their hands. Typically, merchants and farmers belonged to the lower class. If someone wanted to get rich, he became a manager or priest. And literacy was a prerequisite. Sumerian boys could begin school as soon as they turned seven, but it was expensive. Only the richest people in the city could afford to send their children to school, where they were taught mathematics, history and literacy. Typically, children simply copied what the teacher wrote until they could imitate it exactly.

8. Poor people living outside the city

Not every Sumerian was part of this “upper echelon of society.” Most were lower class, living on farms outside the city walls or helping low-paid artisan workers in the city. While the rich lived in adobe houses with furniture, windows and lamps, the poor had to live in reed tents. They slept on straw mats on the ground, and all their families lived in such conditions. Life outside the city walls was hard. But people could move up. An industrious family could trade some of their crops to buy more land, or rent out their lands for a profit.

9. Army of Conquerors

Yet life for the poor of Sumer was much better than that of the slaves. Sumerian rulers constantly used enslaved workers in their cities, and recruited slaves simply by raiding people who lived in the mountains. The raiders took these people captive with them and took away all their property. The Sumerian rulers believed that if the gods granted them victory, then the divine will was to make slaves out of the inhabitants of the mountains.

Typically, male slaves were led by women, and female slaves often became completely powerless concubines. Although, it is worth noting that there were also options to gain freedom. A female slave could only marry a free man, although she would have to give her first-born child to her master as payment. A male slave could do enough to buy his freedom and even get his land. But there was also a downside - no one was immune from slavery. If a free person fell into debt bondage or committed a crime, he was made a slave.

10. Ritual burials

In Sumer, death was a real mystery. The dead were supposedly sent to what the Sumerians called “the land of no return,” but no one knew what was there. Therefore, the Sumerians believed that they would need all the earthly goods they owned in the afterlife. They were terrified of spending eternity alone and hungry, so the dead were buried with jewelry, gold, food, and even their pet dogs. The rulers “took” with them to another world all their servants and “courtiers,” and sometimes their families.

The civilization of ancient Sumer, its sudden appearance produced an effect on humanity comparable to nuclear explosion: block historical knowledge scattered into hundreds of small fragments, and years passed before this monolith could be assembled in a new way.

The Sumerians, who practically did not “exist” at all one hundred and fifty years before the heyday of their civilization, gave so much to humanity that many still wonder: did they really exist? And if they were, why did they disappear into the darkness of centuries with resigned muteness?

Until the middle of the 19th century, no one knew anything about the Sumerians. Those finds that were later recognized as Sumerian were initially attributed to other periods and other cultures. And this defies explanation: a rich, well-organized, “powerful” civilization has gone so deeply “underground” that it defies logic. Moreover, the achievements of ancient Sumer, as it turned out, are so impressive that it is almost impossible to “hide” them, just as it is impossible to remove Egyptian pharaohs, Mayan pyramids, Etruscan tombstones, and Jewish antiquities from history.

An uplifting deception?

After the phenomenon of Sumerian civilization became a generally accepted fact, many researchers recognized their right to “cultural birthright.” The greatest expert on Sumer, Professor Samuel Noah Kramer, summed up this phenomenon in one of his books, declaring that “history begins in Sumer.” The professor did not sin against the truth - he counted the number of objects the right of discovery of which belonged to the Sumerians, and found that there were at least thirty-nine of them. And most importantly, what kind of items! If one of the ancient civilizations had invented one thing, they would have gone down in history forever! And here there are as many as 39 (!), and one is more significant than the other!

The Sumerians invented the wheel, parliament, medicine and many other things we still use today.

Judge for yourself: in addition to the first writing system, the Sumerians invented the wheel, a school, a bicameral parliament, historians, something like a newspaper or magazine, which historians called “The Farmer's Almanac.” They were the first to study cosmogony and cosmology, compiled a collection of proverbs and aphorisms, introduced literary debates, were the first to invent money, taxes, legislate laws, carry out social reforms, and invent medicine (the recipes by which we obtain medicine in pharmacies also first appeared in ancient Sumer ). They created the real one literary hero, who in the Bible received the name Noah, and the Sumerians called him Ziudsura. It first appeared in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh long before the Bible was created.

Some Sumerian designs are still used and admired by people today. For example, medicine had a very high level. In Nineveh (one of the Sumerian cities) they discovered a library that had an entire medical department: about a thousand clay tablets! Can you imagine - the most complex medical procedures were described in special reference books, which talked about hygiene rules, operations, even the removal of cataracts and the use of alcohol for disinfection during surgical operations! And all this happened around 3500 BC - that is, more than fifty centuries ago!

Considering the antiquity when all this happened, it is very difficult to comprehend other achievements of the civilization hidden between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The Sumerians were fearless travelers and outstanding sailors who built the world's first ships. One of the inscriptions excavated in the city of Lagash talks about how to repair ships and lists the materials that the local ruler supplied for the construction of the temple. There was everything from gold, silver, copper to diorite, carnelian and cedar.

What can I say: the first brick kiln was also built in Sumer! They also invented a technology for smelting metals from ore, such as copper - for this, the ore was heated to a temperature of over 800 degrees in a closed furnace with a low supply of oxygen. This process, called smelting, was carried out when the supply of natural native copper was exhausted. Surprisingly, these innovative technologies were mastered by the Sumerians several centuries after the emergence of civilization.

And in general, the Sumerians made all their discoveries and inventions in a very short time - one hundred and fifty years! During this period of time, other civilizations were just getting on their feet, taking their first steps, but the Sumerians, like a non-stop conveyor belt, supplied the world with examples of inventive thought and brilliant discoveries. Looking at all this, many questions involuntarily arise, the first of which is: what kind of wonderful, mythical people, who came from nowhere, gave a lot of useful things - from a wheel to a bicameral parliament - and went into the unknown, leaving behind practically no traces?

A unique writing system, cuneiform, is also an invention of the Sumerians. The Sumerian cuneiform script could not be solved for a long time, until English diplomats, and at the same time intelligence officers, took up it.

Judging by the list of achievements, the Sumerians were the founders of the civilization with which history began its record. And if so, then it makes sense to take a closer look at them to understand how this became possible? Where did this mysterious ethnic group get its material for inspiration?

Low Truths

There are many versions about where the Sumerians came from and where their homeland is located, but this mystery has not been completely resolved. Let's start with the fact that even the name “Sumerians” appeared recently - they themselves called themselves black-headed (why is also unclear). However, the fact that their homeland is not Mesopotamia is quite obvious: their appearance, language, culture were completely alien to the tribes living in Mesopotamia at that time! Moreover, the Sumerian language is not related to any of the languages ​​that have survived to this day!

Most historians are inclined to believe that the original habitat of the Sumerians was a certain mountainous area in Asia - it is not for nothing that the words “country” and “mountain” are written the same in the Sumerian language. And taking into account their ability to build ships and be at ease with water, they lived either on the seashore or next to it. The Sumerians also came to Mesopotamia by water: first they appeared in the Tigris delta, and only then began to develop the swampy, unsuitable shores for life.

Having drained them, the Sumerians erected various buildings, both on artificial embankments or on terraces made of mud brick. This method of construction is most likely not typical of lowland inhabitants. Based on this, scientists have suggested that their homeland is the island of Dilmun (the current name is Bahrain). This island, located in the Persian Gulf, is mentioned in the Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. The Sumerians called Dilmun their homeland, their ships visited the island, but modern researchers believe that there is no serious evidence that Dilmun was the cradle of ancient Sumer.

Gilgamesh, surrounded by bull-like people, supports a winged disk - a symbol of the Assyrian god Ashur

There is also a version that the homeland of the Sumerians was India, Transcaucasia and even West Africa. But then it is not clear: why at that time there was no special progress observed in the notorious Sumerian homeland, but in Mesopotamia, where the fugitives sailed, there was an unexpected takeoff? And what kind of ships, for example, were there in Transcaucasia? Or in Ancient India?

There is also a version that the Sumerians are the descendants of the indigenous population of the sunken Atlantis, the Atlanteans. Supporters of this version claim that this island-state died as a result of a volcanic eruption and a giant tsunami that even covered the continent. Despite the controversy of this version, it at least explains the mystery of the origin of the Sumerians.

If we assume that a volcanic eruption on the island of Santorini, located in the Mediterranean Sea, destroyed the Atlantean civilization in its very heyday, why not assume that part of the population escaped and subsequently settled in Mesopotamia? But the Atlanteans (if we assume that it was they who inhabited Santorini) had a highly developed civilization, which was famous for its excellent sailors, architects, doctors, who knew how to build a state and manage it.

The most reliable way to establish a family connection between certain peoples is to compare their languages. The connection can be close - then the languages ​​are considered to belong to the same language group. In this sense, all peoples, including those that disappeared long ago, have linguistic relatives among the peoples living to this day.

But the Sumerians the only people, having no linguistic relatives! They are unique and inimitable in this too! And the deciphering of their language and writing was accompanied by a number of circumstances that cannot be called anything other than suspicious.

British trace

The most important point in the long chain of circumstances that led to the discovery of ancient Sumer was that it was found not thanks to the curiosity of archaeologists, but in... the offices of scientists. Alas, the right to discover the most ancient civilization belongs to linguists. Trying to understand the secrets of the wedge-shaped letter, they, like detectives in a detective novel, followed the trail of a hitherto unknown people.

But at first it was nothing more than a guess, until mid-19th century, the search was not carried out by employees of the British and French consulates (as is known, most consular employees are professional intelligence officers).

Behistun inscription

At first it was a British army officer, Major Henry Rawlinson. In the years 1837-1844, this inquisitive military man, a decipherer of Persian cuneiform, copied the Behistun Inscription, a trilingual inscription on a rock between Kermanshah and Hamadan in Iran. The major deciphered this inscription, made in ancient Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, for 9 years (by the way, a similar inscription was on the Rosetta Stone in Egypt, which was found under the leadership of Baron Denon, also a diplomat and intelligence officer, who was once exposed for espionage from Russia).

Even then, some scholars began to suspect that the translation from the ancient Persian language was suspicious and similar to the language of the embassy code talkers. But Rawlinson immediately introduced scientists to clay dictionaries made by the ancient Persians. It was they who pushed scientists to search for the ancient civilization that existed in these places.

Ernest de Sarzhak, another diplomat, this time French, also joined this search. In 1877 he found a figurine made in an unknown style. Sarzhak organized excavations in that area and - what do you think? — pulled out from under the ground a whole pile of unprecedentedly beautiful artifacts. So one fine day, traces were found of the people who gave the world the first writing in history - the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the later large city-states of Asia Minor and the Middle East.

Amazing luck also accompanied the former London engraver George Smith, who deciphered the outstanding Sumerian epic of Gilgamesh. In 1872 he worked as an assistant in the Egyptian-Assyrian department British Museum. While deciphering part of the text written on clay tablets (they were sent to London by Hormuz Rasam, Rawlinson's friend and also an intelligence officer), Smith discovered that a number of the tablets described the exploits of a hero named Gilgamesh.

He realized that part of the story was missing because several tablets were missing. Smith's discovery caused a sensation. The Daily Telegraph even promised £1,000 to anyone who could find the missing pieces of the tale. George took advantage of this and went to Mesopotamia. And what do you think? His expedition managed to find 384 tablets, among which was the missing part of the epic that changed our understanding of the Ancient World.

All these “oddities” and “accidents” accompanying big discovery, have led to the emergence of many supporters of the conspiracy theory in the world, which says: ancient Sumer never existed, it was all the work of a brigade of swindlers!

But why did they need this? The answer is simple: in the middle of the 19th century, Europeans decided to firmly establish themselves in the Middle East and Asia Minor, where there was a clear smell of great profit. But for their presence to appear legitimate, a theory was required to justify their appearance. And then a myth appeared about the Indo-Aryans - the white-skinned ancestors of Europeans who lived here from time immemorial, before the arrival of the Semites, Arabs and other “unclean” ones. This is how the idea of ​​ancient Sumer arose - a great civilization that existed in Mesopotamia and gave humanity the greatest discoveries.

But what then to do with clay tablets, cuneiform writing, gold jewelry and other material evidence of the reality of the Sumerians? “All this was collected from the most different sources, say conspiracy theorists. — No wonder the heterogeneity cultural heritage The Sumerians are explained by the fact that each of their cities was a separate state - Ur, Lagash, Nineveh."

However, serious scientists do not pay attention to these objections. Moreover, may he forgive us ancient Sumer, nothing more than a version that you can simply give up on.