The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC)

This program covers the history of ancient Sumer and the Sumerians, from the first notable farming communities such as the Samarra, Halaf and the Ubaid that once occupied their land to the magnificent cities, innovations, great kingdoms and empires that the region become known for, it's all here. If you want to get a good grasp of who the Sumerians were, this is the program for you!

Contents:

00:00 Introduction
03:21 Early Farming Communities (Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid)
08:12 Eridu
12:51 Uruk and the First Cities
17:46 Invention of Writing
21:30 First Kings
22:47 Early Dynastic Period
23:36 Sumerian Religion
26:32 Lagash and Umma
33:00 Ur
35:10 Nippur
35:47 Urukagina
39:02 Lugalzagesi
41:57 Sargon and Akkadian Rule of Sumer
50:55 Post-Akkadian Sumer and the Gutians
54:24 Gudea of Lagash
55:30 Utu-hegal
57:30 Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur III) / Neo-Sumerian Empire
01:06:14 Amorites, Elamites and the End of an Era
01:09:41 Aftermath and Legacy of Sumer
01:11:45 Thank you and Patrons

Related Videos:

Babylon: The City at the Center of the World - The Concise History of Babylonia (2000-539 BC)

The World's First Superpower: Sargon of Akkad and the Mighty Akkadian Empire - Bronze Age History

Ancient Sumer and the Sumerians (Ancient Mesopotamia in Minutes)

The Sumerian King List and the History of Ancient Mesopotamia

The Great Sumerian Rivalry: Lagash vs. Umma

Important Cities of the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer

Sumerian Religion Simplified

Sargon the Great and the Akkadian Empire

Sources and Suggested Reading:

The Sumerians - Their History, Culture and Character - Samuel Noah Kramer
A Companion to the the Ancient Near East - Edited by Daniel Snell
The Sumerians - Paul Collins
History Begins at Sumer - Samuel Noah Kramer
The Sumerian World - Edited by Harriet Crawford
A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000-323 BC, Third Edition - Marc Van De Mieroop
The Age of Agade: Inventing Empire in Ancient Mesopotamia - Benjamin R. Foster
The Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation - Mark W. Chavalas
The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy - Mario Liverani
Ancient Iraq - Georges Roux
Early Antiquity - I. M. Diakonoff
The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume I - Edited by Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller and D. T. Potts
The Oxford History of the Ancient Near East: Volume II - Edited by Karen Radner, Nadine Moeller and D. T. Potts
A History of Babylon, 2200 BC - AD 75 - Paul-Alain Beaulieu
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East - Amanda H. Podany
Sumer and the Sumerians - Harriet Crawford
Sumerian Mythology - Samuel Noah Kramer
Excavations at Ur - Sir Leonard Woolley
Uruk: The First City - Mario Liverani
Ur: City of the Moon God - Harriet Crawford
Gudea and his Dynasty (RIM The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia) - Sibylle Edzard
Gilgamesh: A New English Version - Stephen Mitchell

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Music:
Epidemic Sound

#sumerians #ancientsumer #ancienthistory

[sulngrm]

am an Iraqi citizen. I tell you that there are wonders and wonders in Iraq. In Iraq, there are in every civilization ax and traces of the Sumerians and Babylonians. Talking about Iraq does not end because it is the origin of humanity. Faithful revealed the prophets and messengers. And you, as a European citizen, thank you for this work and spreading the history of Iraq, and that it is not only the history of Iraq, but the history of mankind. thank you brother. I am from the city of Nasiriyah (the city of Ur).

[isaiah]

It's amazing how you can get this kind of stuff for free on YouTube. Thank you for the work you put into this amazing educational content!

[calebspain]

Thanks for your work. I know you are under appreciated but as a history lover like most of your followers we really are grateful for your efforts and production

[victoriapearson]

I heard the giggle he tried to hide around 50:50 when he had to say Dudu twice. It made me smile because I was giggling a little too. It's okay to giggle at little things like that. Made me like him more. Love this video by the way. So informative and so well thought out and put together. Thank you.

[josephang]

Sumerian culture makes me feel so emotional for some reason. Great doc!

[JoanneZira]

I'm in my sixties. I still remember studying Mesopotamia and the Sumerians at school, although I mostly remember hating it and and history in general. Was it the method? I don't remember. All I do know is that I'm lucky to still be alive when this kind of content is now available anywhere, any time, and, like in this case, presented so well that it is impossible to not love it. Thank you for the hard work and yay to youtube that has finally giving me a love of history and archaeology.

[moonwolf]

That was EXCELLENT! I enjoyed this thoroughly…the music volume and beats were spot on perfect…voice was clear with the right tempo and the visuals pulling it all together. I also noted that you correlated works of art and their museum home with the story and details as we can decipher thus far. It really changes the stone piece into something that connects you to a distant past; having it preserved illustrates how we regard our beginnings to be precious and a story that is long and ever unfolding. Thank you so much!

[tuomasnurmi]

Excellent content! You managed to really put the sumerian culture into context in terms of what came before it and also the lands and cultures surrounding it. Not just as an emergent first civilization as some portray it. Great job!

[Bauks]

No aliens?
No extra planets?
No electricity?
No time-travel?
No communication arrays?
Not one mention of a handbag!?



Just what I needed.
Thank you, good sir. :)

[hollytomas]

SUPERB!! This brought back memories of spending my days, was unemployed in the British Library, London, studying the Sumerians! No access to glorious information like this back then! Just heavy tomes which I carted about the library and made copious hand-written notes from! I don't know why I've never watched anything before about the Sumerians. I'll certainly be watching more of your videos. Thanks so much for a thorough and enlightening programme! I had remembered some facts incorrectly, and never really knew before now, just how Sumerian culture met its end. Thanks...

[thyself]

This channel is incredible. I’ve been heavily studying Neolithic and Bronze Age civilizations for the past few months to get a handle on our ancient past and your channel has been a huge adjunct to my readings. Thanks for all the hard work you put into these videos

[OffRampTourist]

I've been searching this subject and this is the best organized, most detailed video I've found. Thanks for giving me the structure to hang the other stuff on.

[taylorbrewer]

The line from the king list “Who was king? Who wasn’t king?” is honestly one of my favorite things ever

[sirianfelixbrightonesquire]

This has to be the one of the best historical videos on YouTube. You covered so many topics. And it’s clear you’d never be done covering them had you continued. I learned a lot.

[Deeplycloseted]

Its crazy how every single bit of human history is loaded with worshipping deities, arguing about borders, and fighting over resources……its literally still happening RIGHT NOW. We never learn.

[tuberroot]

I really like the Kings List. They openly say: some king lasted about six years here, no idea who he was. Few today are that honest.

[AtunSheiFilms]

Wow what an ambitious video! Kicking my feet up and cracking open a cold one... this is gonna be good.

[mixererunio]

Dear God. This is epic. Just epic. Whole hour. I can't say how grateful I am.

[brianross]

I really appreciate the work that went into the animation for this video. I have had lots of exposure to this material in the past and it makes a lot more sense with the pictures and icons. I like the video game feel to all of these videos even though I am not into video games. The creativeness in the images helps reinforce the facts. I have gotten a lot out of these videos thus far after subscribing to this channel even though most of this I already know.

[mikaellindkvist]

This is such a great overview of the Sumerian civilisation! Thanks for compiling all this information and making it available!