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Sumerian
English
Sumer is one of the first known civilizations. It lasted from about 3700 BC until about 2000 BC. It was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what's known as the Fertile Crescent. The Greeks called it Mesopotamia, meaning the land between the rivers.
The Sumerians farmed the land, created canals to irrigate their crops, domesticated animals and built roads. Most importantly, they created cities, which quickly experienced population growth. One of their cities, Ur, had as many as 24,000 people. As the cities grew, people started to have specific jobs, like potters, weavers, farmers and traders. They also had a government, a religion and they kept records.
Sumerian was written in cuneiform, a writing system which developed around the 31st century BC. The term cuneiform comes from Latin, meaning wedge-shaped. That's because cuneiform characters are made in wedge-shaped strokes. The characters have an arrow-head like shape. The symbol above is in cuneiform and it represents the word for musical instrument. We're using it in the place of a flag, since we can't find an actual flag that was used by ancient Sumer!
The song linked to above is the oldest known lullaby!
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A Note From Mama Lisa...
I always welcome new contributions of traditional kids songs, nursery rhymes and folk songs. Please CLICK HERE to email Mama Lisa if you are interested and write "New Song" as the subject of the email.
Also, if anyone would like to sing any of these songs in the original language, or play any of the tunes on an instrument, I would love to post a recording on Mama Lisa's World. You could send me an audio cassette or you could record it directly onto the computer and email it to me. Remember... you don't have to be a professional singer or musician to contribute!
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RELATED LINKS
Mesopotamia
(In English)
Articles about Mesopotamia
Cuneiform Writing System
(In English)
The origin and development of cuneiform.
The Sumerians
(In English)
Site about the Sumerians
The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature
(In English)
Based at the University of Oxford. Its aim is to make accessible over 400 literary works composed in the Sumerian language in ancient Mesopotamia during the late third and early second millennia BC.
Ancient Sumeria (Sumer)
(In English)
A history of Ancient Sumer (Sumeria)including its Cities, Kings, Mythologies, Sciences, Religions, Writings, Culture, Cuneiform and Contributions.
Cuneiform Writing
(In English)
Read more about cuneiform writing.
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