Image: Wikimedia Commons

Sumer

Ancient Mesopotamian civilization from 5500 to 1800 BC

Placearchaeological culture ancient civilization styleQ35355

Founded: 55th century BCE

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Sumer is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia, emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the 5th and 4th millennium BC. Like nearby Elam, it is one of the cradles of civilization, along with Egypt, the Indus Valley, the Erligang culture of the Yellow River valley, Caral-Supe, and Mesoamerica. Living along the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Sumerian farmers grew an abundance of grain and other crops, a surplus of which enabled them to form urban settlements. The world's earliest known texts come from the Sumerian cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr, and date to between c. 3350 – c. 2500 BC, following a period of proto-writing c. 4000 – c. 2500 BC.

Overview

All data

63 statements · 13% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Permanent duplicated item: Q25696238
Q25696254
Part of: Mesopotamia
Time period: Uruk period(-4000–-3000) sourcing circumstances: approximately
Jemdet Nasr period(-3000–-2900) sourcing circumstances: approximately
Early Dynastic period(-2900–-2340) sourcing circumstances: approximately
Akkad period(-2340–-2230) sourcing circumstances: approximately
Ur III period(-2230–-2000) sourcing circumstances: approximately
Different from: summer
Sumer. Journal of Archaeology of Mesopotamia
Dissolved: 19th century BCE
Continent: Asia
Studied by: Sumerology
Language used: Sumerian
Demonym: Sumerian
Ethnic group: Sumerians
Culture: culture of Sumer

On other databases

34 identifiers linking Sumer across the web's reference databases

32.0000, 45.5000OpenStreetMap ↗

Data quality

statements

13%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 5, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). Sumer (Q35355). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/sumer-Q35355