Sumer

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth 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 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 , following a period of proto-writing . Name The term "Sumer" (Akkadian: ) comes from the Akkadian name for the "Sumerians", the ancient non-Semitic-speaking inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia.<ref name="Piotr Michalowski 2004, Pages 19-59">Piotr Michalowski, "Sumerian," The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages." Ed. Roger D. Woodard (2004, Cambridge University Press). Pages 19–59</ref> In their inscriptions, the Sumerians called their land "Kengir", the 'Country of the noble lords' (Sum:, , lit. 'country' + 'lords' + 'noble'), and their language "Emegi" (Sum: or ). The origin of the Sumerians is not known, but the people of Sumer referred to themselves as "Black Headed Ones" or "Black-Headed People""The origin of the Sumerians is unknown; they described themselves as the 'black-headed people'" ( , , lit. 'head' + 'black', or , phonetically , lit. 'head' + 'black' + relative marker). For example, the Sumerian king Shulgi described himself as "the king of the four quarters, the pastor of the black-headed people". The Akkadians also called the Sumerians 'black-headed people', or , in the Semitic Akkadian language.