MHC. GRADE 10. ARTISTIC CULTURE OF ANCIENT FOREIGN ASIA
In the IV-I millennia BC. in the lower reaches of two large rivers Tiger And Euphrates (Mesopotamia , or Mesopotamia , or Mesopotamia ), as well as throughout the entire territory of Western Asia lived peoples of high culture, to whom we owe the basics of mathematical knowledge and the division of the clock dial into twelve parts. Here they learned to calculate with great accuracy the movement of the planets and the time of revolution of the Moon around the Earth. The architects of Western Asia knew how to erect the highest towers, where brick was used as a building material. Here they drained swampy areas, laid canals and irrigated fields, planted orchards, invented the wheel and built ships, knew how to spin and weave, forged tools and weapons from copper and bronze. The peoples of Ancient Western Asia achieved great success in the field of political theory and practice, military affairs and state law. We still use many of their inventions and scientific discoveries to this day.
In the fertile valley of Mesopotamia such major city-states were formed as Sumer, Akkad, Babylon , and Assyrian power And Persian state and many others. Here, over the centuries, states arose and died, nationalities replaced each other, ancient communities disintegrated and were revived.
The art of Ancient and Western Asia is based on a clear understanding of the general picture of the world, a clear idea of the world structure. Its main theme is the glorification of human strength and power.
The emergence of writing
Book-tablets from the library of King Ashurbanipal
By the 3rd millennium BC. in the southern valleys of Mesopotamia many city-states arose, the main one of which was Sumer. The Sumerians entered the history of world culture primarily thanks to the invention of writing.
Initially it was a pictographic (pictorial) letter, gradually replaced by complex geometric signs. Triangles, diamonds, stripes, and stylized palm branches were applied to the surface of the vessels. Each combination of signs told about the most important activities and events for a person.
Complex pictographic writing, which did not allow one to convey the ambiguous meaning of a particular word or concept, soon had to be abandoned. For example, a sign or drawing to indicate a leg began to be read as a sign conveying movement: “stand”, “walk”, “run”. That is, one and the same sign acquired several completely different meanings, each of which had to be selected depending on the context.
They wrote on “tablets” of soft clay, carefully cleaned of all impurities. For this purpose, reed or wooden sticks were used, sharpened in such a way that when pressed into wet clay they left a wedge-shaped mark. The tablets were then fired. In this form they could be stored for a long time. At first they wrote from right to left, but it was inconvenient, since their own hand covered what was written. Gradually we moved to more rational writing - from left to right. Thus, pictography, known to primitive man, turned into cuneiform, which was later borrowed and transformed by many peoples. Clay tablets revealed a lot of interesting things about the life of the Sumerians, the deciphering and reading of which required a lot of effort and time from scientists. It is known, for example, that the Sumerians had schools that were called “houses of tablets.” Using clay tablets, students learned the basics of reading and writing. From the surviving written monuments we can learn about how the educational process was structured in these unique schools. In all likelihood, the teachers kept their students in great severity and obedience, and therefore the tablets contain numerous complaints from the students.
The overseer made signs in the house
remark to me: “Why are you late?”
I was scared, my heart was racing
started pounding
I approached the teacher and bowed.
to the ground.
The father of the house begged for signs
my sign
He was unhappy with her and hit me.
Then I was diligent with the lesson,
I was struggling with the lesson...
The class supervisor ordered us:
“Rewrite!”
I took my sign in my hands,
Wrote on it
But there was also something on the sign that I
did not understand,
What I couldn't read...
I'm sick of the scribe's fate,
I hated the scribe's fate...
Translation by L. Shargina
Studying in the “house of tablets” opened up great opportunities for students: they subsequently occupied leading positions in workshops and construction, supervised land cultivation, and resolved the most important state issues and disputes.
IN Nineveh The famous library of the king of Assyria Ashurbanipal (669 - ca. 633 BC) was discovered, which is the world's first systematic collection, where tablet books were selected by series, had titles, serial numbers and were placed according to branches of knowledge. The king valued his treasure very much, and therefore kept the “books” in boxes in a dry room on the second floor. Since the contents of the book could not be placed on one tablet, other tablets served as its continuation and were stored in a special box.
The tablet books in Ashurbanipal's library were copied from older ones kept in different countries. That is why the king sent the most experienced scribes there, who were supposed to select the most interesting and significant “books” and then rewrite their text. Sometimes the tablets were so old, with chipped edges, that they could not be restored. In this case, the scribes made a note: “Erased, I don’t know.” It was a very painstaking job, requiring a good knowledge of the ancient Sumerian language and simultaneous translation into Babylonian.
What did the ancient scribes translate first? Textbooks on language and grammar, books on the basics of science: mathematics, astronomy, medicine and mineralogy. Signs with hymns and prayers, tales and legends were in particular demand.
IN 612 BC Under the onslaught of enemies, these clay books almost died. They were saved by the fact that during the fires the clay became even stronger from firing and was not afraid of dampness. Of course, many of the book-tablets broke, scattering into many small pieces, but what was preserved, lying under layers of sand, ash and earth, after 2500 years told scientists amazing information about the life and culture of the peoples of Mesopotamia.
An outstanding monument of world literature "The Epic of Gilgamesh" (“About who has seen everything”, III millennium BC) - the ruler of the Sumerian city Uruk - preserved on clay tablets dating back to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e.
Architecture
Time has preserved very few architectural structures, most often only the foundations of buildings. They were built from unfired raw clay and quickly collapsed in conditions of high humidity. Numerous wars did not spare them either.
In a country of turbulent rivers and swampy plains, temple structures were raised onto high embankments to protect them from floods. An important part of architectural ensembles were stairs and ramps (inclined planes replacing stairs). Along them, city residents or priests climbed to the sanctuary. The cities of Mesopotamia were protected by defensive structures with powerful and high fortress walls, towers and fortified gates.
Ziggurat in the city of Ur. 21st century BC
The most important achievement of architecture was the construction of the so-called ziggurats - stepped tower-shaped temples intended for religious rites, and later for astronomical observations. They rose high to the sky, were massive and stood firmly on the ground, reminding people of mountains. On the upper platform of the ziggurat there was a sanctuary, that is, the “home of God,” where the deity descended. Ordinary people were never allowed into the sanctuary; only kings and priests who observed the heavenly bodies could be there.
The most famous ziggurat in the city Ure , which was partially excavated from under the layers of sand that had covered it. It was a structure of three truncated pyramids placed one on top of the other. (Currently, only two floors of its original three terraces have survived.) The bottom was painted black, the first pyramid was red, the middle one was white, the top one with the sanctuary was lined with blue glazed bricks. The protruding terraces were planted with ornamental trees and shrubs. The plan of the building allows us to make the assumption that the sanctuary of the deity was located behind thick, impenetrable walls, and the cramped rooms available were of a closed nature. The three-color mosaic preserved in the lower part, imitating bundles of reeds and reed weaving, testifies to the exquisite decorative decoration of the ziggurat.
Gate of the goddess Ishtar. VI century BC. Pergamon Museum, Berlin
No less remarkable are the architectural structures Babylon. The path to the city went through a gate dedicated to the goddess of fertility and agriculture Ishtar . They were lined with glazed dark blue bricks depicting sacred golden-yellow bulls and rows of white and yellow dragons - fantastic creatures with the head of a snake, eagle hind legs and lion front paws. These symbolic defenders of the city give the gates an extraordinary decorative and spectacular appearance. The blue background color was not chosen by chance; it was considered a magical remedy against the evil eye. The colors of the glaze, which have not yet faded, make a particularly strong impression.
art
The fine art of Mesopotamia is represented mainly by reliefs that decorated the interior walls of the state rooms in the palaces of the Assyrian rulers. It’s hard to even imagine how many carvers and sculptors were required to complete such work! The reliefs depict battle scenes: advancing troops, fast chariots, galloping horsemen, fearless warriors storming a fortress, climbing steep walls on rope ladders, or swimming across stormy rivers, driving countless herds and crowds of prisoners. And all this is accomplished for the glory of one person - the king!
A significant part of the reliefs and mosaics are dedicated to the court life of the king and his entourage. The main place is occupied by solemn processions. The king (his figure, as a rule, is much larger than the others) sits on a throne, surrounded by many armed bodyguards. To the right and left, captives with tied hands and peoples of conquered countries with generous offerings stretch towards the king in an endless ribbon. Or the king reclines on a lush bed in the garden under shady palm trees. The servants bring coolness to him with fans and amuse him by playing the harp.
"Standard of Ur". Fragment. Mid-3rd millennium BC British Museum, London
Among such objects of art, special mention should be made of the “standard of Ur” - a three-tiered mosaic slab illustrating the theme of a military battle and victory. War chariots with devices harnessed for throwing projectiles pave the way. The wheels of war chariots have the shape of a solid disk without spokes and are made up of two halves. Animals move from left to right, first at a walk, then at a trot and gallop. Under their hooves are the bodies of defeated enemies. They are followed by numerous infantry wearing leather helmets with earphones and leather capes with metal plaques. The warriors hold their spears horizontally, pushing them towards the prisoners in front. In the center of the upper tier is a large figure of the king. From the left, a procession with the royal chariot, a squire and a servant boy is heading towards her. On the right, warriors carry trophies and lead undressed and disarmed prisoners.
Big lion hunt. Fragment of a bas-relief. 9th century BC. British Museum, London
Many Assyrian reliefs have survived depicting hunting wild animals, which was considered excellent training for military operations. In composition "The Great Lion Hunt" the artist chose one of the most intense moments of the lion hunt. The figures of people and animals are conveyed in expressive movement. The hunt has already begun. The chariot rushes quickly. A wounded animal writhes in agony under the horses' hooves. The driver holds the reins with force, spurring the horses. At this time, the king draws his bow, preparing to hit the animal. The enraged wild lion stood with his front feet on the chariot. With great precision, the artist depicts the roaring head of a lion, defending itself from the threat of imminent death. With exceptional realism, he reproduces the terrible pain experienced by a wounded animal. The artist cannot be denied the skill of conveying details: the strength of the king’s muscles, the rigidity of the driver’s hands, the careful drawing of the horse’s mane and bridle.
Stele of King Naramsin. XXIII century BC. Louvre, Paris
The constant struggle for power between cities and the need to commemorate military victories led to the emergence of a new type of relief - memorial relief . We are talking about stone slabs with a rounded surface, on which religious scenes or historical events are symbolically depicted. On victorious stele king Naramsin depicts the king's campaign against hostile tribes. From above, a procession of warriors with spears and standards on high shafts unfolds along the mountain paths. Their gaze is turned upward to the victorious King Naramsin, who has risen to the very tops of the mountains, above which the Moon and the Sun, symbols of the gods, shine. The king has just thrown a dart at one of his opponents and is preparing to fight the last enemy. However, the warrior no longer resists, raises his hands and covers his face, as if blinded by the greatness of the winner. The battle is over. Naramsin generously grants him life and pulls back his hand with the arrow. The corpses of killed enemies fall from under his feet into a deep abyss.
The composition of the stele is interesting. On a relatively small surface, the master successfully placed the figure of the king, towering above everyone, and many warriors. On the right side, figures of enemies fleeing are visible: their spears are broken, there is horror on their faces and a plea for mercy. The landscape is also skillfully used: trees twisted by the wind, sculpted along the steep paths of a mountain gorge.
Stele of King Hammurabi. XVIII century BC. Louvre, Paris
No less famous Stela of King Hammurabi. Babylonian king Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), creator of the code of laws, approaches in a prayer position sun god Shamash . The king's head is covered with a cap with a folded edge, and his long robe falls in soft, loose folds to his feet, leaving his right arm bare. Shamash sits majestically on a throne that looks like a Babylonian temple with niches and projections. The deity’s feet rest on the towering mountains, because of which he comes to earth every day to people. Shamash's head is crowned with four pairs of horns - a sign of greatness, he has a long curled beard, and sheaves of sun rays burst out from behind his shoulders. With his right hand, Shamash hands Hammurabi the symbols of power - a ring and a rod, as if instructing the king to administer justice.
The art of Ancient Western Asia made a significant contribution to the development of small plastic arts. Some of the earliest works are small (up to 30 cm) figurines of people performing a rite of veneration of a deity, the so-called adorants (Latin for “worship”, “adoration”). They have reverently folded hands, lush and carefully curled beards; huge eyes turned upward, as if frozen in amazement; ears intensely catching any desire of the deity. They forever froze in poses of humility and submission. On the shoulder of each figurine is the name of the one whom it should represent in
Dignitary Ebikh-Il. III millennium BC Louvre, Paris
temple. Here's the manager Ebikh-Il
(III millennium BC). He sits on a wicker stool with his hands crossed in prayer on his chest. Where is his intense, expectant gaze directed? Noteworthy is the refined elaboration of the details of the clothing - skirts made of sheep wool with finely minted strands. The beard with curly curls is beautifully carved. Rounded shapes hide the muscles of the body, soft arms have lost strength and rigidity.
The sculptural representation of the head is a universally recognized masterpiece goddess Ishtar, anticipating many ancient examples. The empty eye sockets of the goddess were once encrusted with precious stones and gave her appearance unique grandeur. The wavy wig, made by embossing gold leaf, produced a terrifying and bewitching effect. The hair, parted, falls in semicircles on the forehead. Eyebrows fused above the bridge of the nose and a tightly compressed mouth give the face a somewhat arrogant expression.
Head of the goddess Ishtar from Uruk. Beginning of the 3rd millennium BC Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Musical art
Monuments of musical culture have not survived, but the high level of development of music can be judged from works of literature and fine art. For example, during excavations in the city of Ur, cuneiform “textbooks” on singing were discovered. From them we learn that temple musician-priests were held in high esteem in society. Their names were written down after the names of gods and kings. The names of the musicians began the calendar. Compared to government officials, musicians were of a higher rank.
During mourning ceremonies, temple musicians-priests performed lamenting songs, and on ordinary days they were supposed to please the gods and kings with beautiful sounds. The following order from the king to the musicians has been preserved:
“The king ordered the singer to appear and sing before the lord Ningirsu, so that his heart would calm down, his soul would be pacified, his tears would be dried, his sighs would stop; for this singer is like the depths of the sea, he purifies like the Euphrates, and makes a noise like a storm.”
Thus, music was supposed to bring pleasure to gods and kings and comfort the souls of believers. Later there were large court ensembles that gave public concerts. Some of the ensembles numbered 150 people! Concerts were held during religious ceremonies, folk holidays, the return of troops from campaigns, royal receptions, feasts and solemn processions.
Of the musical instruments, the most widespread are harp, cymbals, double oboe, longitudinal flutes, lutes and lyres. Cult music also used various bells - amulets against evil and disasters. The rites dedicated to the cult of the Moon and the star Ishtar (planet Venus) involved copper drums of enormous size. Even sacrifices were made in honor of musical instruments.
During excavations of one of the royal tombs in the city of Ur, a harp with the head of a bull was discovered. On the front of the harp, under the bull's chin, there is a tablet depicting Gilgamesh fighting two bulls with human faces. This is a plot from a myth according to which the gods
Harp with a bull's head. Around 2600 BC
Iraq Museum, Baghdad
Nya Ishtar, who wooed Gilgamesh and was refused by him, decided to take revenge on him. She demanded that the sky god Anu create a “heavenly bull” and a thundercloud, which were supposed to destroy Gilgamesh.
The ancient Eastern harp had a narrow resonator and strings of different lengths, which were stretched diagonally. Among the many varieties of harps, differing in the number of strings, size and method of performance, the most popular were Assyrian horizontal harps. They were played with mediator (thin long stick). If they were vertical harps , then when playing music they used only their fingers.
Some terms denoting musical intervals, modes and genres have also come down to us from Mesopotamia. And although scientists are still arguing about their real sound, one thing is certain: in Mesopotamia they not only performed music, but also composed it, and also developed musical theory.
Questions and tasks
1. Tell us about the outstanding cultural achievements of the peoples of Ancient Western Asia. Which of them have not lost their significance today? What influence did natural conditions and the most important historical events have on the general nature of cultural development?
2.How and why was Sumerian writing invented? What are its characteristic features? What did the clay tablets tell us? What do you know about the creation of the world's first library of King Ashurbanipal in Nineveh?
3. What are the characteristic features of the architecture of Ancient Mesopotamia? Tell us about the masterpieces of temple and urban architecture.
4. Identify the leading themes in the visual arts of Mesopotamia. What circumstances caused them? Look at the reliefs depicting animals (“The Great Lion Hunt” and “The Wounded Lioness”). What has changed in the depiction of the beast compared to the painting of primitive man?
5. Tell us about the musical culture of Ancient Western Asia. What musical instruments were especially popular?
Creative workshop
· Read the poem by V.Ya. Bryusov "Assargadon". How did the poet of the 20th century see the Assyrian despot king? Is there a similarity between this poem and the victory steles of the Ancient East (the Naramsin stele)?
I am the leader of the kings of the earth and the king, Assargadon.
As soon as I took power, Sidon rebelled against us.
I overthrew Sidon and threw stones into the sea.
To Egypt my speech sounded like a law,
Elam read fate in my single gaze,
I built my powerful throne on the bones of my enemies.
Lords and leaders, I say to you: woe!
Who will surpass me? who will be equal to me?
The actions of all people are like a shadow in a crazy dream,
The dream of exploits is like child's play.
I have exhausted you to the bottom, earthly glory!
And here I stand alone, intoxicated with greatness,
I, the leader of the kings of the earth and the king - Assargadon.
· Get acquainted with the “Epic of Gilgamesh” - an outstanding monument of world literature. What philosophical and moral problems are reflected in this work? Present your impressions in the form of a short essay.
· Try to design an exhibition stand that would present the main types of art of Ancient Western Asia.
Related information.
The most ancient monument of Sumerian writing is the tablet from Kish, which was dated to approximately 3500 BC. The Sumerians made tablets from clay until the material completely hardened, and strokes were applied to them with a wooden stick. Subsequently, this method of writing was called cuneiform.
Instructions
During excavations of the city of Uruk, clay tablets were found around 3300 BC. This allowed scientists to conclude that writing contributed to the rapid development of cities and the complete restructuring of society. In the east was the kingdom of Elam, and between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was the Sumerian kingdom. These two states conducted trade, and therefore there was an urgent need for writing. Elam used pictographs, which the Sumerians adapted.
In Elam and Sumer, tokens were used - clay chips of various shapes that denoted single objects (one goat or one ram). Somewhat later, symbols began to be applied to tokens: serifs, imprints, triangles, circles and other shapes. Tokens were placed in stamped containers. To find out about the contents, it was necessary to break the container, count the number of chips and determine their shape. Subsequently, the container itself began to indicate what tokens it contained. Soon these chips lost their meaning. The Sumerians were content with only their imprint on the container, which turned from a ball into a flat tablet. Using corners and circles on such plates, the type and quantity of items or objects were indicated. By definition, all signs were pictograms.
Over time, the combinations of pictograms became stable. Their meaning was made up of a combination of images. If a bird with an egg was drawn on the sign, then it was about fertility and procreation as an abstract concept. Pictograms became ideograms (symbolic representations of an idea).
After 2-3 centuries, the style of Sumerian writing changed dramatically. To make it easier to read, the symbols were divided into wedges - small segments. In addition, all used symbols began to be depicted inverted 90 degrees counterclockwise.
The styles of many words and concepts are standardized over time. Now you can put not only administrative letters on the tablets, but also literary treatises. In II BC, Sumerian cuneiform was already used in the Middle East.
The first attempt to decipher Sumerian writing was made by Grotefend in the mid-19th century. His work was later continued by Rawlinson. The subject of his study was the Behistun manuscript. The scientist found that the tablets that came into his hands were written in three languages and represented the Elamite and Akkadian scripts - direct descendants of the Sumerian script. By the end of the 19th century, later forms of cuneiform were finally deciphered thanks to dictionaries and archives found in Nineveh and Babylon. Today, scientists are trying to understand the principle of proto-Sumerian writing - the prototypes of the cuneiform writing of the Sumerians.
The civilization of ancient Sumer, its sudden appearance, produced an effect on humanity comparable to a nuclear explosion: a block of historical knowledge shattered into hundreds of small fragments, and years passed before this monolith could be put together 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 discovered 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 also created a real 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 oxygen supply. 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 are they, 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 nothing 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 are the only people who have 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 this was nothing more than a guess, until in the middle of the 19th century, employees of the British and French consulates began the search (as you know, most consular employees are professional intelligence officers).
Behistun inscription
At first it was a British army officer, Major Henry Rawlinson. In 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 of the 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 the 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 a variety of sources,” conspiracy theorists say. “It is not without reason that the heterogeneity of the cultural heritage of the Sumerians is 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, this, may ancient Sumer forgive us, is nothing more than a version that can simply be ignored.
Igor RODIONOV
In the south of modern Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, a mysterious people, the Sumerians, settled almost 7,000 years ago. They made a significant contribution to the development of human civilization, but we still do not know where the Sumerians came from or what language they spoke.
Mysterious language
The Mesopotamian valley has long been inhabited by tribes of Semitic herders. It was they who were driven north by the Sumerian aliens. The Sumerians themselves were not related to the Semites; moreover, their origins are still unclear to this day. Neither the ancestral home of the Sumerians nor the linguistic family to which their language belonged is known.
Fortunately for us, the Sumerians left many written monuments. From them we learn that neighboring tribes called these people “Sumerians”, and they themselves called themselves “Sang-ngiga” - “black-headed”. They called their language a “noble language” and considered it the only one suitable for people (in contrast to the not so “noble” Semitic languages spoken by their neighbors).
But the Sumerian language was not homogeneous. It had special dialects for women and men, fishermen and shepherds. What the Sumerian language sounded like is unknown to this day. A large number of homonyms suggests that this language was a tonal language (like, for example, modern Chinese), which means that the meaning of what was said often depended on intonation.
After the decline of the Sumerian civilization, the Sumerian language was studied for a long time in Mesopotamia, since most religious and literary texts were written in it.
The ancestral home of the Sumerians
One of the main mysteries remains the ancestral home of the Sumerians. Scientists build hypotheses based on archaeological data and information obtained from written sources. 
This Asian country, unknown to us, was supposed to be located on the sea. The fact is that the Sumerians came to Mesopotamia along river beds, and their first settlements appeared in the south of the valley, in the deltas of the Tigris and Euphrates. At first there were very few Sumerians in Mesopotamia - and this is not surprising, because the ships can only accommodate so many settlers. Apparently, they were good sailors, since they were able to climb up unfamiliar rivers and find a suitable place to land on the shore.
In addition, scientists believe that the Sumerians come from mountainous areas. It’s not for nothing that in their language the words “country” and “mountain” are written the same way. And the Sumerian temples “ziggurats” resemble mountains in appearance - they are stepped structures with a wide base and a narrow pyramidal top, where the sanctuary was located.
Another important condition is that this country had to have developed technologies. The Sumerians were one of the most advanced peoples of their time; they were the first in the entire Middle East to use the wheel, create an irrigation system, and invent a unique writing system.
According to one version, this legendary ancestral home was located in the south of India.
Flood survivors
It was not for nothing that the Sumerians chose the Mesopotamia Valley as their new homeland. The Tigris and Euphrates originate in the Armenian Highlands, and carry fertile silt and mineral salts to the valley. Because of this, the soil in Mesopotamia is extremely fertile, with fruit trees, grains and vegetables growing in abundance. In addition, there were fish in the rivers, wild animals flocked to watering holes, and in the flooded meadows there was plenty of food for livestock. 
But all this abundance had a downside. When the snow began to melt in the mountains, the Tigris and Euphrates carried streams of water into the valley. Unlike the Nile floods, the Tigris and Euphrates floods could not be predicted; they were not regular.
Heavy floods turned into a real disaster, they destroyed everything in their path: cities and villages, fields, animals and people. It was probably when they first encountered this disaster that the Sumerians created the legend of Ziusudra.
At a meeting of all the gods, a terrible decision was made - to destroy all of humanity. Only one god, Enki, took pity on the people. He appeared in a dream to King Ziusudra and ordered him to build a huge ship. Ziusudra fulfilled the will of God; he loaded his property, family and relatives, various craftsmen to preserve knowledge and technology, livestock, animals and birds onto the ship. The doors of the ship were tarred on the outside.
The next morning a terrible flood began, which even the gods were afraid of. The rain and wind raged for six days and seven nights. Finally, when the water began to recede, Ziusudra left the ship and made sacrifices to the gods. Then, as a reward for his loyalty, the gods granted Ziusudra and his wife immortality.
This legend not only resembles the legend of Noah's Ark; most likely, the biblical story is borrowed from Sumerian culture. After all, the first poems about the flood that have reached us date back to the 18th century BC.
King-priests, king-builders
The Sumerian lands were never a single state. In essence, it was a collection of city-states, each with its own law, its own treasury, its own rulers, its own army. The only things they had in common were language, religion and culture. City-states could be at enmity with each other, could exchange goods or enter into military alliances. 
Each city-state was ruled by three kings. The first and most important was called “en”. This was the king-priest (however, the enom could also be a woman). The main task of the king was to conduct religious ceremonies: solemn processions and sacrifices. In addition, he was in charge of all temple property, and sometimes the property of the entire community.
An important area of life in ancient Mesopotamia was construction. The Sumerians are credited with the invention of baked brick. City walls, temples, and barns were built from this more durable material. The construction of these structures was supervised by the priest-builder ensi. In addition, the ensi monitored the irrigation system, because canals, locks and dams made it possible to at least somewhat control irregular spills.
During the war, the Sumerians elected another leader - a military leader - lugal. The most famous military leader was Gilgamesh, whose exploits are immortalized in one of the most ancient literary works, the Epic of Gilgamesh. In this story, the great hero challenges the gods, defeats monsters, brings a precious cedar tree to his hometown of Uruk, and even descends into the afterlife.
Sumerian gods
Sumer had a developed religious system. Three gods were especially revered: the sky god Anu, the earth god Enlil and the water god Ensi. In addition, each city had its own patron god. Thus, Enlil was especially revered in the ancient city of Nippur. The people of Nippur believed that Enlil gave them such important inventions as the hoe and the plow, and also taught them how to build cities and build walls around them. 
Important gods for the Sumerians were the sun (Utu) and the moon (Nannar), which replaced each other in the sky. And, of course, one of the most important figures of the Sumerian pantheon was the goddess Inanna, whom the Assyrians, who borrowed the religious system from the Sumerians, would call Ishtar, and the Phoenicians - Astarte.
Inanna was the goddess of love and fertility and, at the same time, the goddess of war. She personified, first of all, carnal love and passion. It is not for nothing that in many Sumerian cities there was a custom of “divine marriage”, when kings, in order to ensure fertility for their lands, livestock and people, spent the night with the high priestess Inanna, who embodied the goddess herself.
Like many ancient gods, Inannu was capricious and fickle. She often fell in love with mortal heroes, and woe to those who rejected the goddess!
The Sumerians believed that the gods created people by mixing their blood with clay. After death, souls fell into the afterlife, where there was also nothing but clay and dust, which the dead ate. To make the life of their deceased ancestors a little better, the Sumerians sacrificed food and drink to them.
Cuneiform
Sumerian civilization reached amazing heights, even after being conquered by its northern neighbors, the culture, language and religion of the Sumerians were borrowed first by Akkad, then by Babylonia and Assyria.
The Sumerians are credited with inventing the wheel, bricks, and even beer (although they most likely made barley drink using a different technology). But the main achievement of the Sumerians was, of course, a unique writing system - cuneiform.
Cuneiform got its name from the shape of the marks that a reed stick left on wet clay, the most common writing material. 
Sumerian writing came from a system of counting various goods. For example, when a man counted his flock, he made a clay ball to represent each sheep, then put these balls in a box, and left marks on the box indicating the number of these balls. But all the sheep in the herd are different: different sexes, different ages. Marks appeared on the balls according to the animal they represented. And finally, the sheep began to be designated by a picture - a pictogram. Drawing with a reed stick was not very convenient, and the pictogram turned into a schematic image consisting of vertical, horizontal and diagonal wedges. And the last step - this ideogram began to denote not only a sheep (in Sumerian “udu”), but also the syllable “udu” as part of compound words.
At first, cuneiform was used to compile business documents. Extensive archives have come down to us from the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. But later, the Sumerians began to write down artistic texts, and even entire libraries appeared from clay tablets, which were not afraid of fires - after all, after firing, the clay only became stronger. It was thanks to the fires in which the Sumerian cities, captured by the warlike Akkadians, perished, that unique information about this ancient civilization has reached us.
SUMERIAN LANGUAGE
SOUTH EUROPEAN TRUNK
49,000 BC a “Eurasian” monolanguage arose.
The estimated emergence of a monolanguage is “according to linguistic data, it is no deeper than 40 - 50 thousand years ago. This is the maximum, because those macrofamilies that we know have a dating of about 15 - 17 thousand. Bringing other language families together may require two or three more floors, but the starting point cannot be older than 40 - 50 thousand years.
In the "fertile crescent" zone (Sinai) the general or "Eurasian" language 38,000 l. n. began to break down into dialects."
The separation of the main proto-languages emanating from the southern European trunk occurred in the region of 15-12 thousand BC.
There were three of them:
Sino-Caucasian,
Nostratic and
Afroasiatic (Semitic-Hamitic).
It is possible that other proto-languages existed at that time, which disappeared without a trace in the future (these include the “banana” languages of Mesopotamia and Sumerian, although the latter is often compared to Sino-Caucasian). The features of Sino-Caucasian languages include complex verbal morphology, which is formed according to similar principles, and ergative construction of sentences, opposed to the nominative construction of Nostratic languages.
9 - 8 thousand BC there was a division of the Sino-Caucasian (Dene-Caucasian, Proto-Hurrian, Carian, Sino-Caucasian, Paleo-Eurasian) community, dislocated from Asia Minor ( CHAYONYU-TEPEZI) and the Balkans to the Pamirs.
- 8,700 BC - selection of the Sumerian language.
The settlement of the Nostrati throughout Central Asia and Iran divided the Sino-Caucasians into three zones: eastern, western and northern, between which the Ural-Dravidian-Altai Nostratic community was located. The most isolated was the northern one, formed back in 8,700 thousand BC. one of the first.
8,700 BC - identification of the northern Sino-Caucasian branch of languages (Nadene family). Mosan, Haida, Tlingit, Athapaskan, Eyak.
7,900 BC - highlighting the Basque and Aquitanian languages.
According to genetic studies, after the inhabitants of Ethiopia, the most ancient are the inhabitants of Sardinia (Akkadians) and the Basques.
Some of the Sino-Caucasians who went west gave rise to the population of Western Europe who spoke Proto-Basque languages.
Small groups of Andites 7,900 BC headed to Japan (mixed with the Australoids, forming the Ainu race on the islands of Japan), to the south of China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
6,200 BC - highlighting the Burushaski language.
Some scientists consider Burushasks to be Western or Eastern Sino-Caucasians. They appeared in Kashmir before the Indo-Aryans and had no contact with the Dravidians.
5,900 BC - identification of the Eastern Sino-Caucasian branch of languages.
5.100 BC - separation of the language of the Kets (Yenisei languages: Ket, Yug, etc.) and the Chinese, Tibetans and Burmese.
6 thousand BC The Sino-Caucasians in Asia Minor were divided into the Hatto-Ashu and Hurrito-Urartian groups (Alarodian), which began to develop autonomously, but there was no clear localization of these groups.
4500 BC - highlighting the language of the Hutts and Ashuis.
The Hutt language has clear overlaps with Adyghe-Abkhaz and Kartvelian, but has almost nothing in common with Nakh-Dagestan and Hurrian. The Hutt language was a link between the Sino-Caucasian and Nostratic (Kartvelian group).
4500 BC - identification of Nakho-Dagestan, Hurrian, Urartian languages and the language of the “peoples of the sea”.
The Nakh-Dagestan language has clear similarities with Hurrian (about 100 common roots) - on the one hand, and Adyghe-Abkhazian - on the other, as well as points of contact with Chadian languages of the Afroasiatic (macro) family. The Ingush language belongs to the Nakh (Vainakh) branch. The Ket language was associated with the Hurrian languages.
Periods of Sumerian language
Five main periods in the history of the Sumerian language are identified according to the nature of writing, language and spelling of written monuments.
1.Archaic(3500-2750 BC), the stage of pictography, when grammatical morphemes are not yet graphically expressed. The order of characters in writing does not correspond to the order of reading. The subject matter of the texts is interpreted ambiguously.
2.Old Sumerian(hereinafter SS, 2750-2136 BC), the first stage of cuneiform writing, when a number of the most important grammatical morphemes are already transmitted in writing. It is represented by texts of various subjects, both historical (Lagash, Uruk, etc.) and religious and literary (Abu Salabih, Farah and Ebla). During the reign of the Akkadian Dynasty (2315-2200 BC), bilingual royal inscriptions first appeared.
In the Old Sumerian period, the Sumerian language was the interstate language of communication not only for the purely Sumerian city-states of Southern Mesopotamia, but also, for example, the city-state of Ebla (in northern Syria).
During the Old Sumerian period (when there were several Sumerian city-states), it is difficult to identify significant dialect differences in the royal inscriptions and economic texts from Lagash, Ur and Nippur. . Thomsen admits the existence of a southeastern (Lagash) dialect of the Sumerian language due to such a fact as the distinction between two groups of vowels (in verbal prefixes): open (a, ě, ŏ) and closed (ē, i, u) in contrast to common Sumerian, where this has not been revealed.
Perhaps there was also professional jargon: the so-called. ‘the language of the boatmen’ (eme-ma2-lah4-a), ‘the language of the shepherds’ (eme-udula) and ‘the language of the priests nu’eš’ (eme-nu-eša3), but no written monuments were found on it. .
3. Neo-Sumerian(hereinafter NS, 2136-1996 BC), when almost all grammatical morphemes are expressed graphically.
Represented by religious, literary and business texts of Gudea, ruler of the 2nd dynasty of Lagash (2136-2104 BC) in the Lagash dialect.
Numerous texts of a business and legal nature have come down from the III dynasty of Ur (2100-1996 BC), including the laws of Shulga, correspondence of kings and officials.
It is believed that the religious and literary compositions that survived in later copies were recorded during this period.
The Sumerian language was the official state language in the territory of Mesopotamia, and, in particular, during the 'Kingdom of Sumer and Akkad' (the so-called III dynasty of Ur, 2112-1996 BC) - royal inscriptions were compiled in it , religious and literary texts, economic and legal documents
Subsequently, during the Old Babylonian period (2000-1800 BC), the Sumerian written language was gradually replaced by Akkadian. Thus, the royal inscriptions were already compiled in two languages.
4. Late Sumerian or Old Babylonian Sumerian (hereinafter NE, 1996-1736 BC), when all grammatical morphemes are expressed graphically.
Represented by religious, literary and magical texts mainly of the Nippur school, Sumerian-Akkadian dictionaries, lexical, grammatical and terminological reference books, laws of Lipit-Ishtar, King Issin. Bilingual royal inscriptions come from the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1736 BC). The vocabulary and grammar are influenced by the Akkadian language.
After the destruction of most of the Sumerian population by the Babylonian king Samsuiluna during the uprising of Rome-Sin II in 1736 BC. e., followed by the death of the Sumerian schools (‘eduba’) and the transfer of the center of learning to the suburb of Babylon - Borsippa, and especially after 1450 BC. e. (the end of the last Mesopotamian dynasty of Primorye with the Sumerian names of the rulers) there is no more information about the spoken Sumerian language.
In the period from 1736 to the 1st centuries BC. e. The Sumerian language remains the scientific and liturgical language of Mesopotamian culture, fulfilling the role of medieval Latin in the Ancient East. Numerous scientific (eg Astrolabe 'B') and religious texts of both narrative (eg Lugal ud me-lam2-bi) and magical (eg Udug-hul-a-meš, Akkadian Utukkī Lemnūti) existed in two versions: Sumerian and Akkadian, ensuring the bilingual status of the Assyro-Babylonian civilization. The matrix nature of the ideographic script, borrowed from the Sumerians, used in East Semitic Akkadian, Urartian and Indo-European Hittite, contributed to the centuries-old use of Sumerian ideogram words in these languages and thereby the second life of the vocabulary of the Sumerian language.
5. Post-Sumerian(hereinafter PS, 1736 BC - 2nd century BC). Represented by religious, literary, liturgical and magical texts (copies of the late Sumerian period), including those in the Eme-sal dialect, Sumerian phrases and glosses in Akkadian texts.
Sumerian is an agglutinative language. At the syntactic level, the language is classified as ergative.
WRITING
The main source for studying the Sumerian language are texts in this language using various writing systems. This:
pictographic font (Uruk, Jemdet Nasr, Archaic Ur), typologically close to early Elamite;
cuneiform in its main variants - classical Sumerian and various types of Akkadian: Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian, Middle Assyrian and significantly simplified New Assyrian and New Babylonian. The cuneiform sign uses all four cardinal directions and their invariants, with the exception of the southeast direction. The Sumerians first wrote in vertical columns, later in rows, from left to right.
OK. 3.500 BC Pictographic writing develops in Sumer.
Writing went through several phases of its development and improved quite quickly. The original drawings of objects, which were of little use for representing complex concepts, were replaced by icons that conveyed the sounds of speech. This is how phonetic writing arose.
The oldest tablets of Uruk are pictograms depicting a person, parts of his body, tools, etc. These “words” speak of people, animals and plants, tools and vessels, etc.
Already 2900 BC. An ideographic letter appears instead of a picture one.
Later, pictograms began to be replaced by ideograms, the meaning of which did not coincide with the meaning of the picture. The leg sign, for example, came to represent not only the leg, but also various actions associated with the leg. Initially, there were about 2000 such icons, in which it was no longer easy to decipher the prototype picture. Very soon their number was reduced by almost two-thirds; the same sign began to convey words that sounded the same or had the same root (for example, words denoting a plowing tool and plowing). After this, syllabic writing arose. But neither the Sumerians nor the peoples who borrowed their writing system took the next step - they did not create an alphabetic letter.
Sumerian writing is verbal and syllabic in nature. It is based on pictorial signs (pictograms), which are ideograms that convey not a word, but a concept (concept), and most often not one, but a number of associatively related concepts. Initially, the number of characters in the Sumerian language reached a thousand. Gradually their number was reduced to 600. Almost half of them were used as logograms and at the same time as syllabograms, which was facilitated by the monosyllabic nature of most Sumerian words, the rest were only logograms. When read in each individual context, the ideogram sign reproduced one specific word, and the ideogram became a logogram, that is, a sign for a word with its specific sound. Since the pictorial sign most often expressed not one concept, but several conceptually related verbal meanings, logograms could refer to associatively related objects (for example, the star sign for dingir- 'god', the image of a leg for gub- 'stand', du-, re6-, ra2- 'to go', gen- 'to be firm', tum2- 'to bring'). The presence of signs expressing more than one word created polyphony. On the other hand, Sumerian had a large number of homonymous words - homophones, apparently differing only in musical tones, which were not specifically reflected in the graphics. As a result, it turns out that to convey the same sequence of consonants and vowels there can be up to a dozen different signs, differing not depending on the sound of the word, but on its semantics. In Sumerology (the most convenient Deimel system is used here), when transliterating such ‘homophones’, the following notations are accepted: du, du2, du3, du4, du5, du6, etc., in order of approximate frequency.
There were many monosyllabic words in the Sumerian language, so it turned out to be possible to use logograms that convey such words for purely phonetic transmission of words or grammatical indicators that could not be reproduced directly in the form of a pictorial ideogram sign. Thus, logograms begin to be used as syllabograms. Any Sumerian word in the form of a pure stem is conveyed by an ideogram-logogram, and a word with grammatical formants by means of an ideogram sign for the stem of the word and syllabogram signs (in syllabic meaning) for the formants. Vowel formants, acting as suffixes, also play the role of phonetic complements, since repeating the last consonant of the base indicates the reading of an ideogram sign, for example, the sign 'leg' followed by the sign 'ba' should be read gub-ba / guba / 'standing', 'set'< /gub + a/, а со знаком ‘na’: gin-na /gina/ < /gin-a/ ‘ушедший’. В конце первой половины III тыс. до н. э. появились детерминативы, обозначающие категорию понятия, например, детерминативы деревянных, тростни-ковых, каменных предметов, животных, птиц, рыб и т. д.
The rules for transliterating Sumerian texts should be noted. Each character is transliterated in lowercase Roman letters, separated from the transliteration of another character within the same word by a hyphen. Determinatives are written above the line. If the correct choice of one or another reading of a sign in a given context cannot be made, then the sign is transliterated in capital Latin letters in its most common reading. There are no doubled consonants in Sumerian, so spellings like gub-ba are purely orthographic and should be read /guba/.
Clay tablet with Sumerian inscriptions
Pictograms and cuneiform were written on clay tablets, which were then fired in kilns. Sumerian scribes first extruded cuneiform characters on small (4-5 cm in length and 2.5 cm in width) and “pot-bellied” clay tablets. Over time, they became larger (11x10 cm) and flatter. Cylinder seals were widespread in Sumer. These seals became widespread during the Jemdet-Nasr period. They embodied the excellent artistic taste and remarkable skill of the Sumerian carvers. Cylinder seals from the Uruk period are 8 cm high and 5 cm in diameter. An impression of such a seal, 16 cm long, tells a lot: there are pictures of everyday life and echoes of long-forgotten beliefs.
