The world's first urban civilization, originating in southern Mesopotamia; gave rise to cuneiform writing, city-states such as Ur and Uruk, and the earliest recorded law codes.
Dissolved as a distinct political entity around 1900–1800 BCE as Amorite invasions and the rise of the Old Babylonian Kingdom under the First Dynasty of Babylon absorbed the Sumerian city-states; Sumerian ceased as a spoken language by c. 1800 BCE.
The classic English-language introduction to Sumerian civilization by its foremost 20th-century interpreter.
Broad scholarly synthesis of Mesopotamian society, economy, and culture across all periods.
The king of Uruk’s quest — the oldest surviving epic on earth.