The Sumerians are one of the oldest civilizations known to have lived 6 thousand years ago. They established the first and most important civilizations in history and laid the foundations of countless inventions. They existed in the region between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, known as the “Cradle of Civilization” between 4000-2000 BC. The foundations of today’s modern law, religions, traditions, horoscopes and even writing belong to them. It is not known exactly who the Sumerians were, where they came from and where they went.
The people living in abundance in the Mesopotamian region laid the first foundations of science and intellectual life thanks to their developed economies without being dependent on the outside. They invented writing and published the first written laws of law. The first written rules were enacted by King Urukagina, who came to power in 2375 BC. Private property and family law were regulated by these laws. It is legally guaranteed to protect the orphans, the homeless, that is, the powerless against the powerful. Even slaves were regularly health-checked and protected against ill-treatment. Almost the entire order of the world today is based on the Sumerians.
Scientific Studies Founded by the Sumerians
First of all, the first foundations of urbanization were laid in Sumer, by bringing together people living in a nomadic state. Due to the necessities of collective life, the firsts in many subjects are found in the Sumerians. The Sumerians saw the sun as a symbol of justice and believed that just as the sun illuminates the darkness, it would eliminate injustices in their justice. According to them, justice is the right of the people and the duty of the state. In fact, there is a sentence like this in the Sumerian tablets; “I dream of a country where no one is afraid to enter the dark streets, where the feet of the walkers are not prickly and people do not sleep hungry”. In the Sumerian judicial system; There is the accuser, the defense group, the judge, the panel of judges, the clerk, the lawyer, and the jury that forms the basis of today’s American courts.
The marriage was registered before the court with a written document. The man would first accept the rights and laws of the woman, the compensation and alimony required in case of divorce. If the woman said that her husband had been unfaithful or did not fulfill his duties, she would have the right to divorce. Especially in divorces with children, the common property right of the woman continued and the child received an equal share from the inheritance. In divorce, alimony and compensation are in question for both parties. Divorces before witnesses and judges are the basis of today’s civil law. The first example of these laws is exhibited in the Istanbul Archeology Museum. They attach great importance to the equality of men and women in social life. It also has a very important place in temples and goddesses in Sumer.
Education is extremely important in this society that invented writing. Children were regularly sent to school at an early age. Mathematics, writing and law were taught in schools. They found the Lunar Calendar, in which they calculated a year as 360 days and months as 30 days. They studied the celestial bodies so well that they discovered 5 planets and 12 signs. The names of the zodiac signs used today are from the time of the Sumerians. They also made calculations of four operations in mathematics, such as the area of a circle. The fact that the hours are 60 minutes and the minutes are 60 seconds is also based on the Sumerians. The first people to invent the wheel and find geometry were again the Sumerians.
The Sumerians have made enough progress to lay the scientific foundations of today’s world. The reason the Sumerians advanced so much is that they had a scientific point of view. The people, who have a polytheistic belief, showed an objective approach to science and acted within the framework of logic while examining the events.
Sumerian Traditions Practiced Today
Nowruz, celebrated on March 21 every year, is a tradition inherited from the Sumerians. It is believed that the sun god Tammuz and the moon god Inanna, known as the Sumerian gods, meet on March 21 each year. This meeting symbolizes the end of winter and the fertility of the soil. The source of Christians’ Easter Feast and Hıdırellez comes from the belief in this holy meeting. Among the traditions that have survived from the Sumerians, there is also the bridal bath before the wedding. The tradition of planting cypress trees at the head of the graves is a tradition that has survived from the Sumerians. The Sumerians planted cypress trees in their tombs because they thought it symbolized Tammuz.
On December 21, the sun god Tammuz dies and is later resurrected. This resurrection is celebrated on December 25 by decorating a tree. The ornaments on the tree symbolize all kinds of fruit and fertility. This belief is celebrated as Christmas in Christianity today. Tammuz and Adonis, the Sumerian gods, were slaughtered by a wild boar. In Sumerian mythology, the pig is considered a sinful being, a god-killer. In many societies and religions where Sumerian influence is observed, pork is haram. Kissing the bread that has fallen on the ground is also a Sumerian tradition. The idea that humans were created from earth and that woman was created from a man’s rib is explained in detail in Sumerian texts.
The Sumerians made offerings to please the gods, to make a request, or to get rid of illness. For this reason, a healthy animal was sacrificed as an offering. The right leg and viscera of the victim were presented to the gods, and the rest were distributed among the people. The Sumerians calculated a day as 12 hours, but our 1 hour is equal to their 2 hours. Therefore, a day is calculated as 24 hours. The 12 apostles of Jesus represent these 12 hours and also the 12 signs. They calculated that every 2150 years the sun coincides with another sign. The epic “Creation and Flood”, “Emeş and Enten” were first encountered in the Sumerians. Wedding rings and evil eye beads were also seen in the first Sumerians.
At the end of 1900 AD, the Sumerians began to disappear rapidly. Neither their language nor their culture remained from the Sumerians. For thousands of years nothing was known about the Sumerians. The Sumerians were discovered through studies in the 19th century. With the establishment of Ankara Language History Geography Department, a Sumerology department was opened by Atatürk and Sumerians began to be studied in detail. Today, most Sumerian tablets are kept in museums in Turkey. Turkey is one of the countries that has been carrying out important studies on this subject since 1935. With the outbreak of the Syrian War, many historical structures in that region that remained from the Sumerians were completely destroyed.
