We pride ourselves on being the most advanced generation in human history, but most of the knowledge and technology we have today originated in the ancient world. Of these, the Sumerians contributed to four inventions that, without them, would not exist today.
Writing
According to archaeological research, the Sumerians lived in the southern region of the Tigris and Euphrates river delta. Around the end of the 4th millennium BC, they had large, fortified settlements with high walls and deep moats for protection. Their society was also divided into classes with the Sumerian king at the top.
The prosperous economic life is believed to be the main reason for the birth of Sumerian writing. Because, in a bustling trading environment and increasingly long and wide trading distances, residents needed something to trust and connect to unlimited communication.
Based on archaeological findings, cuneiform writing was invented at the latest around 3500 BC. The first characters were drawings that represented goods and their distribution routes. For example, minimalist drawings of animals, grains, recipients or delivery locations…
Over time, cuneiform developed beyond its commercial purpose. Eventually, it became a writing system with an almost limitless vocabulary and became a powerful tool of expression in the art of poetic composition.
The first written epic poem of the Sumerians was probably Gilgamesh. It emphasizes the complexity of emotions and revolves around themes that have been explored for generations: love, fear, hope, and death. Interestingly, in addition to stories, Gilgamesh also served as a “textbook of geography, nature, and minerals,” transmitting detailed Sumerian knowledge.
From the Sumerian civilization, cuneiform spread and became the primary language of many other ancient civilizations. Over thousands of years, it became the basis of many languages, including Akkadian, Babylonian, Hitтιтe, and Persian.
Numbers and math
As with cuneiform, the Sumerians also invented numbers for commercial purposes. Although they were not the first to create the concept of arithmetic, their number system, the Sєxagesimal (base 60) system, was popular and was widely used and circulated.
According to historians and mathematicians, the Sumerians invented base 60 because it has a large number of divisors (60 is the smallest number divisible by all numbers from 1 to 6) and is easy to calculate on the fingers. In mathematics today, base 60 is still a popular factor, included in the measurement system of units of time, angles, and coordinates.
Also from the Sumerian base 60, later mathematicians developed geometric equations and arithmetic formulas. The most impressive “students” of Sumerian mathematics were probably the Babylonians.
They left behind the world’s most important ancient trigonometric table, Plimpton 322, which served as the basis for the well-known Pythagorean theorem, a2 + b2 = c2. It is safe to say that the ancient Sumerians were the inventors of mathematics.
Pharmaceutical
Like most civilizations in the primitive period, the Sumerians also considered illness as punishment from the gods and to cure it, they prayed and sacrificed. However, the objects they used to perform the rituals were the remedies.
The Sumerians had two types of physicians, Asu – the medical pracтιтioner who treated the sick with medical knowledge and Asipu – the shaman who drove away evil spirits and invoked the gods with medicine. Although there was opposition between the two, they shared the desire to heal, and were responsible for both physical and mental treatment.
According to ancient documents found, the main medicines of Sumerian physicians were herbs, minerals and salts. They often crushed them and mixed them with water, beer, wine or honey to make them easier for the patient to swallow.
In addition, Sumerian physicians also emphasized cleanliness. They always advised patients to clean their bodies and living areas regularly and never forget to wash their hands before examining patients or performing minor surgeries.
Sumerian surgery was surprisingly advanced. They knew how to use catheters to treat drainage and urinary problems. One clay tablet found depicted the process of draining excess fluid from the liver, requiring an incision between the third and fourth ribs. Another tablet showed drilling into the skull to drain an abscess.
In Sumerian society, physicians were held in high esteem. In return, they were held in high esteem and were willing to take responsibility for any mistakes. Today, physicians take the Hippocratic Oath by heart. Interestingly, the principles of this oath are rooted in Sumerian medical law and practice.
Agriculture
The Sumerians settled on the fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which were ideal for large-scale agriculture. Each year, floods and rains deposited a layer of silt on this vast, flat land, making it even more fertile.
However, about 5-6 thousand years ago, the climate became warmer and the weather was less rainy. To maintain agriculture, the Sumerians were forced to find a way to distribute irrigation water properly and they created a wonderful irrigation system.
Around the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, archaeologists have discovered many traces of canals, ditches and reservoirs. The Sumerians were also the owners of the water draw, a design that took advantage of the weight of a heavy object tied to one end of a pole to easily lift water tanks from low to high places.
Around 1000 BC, the Sumerians invented the plow, which was pulled by oxen. They even tied seed bags to the plow to save on sowing.
