Sumerian

Sumerian refers to the language and the people of Sumer, an ancient civilization in southern Mesopotamia, located in what is now southern Iraq. Sumerian culture thrived in city-states such as Ur, Uruk, Lagash, and Eridu from roughly 4000 to 1900 BCE, and the region is among the earliest centers of urban society and writing.

The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a language isolate within the ancient Near East. It was used for administration, law, religion, literature, and science. Sumerian was written in cuneiform on clay tablets; the earliest inscriptions date to about 3200 BCE, beginning as pictographic signs that were gradually adapted into a wedge-shaped script. While Sumerian remained a dominant language for administration and scholarship, Akkadian became the lingua franca in later periods, and bilingual records are common.

Sumerian literature includes myths, hymns, prayers, and instructional texts. Notable works include the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Instructions of Shuruppak, and various temple and king-list documents. These texts provide insights into Sumerian religion, politics, and daily life, and they influenced neighboring cultures.

The Sumerians contributed to major innovations in Mesopotamia, including urban planning, irrigation-based agriculture, monumental architecture such as ziggurats, and early uses of wheeled transport. After political and social shifts, Sumerian ceased to be spoken as a vernacular language by the early second millennium BCE, though it persisted in scholarly, liturgical, and literary contexts for centuries. Over time, Akkadian and other languages became dominant, yet Sumerian remained influential through its literature, law, and religious traditions.