Book
The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character
University of Chicago Press • Chicago • Published In 1963 • Pages:
By: Kramer, Samuel Noah.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book is a good overview of the Sumerians from about 5000 B.P. to the start of the Babylonian Period in 3750 B.P. (3000 B.C. to 1750 B.C.). Kramer discusses, translates, and presents many original Sumerian texts. Included are texts of myths, laments, disputations, the Sumerian King List, a farmer's almanac, records of court judgements, votive inscriptions, etc. Most Sumerian documents were written after the end of the Early Dynastic Period. The sections of the book that are outside the time period were indexed with Outline of Cultural Materials (OCM) codes that pertained to subjects that might have occurred during the Early Dynastic Mesopotamia Period. Kramer also covers Sumerian history (which consists mainly of kings and a list of their battles and what cities they ruled); their society (dress, available occupations, family relationships, how a city was arranged, land tenure and ownership, etc.) and religion; their education system or the EDUBBA; what drives motivated the Sumerians; and what were their values and ethical ideals. Indeed, the first reform movement in recorded history occurred under the leadership of king Urukagina of Lagash around 4350 B.P. (2350 B.C.). The tablets record abuses by the king and the rich and powerful and how the balance of power was restored in favor of the temple and the ordinary citizen.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Traditional history
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Vocabulary
- Writing
- Verbal arts
- Ethics
- Chief executive
- External relations
- Mythology
- Spirits and gods
- Prayers and sacrifices
- Liberal arts education
- Texts translated into english
- traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Early Dynastic Mesopotamia
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2003
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Middle East
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Middle East
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Archaeologist
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Sarah Berry ; 2001
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- no date
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 5th millenium BP or 5000 BP-4000 BP (3rd millennium B.C. or 3000 B.C.-2000 B.C.)
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Sumer; Iran and Iraq
- NotesAdditional notes
- Samuel N. Kramer
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 343-346)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 63011398
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Iraq--Civilization--To 634