The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character (Phoenix Books) Revised ed. Edition

by Samuel Noah Kramer (Author)

89 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0226452388

ISBN-10: 0226452387

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The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them.

Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world.

"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology

"An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal

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Product details

Series: Phoenix Books
Paperback: 372 pages
Publisher: University of Chicago Press; Revised ed. edition (February 15, 1971)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0226452387
ISBN-13: 978-0226452388
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 89 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,407 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #62 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer
- #66 in Books > History > Ancient Civilizations > Mesopotamia
- #209 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Ancient

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A generally great work of serious scholarship

June 10, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

The ancient Sumerians, particularly prior to the unification of the Sumerian city-states by Sargon of Akkad and the rise of the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, are a fascinating people to study for their wholly pragmatic and spiritual worldviews. In many ways their contributions represent the birth of civilization, yet the scholarship on them is all over the place in terms of quality. Kramer does an excellent job of examining the primary source evidence, having done a wealth of original research himself, and providing evidence-based analyses of Sumerian cultural achievements, particularly in the areas of language, medicine, and education. The lack of postmodern trash academic gobbledygook jargon is also refreshing.

Kramer has an incredible eye for and love of detail, which is both a strength and a weakness in the prose. When the details he uses to support his analyses are themselves interesting, the work is at its greatest value. However, when he includes details on a topic just for the sake of including them, such as in his historiographical treatment of Sumerian archaeological, linguistic, and historical scholarship going back several centuries, one's mind starts to wander. You can pretty much skip that whole section at the beginning of the book unless you're really, really, really interested in every major and minor contribution made by every academic on Sumerian scholarship.

I recommend this work for anyone interested in learning more about these ancient peoples, from ancient history neophytes to the well-read.

12 people found this helpful

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Probably the first high civilization in the history of man

May 29, 2014

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

"There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology

9 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

September 9, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Still THE reference to learn about the Sumerians. Complete, well written, informative, captivating.

4 people found this helpful

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Very Interesting

March 19, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I've always been interested in the Sumerian culture, and this book contains a wealth of information about the Sumerians. It provides a detailed account of the discovery of the Sumerian culture, as well as details of the archaeological digs in which Sumerian artifacts have been found. Luckily for us, the Sumerians left quite a bit of writing behind, which leaves evidence of their religion, culture, daily practices, and knowledge of the world.

The author is obviously a very intelligent man who has personal experience in Sumerian archaeology, so his accounts are from his own knowledge and not just random research. His writing is somewhat academic, and while I (as a lay reader) have found the book interesting and understandable, it may turn some casual readers off.

6 people found this helpful

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A Stiff but Good Read

March 9, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This tells you more about The Sumerians than you ever thought was known.

3 people found this helpful

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Read The Last Chapter First

June 3, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Samuel Noah Kramer's "The Sumerians" is very detailed account of a significant period of human cultural and societal development with some remarkable surprises (at least for this reader).

The first seven chapters offer perspectives of different aspects of the Sumerian society, government and culture based on extensive scholarly analyses and reconstruction. Some fascinating insights gleamed from the almost overwhelming detail are:

- the shifting between graphics (glyphs) representing an image and symbols/letters for actual words as the written word presumably began to be a recorded expression for the corresponding development of articulated speech;
- the evolution of writing both as an adornment for personal and public objects such as inscriptions or invocations on pottery and the need for public scribes to keeps records of events such as the list of kings and transactions between individuals, be they public or royal figures or between merchants - clearly these records and the need for writing them were likely the equivalent of today's electronic communication which has shortened language and communication even further;
- the development of government and certain religious rituals that had earlier roots in local practice and evolved into customs and practices that continue today in different religions such as Judaism, Christianity as well as possibly Buddhism and Islam.

What is so remarkable is the evolution of this culture and institutions some 7,000 years ago and continuing until eventually the Babylonians would replace this culture with their version and its memorable laws. However, this book with its extraordinarily documented original research and use of secondary sources makes it of particular interest for students and scholars of the period. The early chapters can be somewhat overwhelming in the level of detail for the average reader (with which I include myself). There are some wonderful characters such as Gilgamesh and Sargon, the latter name I seem to recollect being used in some 1950's Hollywood production with Basil Rathbone leaping around in a supposed costume from the period with a hat looking peculiarly like a ziggurat and proclaiming himself Sargon The Great.

And discoveries in the translations of events such as the Great Flood, the latter which seems consistent with not just Noah in the Old Testament but other cultures as well (two recent views theorize the Flood may have been caused by a break in a land dam near the present day Bosporus based on submerged cities discovered in the Black Sea near Bulgaria and Turkey, or unusual flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates River systems, a periodic event that an agricultural society relied on).

However, the last chapter provides a neat summary of the key events in Sumerian history and culture that have been carried on in later cultures, including Western beliefs starting before the New Testament and continuing to the present day. Written in the mid 1960s, Kramer's well documented observations and detail findings have most likely been expanded and updated. In hindsight, for me, this chapter provides an excellent summary of what "The Sumerians" treatise has to offer - and is well worth it.

26 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A great read for anyone who is seeking to learn about ...

November 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

A great read for anyone who is seeking to learn about the ancient Sumerians. Written by one of the first archaeologists to dig in what was once Sumer.

2 people found this helpful

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This was state of the art Middle East History in ...

June 8, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This was state of the art Middle East History in the 1960s. There are many new findings and upgrades to the information now. However, this volume is reliable for much about ancient Sumeria, Babylonia, Assyria, and points inbetween.

4 people found this helpful

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