Sumer

[poliphilo]

I'm interested in human prehistory- that period of many hundreds of thousands of years between the emergence of homo sapiens and the beginnings of recorded history- and I've gone to Sumer because- as the first civilisation with writing- it's our gateway to prehistory. Go further back in time and there is only archaeology.

So what are the Sumerians saying?

Firstly they are praising their gods and kings. Well, we know how this goes. It is sufficiently familiar. It's what our own media do.

Then they are writing letters- mostly to kings.

The proverbs show them at their most accessible. The proverbs are pious, worldly wise, philosophical, bawdy, humorous. Many of them still have bite.

Finally there are the poems and stories. The most substantial of these is the story of Inana's descent into the underworld. Even in a not particularly poetical translation it is a galloping, thunderous thing. It made me want to read it aloud- so I did. The Sumerians were as frightened of death as we are and consoled themselves by sending their favourite Goddess to Hell- and then brought her back again- just as the Christians later sent Christ.

These may be the first recorded human words- but we're coming in part way through an ongoing story. Sumer is an established society- it has cities, a managed environment, a social hierarchy, wages war, produces great art and practices a religion whose priests are often resented- and that's how things have been for as long as anyone remembers. They have vague memories of a great flood and a set of antediluvian kings who each reigned for tens of thousands of years. They know no more about prehistory than we do- in fact less- because they don't go round digging it up.  We might almost be reading about medieval Europe.

Comments

[kamomil.livejournal.com]

I am reading what I can about prehistory in Ireland, where my dad is from. I guess I like imagining what it would be like to live in a simpler house, for some reason it makes me feel peaceful.

I had heard about early medieval buildings, before vaults and flying buttresses, they built stone walls pretty thick because they were short on engineering knowledge and when things fell down, they rebuilt them thicker. I imagine this applies to prehistoric structures too.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Last year I visited the farm at Butser where they experiment with prehistoric living. The houses- wattle and daub constructions with thatch roofs and a central fire pit- are remarkably welcoming and cosy. It felt like coming home.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

If you enjoy Audible books, I recently finished one of the Great Courses series called The Roots of Religion.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Much less about religion than the title would suggest.  Very archaeology based. 

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I've never gotten into audible books. I mean. I wouldn't know what to do with my hands if I wasn't holding a book or a kindle.

[artkouros.livejournal.com]

You could take up whittling.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

I've long felt - despite my distinct inclination toward futuristic episodes, rather than historical - that either Sumer or thereabouts, or the earlier proto-civilisations, would make for a fascinating Doctor Who story. I suppose much of it would have to be speculative, given how very little survives, especially written, but if the writer(s) chose, they could certainly make it plausible, insofar as Doctor Who ever is. =:)

Ultimately, it's very true - whatever technology we may have, people want much the same things now as then, and behave very much the same. Of course, for much longer that will be the case remains to be seen - I rather suspect we'll barely recognise ourselves in another thousand years or two.