sumerian

Everyday

1. Sumerian means from or to do with Sumer, one of the world's first civilisations, in southern Mesopotamia (now southern Iraq), about 5,000 years ago. tree →
2. A Sumerian was a person from Sumer. tree →
3. Sumerian is the language they spoke, written in cuneiform, one of the oldest written languages. tree →

In the lessons

History lessons: the Sumerians built some of the first cities (like Ur and Uruk), invented an early form of writing (cuneiform, pressed into clay tablets with a reed), and used a number system based on 60, which is why we have 60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a circle. They built ziggurats (stepped temples) and told the story of Gilgamesh.

Examples

• The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets. tree →
• Sumerian cities were built between two rivers. tree →
• We made Sumerian cuneiform with lolly sticks and clay. tree →
• Our 60 minutes in an hour comes from the Sumerian way of counting. tree →
• Ur was a great Sumerian city. tree →
• The Sumerian king Gilgamesh is the hero of a very old story. tree →
• Sumerian is not related to any language spoken today. tree →

Note

Always capital S. Said «soo-MAIR-ee-un» or «soo-MEER-ee-un». Sumer is not the same as «summer». Sumerian is a language isolate: no known living relatives.