Analysis Of History Begins At Sumer

Alessandra Cupani

History 105-3

Topic #1

Samuel Noah Kramer wrote: “It has long been my contention that in spite of the obvious differences, both superficial and profound, between the culture, character, and mentality of the ancient Sumerian and modern man, they are fundamentally analogous, comparable and reciprocally illuminating” (p.259). What Kramer is trying to say, in plainer terms is that the modern man and ancient Sumerians are more similar than meet the eye. Kramer makes several connections throughout the book, History Begins At Sumer: Thirty-nine firsts in recorded history. Although, Kramer makes it apparent to point out the differences between these two cultures, he also makes it ostensible that the similarities regarding education, law codes and beyond is undeniable.

In chapter one of History begins at Sumer, Kramer states how the “Sumerian school was a direct outgrowth of the invention and development of the cuneiform system” (p.3) Essentially, the Sumerian’s were the first complex society to introduce a form of writing. It is a known fact that in modern America the people do not communicate writing by forms and variations of pictographs, but with an alphabetical system. The alphabet that is used today has evolved from what the ancient Sumerians had invented at the end of the third millennium B.C. However, the alphabet is only a stepping-stone to one of the many connections Kramer states is similar between modern times and the ancient Sumerians. According to History begins at Sumer, their writing system was a bridge to their school system. The original goal of the Sumerian school was to train the scribes. Yet, the Sumerian school was also the center of creative writing. The Sumerian school therefore, in a sense, ...

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...amer succeeds in stating how Sumerian religion is also comparable to religion of today’s day and age. Although, it is apparent that Sumerians could not have a direct influence on Hebrews directly, there are biblical parallels that are difficult to debate against. This is so, because the Sumerians did influence the Canaanites who preceeded the Hebrews, justifying that parallels would be evident. The concept of a divine paradise, in fact, was originally a concept from Sumerian religion. Kramer states “There is a good indication that the Biblical paradise, which is described as a garden planted eastward in Eden…may have been originally identical with Dilmun, the Sumerian paradise-land” (p.143). There are more biblical parallels that Kramer uses to prove his theory; one regarding ‘The Epic of Gilgamesh’. The contents of the tablet that contained the Epic of Gilgamesh