CHAPTER SIX

HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY



Nicole Brisch

INTRODUCTION

T

he famous book title History Begins at Sumerthat S. N. Kramer gave to a popu-
lar account of Mesopotamian ‘firsts’ in the history of humankind (first printing
1958 ) is in itself not without problems. Although the divide between history and
prehistory is commonly marked by the invention of writing, the very earliest texts
from Mesopotamia, when they can be read, offer only a small glimpse into archaic
Mesopotamia, and moreover, only into the socio-economic history rather than
chronology or a history of events. Additionally, the writing system of these earliest
texts, which is referred to as either archaic or ‘proto-cuneiform,’ is still poorly under-
stood, in spite of giant steps towards its decipherment (Englund 1998 ).
The earliest history of Mesopotamia has often been associated with the Sumerians,
who were credited with having invented writing and other markers of high civilisa-
tions, such as complex bureaucracies and trade systems (Algaze this volume). While
there is an understandable wish to identify the actors who are behind the earliest
history of ancient Mesopotamia, it should be emphasised at the beginning of this
contribution, yet again, that the designation ‘Sumerian’ refers first and foremost to a
language, not an ethnic group (see Michalowski 1999 – 2002 , 2006 : 159 ; Rubio 2005 ).
The Sumerians referred to themselves as the ‘black-headed people’ (Sumerian: sag ̃
g ̃i 6 – ga) and called their homeland simply ‘native land’ (Sumerian: ki-en-gi, probably
to be reconstructed as a word /kengi(r)/= ki‘place’ g ̃ir‘native’, see Steinkeller 1993 :
112 – 113 n. 9 ). The Sumerian language was referred to as eme-g ̃ir 15 , literally ‘native
tongue/language’. In later sources, ki-en-giis translated into Akkadian as ma ̄t sˇumerim,
the ‘Sumerian land’ or short ‘Sumer’, which encompasses the southern part of
Mesopotamia (also referred to at a later date as Babylonia).
The origins of the Sumerians are shrouded in mystery. Beginning with the re-
discovery of the ancient Near East in the West, scholars have debated whether the
Sumerians were indigenous to southern Mesopotamia or not. This debate is often
referred to as either the ‘Sumerian Problem’ or the ‘Sumerian Question’ (Potts 1997 :
43 – 47 with previous literature; also see Postgate 1992 : 23 – 24 ; Englund 1998 : 73 – 81 ;
Rubio 1999 , 2005 , 2007 : 5 – 8 ; Crawford this volume) and has led some scholars, most
notably Landsberger, to posit the existence of ‘Proto-Euphratean’ and ‘Proto-Tigridian’
substrate languages, which supposedly indicated an earlier, non-Sumerian speaking