【帝国时代一】苏美尔文明在官方文件中的描述

注：英语原文取自最古老版本的帝国时代一的帮助文件中，关于历史的文本量相当巨大，但在win7系统更新后，以win95为基础的hlp文件被淘汰，如今已经很难找到打开hlp文件的方法。如有大佬能提供支援就好了。

注：因为原hlp文件并未随着罗马复兴资料片的更新而更新，所以这个系列不包含新增的罗马、迦太基、马其顿和巴尔米拉文明。

注：因为年代久远（1996年左右），很多记述可能已经与最新的考古发现有着显著的差异。

注：蹩脚英语，翻译腔，懒得润色的语句。

注：英语原文放在前面，汉语翻译放在后面。

更多资料：

世界地理历史小常识25——伊拉克（CV4993425）

Sumerian culture (5000 to 2230 BC)

The Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations. Their growth and expansion was dependent on rich river valley farmlands. They were not as fortunate as others in terms of mineral resources or strategic position, however, and did not enjoy the long existence of the Egyptians. They are considered one of the most important early cultures, nevertheless, because of the many advances attributed to them. Because their location was weak in terms of defense and poor in terms of resources, they were forced to innovate. In many ways they were more important to history because of their innovations than the much richer Egyptians.

Location

Sumer was located in southern Mesopotamia (meaning “between the rivers” where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers come together before flowing into the Persian Gulf. By 5000 BC primitive farmers had come down to the valley from the Zagros Mountains to the east. The land was rich but baked hard in the summer sun after the late spring river floods. The early settlers learned how to control some of the flooding with dikes and how to irrigate their summer fields. Early settlements at Ur, Uruk, and Eridu grew into independent cities first and then city-states.

Capital

As a conglomeration of city-states, there was no clear capital for the Sumerians because the center of power shifted from time to time. The cities of Ur, Lagash, Erech, Eridu, and Uruk were the most important.

Rise to power

From 5000 to 3000 BC, agricultural communities of Sumer gradually coalesced into city-states along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The peak of this city-state culture lasted from 2900 to 2400 BC. They warred with one another from time to time and competed for land and trade, but never conglomerated or built an empire that expanded from their traditional homeland.The city-states of the river valley were relatively rich from food production, manufacturing, and their position along important trade routes. This made them tempting targets when more powerful and warlike neighbors came into existence to the north and east.

Economy

The Sumerians grew wheat, barley, peas, onions, turnips, and dates. They raised cattle and sheep, fished, and hunted wildfowl along the river. Food was generally abundant and populations grew accordingly.There was no copper in the river valleys, but copper was found in the mountains to the east and north. The Sumerians learned how to obtain copper from ore by 4000 BC and to make bronze by 3500 BC.They traded food, cloth, and manufactured items for raw materials, such as timber, copper, and stone, which they fashioned into items of everyday use, weapons, and more valuable trade goods. Their merchants traveled up the Tigris and Euphrates to trade with the people of Anatolia and the Mediterranean coast. They also traded in the Persian Gulf for items from India and further east.

Religion and culture

The Sumerians worshipped hundreds of gods, with each city having its own patron deity. The principal gods, such as Enlil, the god of air, were too busy to bother with the plight of individuals. For that reason, each Sumerian worshipped a particular minor god or goddess who was expected to interact with the major gods.The Sumerians did not believe in an afterlife and were realistic about the limits of human goodness. They accepted that although the gods were above question, they were not always kind.The soul and center of each city-state was its temple to the patron god. The Sumerians believed that the god owned the city-state. Part of the land was farmed directly for the god, often by slaves. The remaining land was farmed by the temple staff or by farmers who paid rent to the temple. Rents and offerings paid for temple operation and supported the poor.Slaves were an important part of the community and were one objective of any military campaign. Even locals could become slaves to satisfy debts. Slaves were allowed to work extra hours for themselves and use any savings to buy their freedom.

Government

Each city in Sumer was ruled at first by a council of elders, although a war leader, called a lugal, was selected to lead the army during conflict. Eventually the lugals assumed power as kings and established dynasties.Evidence suggests that the Sumerians may have taken the first steps toward democracy by electing a representative assembly. This consisted of two houses' senate of important citizens and a lower house made up of those available for military duty.Preserved clay tablets reveal that the Sumerians maintained courts of justice where people could expect a fair trial. One table recorded the oldest murder trial in history.Most of the food production and distribution was controlled through the temple. A noble class arose based on land ownership, control of trade, and manufacturing. Most trade and manufacturing was outside the temple's control.

Architecture

The Sumerians were handicapped by having no easy access to stone or wood for building. Sun-dried mud bricks were their main building material and this required some ingenuity. They were the first to employ the arch, vault, and dome. Their cities were completely enclosed by brick walls. Their most important buildings were temples, built as large mounds called ziggurats. Through cycles of attack, destruction, and restoration, the temples were rebuilt again and again at the same site, gradually getting larger with each reincarnation. Mud bricks eroded and crumbled much more quickly than stone, however, and little Sumerian architecture survives.

Military

The key influence on the Sumerian military was their poor strategic position. Natural obstacles for defense existed only on their borders to the west (desert) and south (Persian Gulf). When more populous and powerful enemies appeared to their north and east, the Sumerians were susceptible to attack.Surviving artwork and archaeological remains indicate that the Sumerian soldiers used spears and short swords of bronze. They wore bronze helmets and carried large shields. Their armies were not particularly noted but records are sparse.They engaged in siege warfare during their many inter-city wars. Mud brick walls did not stand against determined attackers who had the time to pry out the bricks or pound them to dust.The Sumerians invented chariots and were the first to use them in battle. These early chariots were four-wheeled and pulled by onagers (wild ass), and were not as effective in battle as the later two-wheeled design pulled by horses. Sumerian chariots may have served primarily as fast transports, but surviving artwork suggests that spears or javelins were thrown from them.

Decline and fall

A group of Semitic people called the Akkadians settled north of Sumer along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Akkadians adopted very quickly the culture, religion, and writing of the more advanced Sumerians who had preceded them. In 2371 BC Sargon I seized the throne of Kish and gradually conquered all of the city-states of Akkadia. He turned south and conquered the city-states of Sumer, which were unable to unite in defense. Sargon established the first empire of history during his reign from 2371 to 2316 BC, extending his control along the Fertile Crescent from Elam, to the east of Sumer, to the Mediterranean coast.Sargon's empire collapsed after his death but was restored briefly by his grandson. Around 2230 BC the Akkadian empire was destroyed by an invasion of Gutians, barbarian hill people from the Zagros Mountains. New cities and towns soon grew up along the river valleys but the Sumerians were gone as a distinct and independent culture.

Legacy

The Sumerians are most noted for the invention of the wheel and writing (both circa 4000 BC). The wheel was important for transport and for pottery making (the potter's  wheel). Sumerian writing, called cuneiform, consisted of groups of stylus wedge impressions pushed into clay to form stylized pictograms representing words. This writing grew out of record keeping and seals from business transactions.They were among the first to use boats, including round boats made of hide stretched over a wooden framework. These coracles were especially popular among the reeds and waterways of the river delta.

苏美尔文明（公元前5000至2230年）

苏美尔是最古老的文明之一，他们的发展和扩张依赖于丰富的河谷农田。然而，在矿产资源和战略位置方面，他们没有其他人那么幸运，也没有能够像埃及人一样长期存在。尽管如此，他们被认为是早期最重要的文明之一，因为他们有很多当时的进步，他们在地理位置防御薄弱和资源很差的情况下，被迫进行创新。在很多方面，他们在历史上有更重要的地位，因为他们的很多发明比埃及人更多。

位置

苏美尔位于美索不达米亚南部（美索不达米亚意思是河流之间），底格里斯河和幼发拉底河，两者交汇后流入波斯湾。到公元前5000年，原始人农民从东边的扎格罗斯山脉来到这片河谷，这里土地肥沃，但在春末河水泛滥后，夏日阳光下土地被烤的很硬。早期的定居者学会了如何控制堤坝和洪水，以及如何灌溉夏季的农田。乌尔、乌鲁克、艾力度的早期居民点首先变为独立的城市，后来发展成城邦。

首都

作为城邦集合体，苏美尔人没有明确的首都，因为权力中心会不停转移。乌尔、拉加什、艾力赫、艾力度、乌鲁克是最重要的城邦。

发展壮大

公元前5000年到公元前3000年，苏美尔的农业社区逐渐在底格里斯河和幼发拉底河沿岸合并成城邦。这个城邦文明的顶峰从公元前2900年持续到公元前2400年。他们不停地相互交战，争夺土地和贸易，但从未联合或者建立从老家向外扩张的帝国，河谷的城邦在粮食生产、制造业和靠近重要贸易路线的帮助下更富有。当北方和东方出现更强更好战的邻国时，这些国家就成为了诱人的目标。

经济

苏美尔人种植小麦、大麦、豌豆、洋葱、大头菜和枣，他们养牛养羊，捕鱼狩猎野禽。粮食普遍丰富，人口也相应增加，河谷里没有铜，但是东部和北部山区有。苏美尔人在公元前4000年学会了从矿石中提炼铜，公元前3500年学会了制造青铜。他们用食物、布和制成品交换原材料，例如木材、铜和石头，这些原材料被加工成日用品、武器和更有价值的贸易品。他们的商人沿着底格里斯河和幼发拉底河，与安纳托利亚和地中海沿岸的人们进行贸易。他们也在波斯湾交易来自印度河更东部的物品。

宗教文化

苏美尔人崇拜数百个神，每个城市都有自己的守护神。主神，例如空气之神恩利尔，忙于应付个人的麻烦。因此，每个苏美尔人都会崇拜一个特殊的小神或小女神，他们被期望与主神互动。苏美尔人不相信来世，对人类善良的限度的认识是现实的，虽然神是无可置疑的，但他们并不总是善良的。每个城邦的灵魂和中心都是它的守护神的圣殿。苏美尔人相信神拥有着城邦。部分土地是直接为神耕种的，通常由奴隶完成。剩下的土地由寺庙的工作人员或向寺庙支付租子的农民耕种的。租子和供品支撑了寺庙的运作费用，也支持了穷人。奴隶是社会重要的组成部分，也是任何军事行动的目标之一，甚至本地人也可能成为奴隶来偿还债务。奴隶们被允许为自己多工作几小时，并用任何积蓄来换取自由。

统治

苏美尔的每一个城市最初都由元老院统治，尽管在战争期间，一个被称为卢格尔的战争领袖被选中领导军队。最后，卢格尔成为了国王并建立了王朝。有证据表明，苏美尔人可能已经通过选举一个人民代表大会，向民主迈出了第一步。这包括两个由重要公民组成的众议院和一个可参加军事任务的议员组成的下议院。保存下来的泥板显示，苏美尔人维持着司法法庭，在那里人们可以期待公正的审判，大部分的食品销售和生产都是寺庙控制的。贵族阶层的产生基于土地所有权、贸易控制和制造业。大多数贸易和制造业都在寺庙的控制范围之外。

建筑

苏美尔人因为难以找到石头或木头来建造房屋而被妨碍。晒干的泥砖是他们的主要建筑材料，这需要一些发明才能实现，他们是第一个使用拱门、穹顶和拱顶的人，他们的城市被砖墙完全包围。他们最重要的建筑是寺庙，他们被建造成一个巨大的土丘，叫做“吉古拉”。经过攻击、破坏、修复的循环，寺庙在同一地点被一次又一次地重建，随着每次轮回变大。然而，泥砖的侵蚀和破碎速度比石头快的多，苏美尔人的建筑几乎没有幸存下来。

军事

对苏美尔军队影响的关键在于他们糟糕的战略位置。天然的防御只存在于西方（沙漠）和南部（波斯湾）的边界上。当更多的人口和敌人出现在他们的北方和东方，苏美尔人更容易受到攻击。幸存的艺术品和考古遗迹证明，苏美尔士兵使用长矛和青铜短剑，他们戴着青铜头盔，拿着大盾牌。他们的军队没有特别的标记，但是记录很少。他们在许多城际战争中进行围城战。泥砖墙无法抵挡有时间撬开砖墙或将砖墙砸成碎石的坚决进攻者。苏美尔人发明了战车并率先在战斗中使用。这些早期的战车是四轮的，由奥奈格（野驴）拉着，在战斗中不如后来的双轮马车设计有效。苏美尔战车可能主要用作快速运输工具，但幸存的艺术品表示，他们上面的战士会投下长矛和标枪。

衰落灭亡

一群叫做阿卡德人的闪族人沿着底格里斯河和幼发拉底河在苏美尔北部定居，阿卡德人很快接受了先于他们的，比他们更先进的苏美尔文化、宗教和文字。公元前2371年萨尔贡一世占据了基什的王位，逐渐征服了阿卡德的所有城邦。他转向南方，征服了苏美尔城邦，苏美尔无法团结起来防御。萨尔贡在公元前2371年至2316年统治期间建立了第一个历史性的帝国，沿着肥沃的新月形地带，从埃兰向苏美尔东部延伸到地中海东岸。萨尔贡死后帝国崩溃，他的孙子短暂地恢复过统治。大约在公元前2230年，阿卡德帝国被来自扎格罗斯山脉的古提亚人野蛮入侵而毁灭。新的城市和城镇很快沿着河谷重新生长起来，但苏美尔已经不再是一个独特独立的文明了。

遗产

苏美尔人最为著名的发明是轮子和文字（均为约公元前4000年产生）。轮子对运输和陶器制造（陶制轮）很重要。苏美尔文字被称为楔形文字，由一组尖笔楔状印模推到粘土中形成代表文字的风格化象形图组成。这种书写源自于商业交易中的记录和封条。他们是最早使用船只的人之一，其中包括用木头框架包裹的兽皮做成的圆形船只，这些小船在三角洲的芦苇荡和水道中特别受欢迎。

这是帝国时代一相关文明说明文件翻译的第（8/12）部：

1.埃及：CV13647116 

2.希腊：CV13828033

3.巴比伦：CV13907052

4.亚述：CV13984562

5.米诺斯：CV14070144

6.赫梯：CV14097823

7.腓尼基：CV14186644

8.苏美尔：本篇

9.波斯：

10.商：

11.朝鲜：

12.大和：