The rise and fall of history’s first empire - Soraya Field Fiorio

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  • čas přidán 14. 10. 2020
  • Discover history’s first empire: Sumer, located in Mesopotamia, which built the world’s first cities and created the first writing system.
    --
    History’s first empire rose out of a hot, dry landscape, without rainfall to nourish crops, without trees or stones for building. In spite of all this, its inhabitants built the world’s first cities, with monumental architecture and large populations- and they built them entirely out of mud. Soraya Field Fiorio details the rise and fall of the Sumerian empire.
    Lesson by Soraya Field Fiorio, directed by Tomás Pichardo-Espaillat.
    Animator's website: www.tomatico.net/
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Komentáře • 1,6K

  • @fujihita2500
    @fujihita2500 Před 3 lety +3543

    An ancient civilization rose and fell in the span of 2800 years. A humbling reminder that 2020 years is only two-thirds of the Sumerian journey.

    • @blueberrylane8340
      @blueberrylane8340 Před 3 lety +167

      This is a good comment I feel should be highlighted.

    • @Jobe-13
      @Jobe-13 Před 3 lety +148

      Kinda gives me hope that the world isn’t even close to ending yet. I wonder where the world will be in the next 7000 years.

    • @anjapurharleani4796
      @anjapurharleani4796 Před 3 lety +43

      @@Jobe-13 space

    • @Jobe-13
      @Jobe-13 Před 3 lety +41

      @@anjapurharleani4796 Yeah. Most likely. We’d be living on Mars, the Moon, and in other solar systems by then.

    • @FallenLight0
      @FallenLight0 Před 3 lety +56

      But the world now is globalized. We will either be destroyed by nuclear bombs or we'll be in the space.

  • @AzureSkyCiel
    @AzureSkyCiel Před 3 lety +2985

    "In those days, in those distant days. In those nights, those ancient nights."

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 Před 3 lety +322

      Full opening lines if anyone wants to know:
      "In those days, in those distant days, in those nights, in those remote nights, in those years, in those distant years; in days of yore, when the necessary things had been brought into manifest existence, in days of yore, when the necessary things had been for the first time properly cared for, when bread had been tasted for the first time in the shrines of the Land, when the ovens of the Land had been made to work, when the heavens had been separated from the earth, when the earth had been delimited from the heavens, when the fame of mankind had been established, when An had taken the heavens for himself, when Enlil had taken the earth for himself, when the nether world had been given to Erec-kigala as a gift; when he set sail, when he set sail, when the father set sail for the nether world, when Enki set sail for the nether world -- against the king a storm of small hailstones arose, against Enki a storm of large hailstones arose. The small ones were light hammers, the large ones were like stones from catapults. The keel of Enki's little boat was trembling as if it were being butted by turtles, the waves at the bow of the boat rose to devour the king like wolves and the waves at the stern of the boat were attacking Enki like a lion."

    • @shweetaa
      @shweetaa Před 3 lety +45

      @@merrittanimation7721 _Beautiful_

    • @Shaman42069
      @Shaman42069 Před 3 lety +41

      Lovely, where is that from?

    • @shweetaa
      @shweetaa Před 3 lety +128

      @@Shaman42069 It is from the tale of Gilgamish

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 Před 3 lety +59

      @@Shaman42069 Specifically the story Gilgamesh, Enkidu and the Netherworld

  • @amjadnawaz5122
    @amjadnawaz5122 Před 3 lety +2616

    "what kind of scribe is a scribe who doesn't know Sumerian?"
    Everyone in the world: 😐

    • @peacefulleo9477
      @peacefulleo9477 Před 3 lety +30

      Bruh I studied about them in 10th grade

    • @classicambo9781
      @classicambo9781 Před 3 lety +8

      Except for Dr Finkel 🤣

    • @limleang8678
      @limleang8678 Před 3 lety +15

      Not in developing countries! like me in Cambodia. People barely know English

    • @redline2814
      @redline2814 Před 3 lety +8

      We learned it in school tho, didn't we?

    • @mr.knight8967
      @mr.knight8967 Před 3 lety +2

      Integral secantx
      By complex number
      czcams.com/video/0s_AvXlXT3M/video.html
      See for fun

  • @saumyashree4926
    @saumyashree4926 Před 3 lety +1963

    Hats off for Ted-Ed animators 👏

  • @Narrowcros
    @Narrowcros Před 3 lety +1892

    The sumerians didnt just die off, they became incorporated into newer cultures and are still part of the population today in southern Iraq.

    • @ayktklaslan
      @ayktklaslan Před 3 lety +46

      @Not Suspicious Human Like it's the destiny of those lands from the beginning of history. Sad..

    • @Narrowcros
      @Narrowcros Před 3 lety +91

      @Not Suspicious Human America, Iran, religious political parties and corrupt politicans...yes its going to be a long time before Iraq recovers.

    • @AW-zu4kk
      @AW-zu4kk Před 3 lety +84

      @Walking The-Talk i am not a muslim, but i am pretty sure islam shia/sunni are only used by politician and warlords to justify their campaign. It's like how US use 9/11 to intefere with the war in middle east. What can unite people other than a common enemy.

    • @tahagrt
      @tahagrt Před 3 lety +2

      Thanks -> HOMEWORK DONE ;)

    • @Great_Olaf5
      @Great_Olaf5 Před 3 lety +11

      True, although their language has died, and we have no idea who among the modern inhabitants are descended from them, if they make up the majority of the population, or if they've been slowly displaced.

  • @vadergamerboss6660
    @vadergamerboss6660 Před 3 lety +1079

    Fun fact: The Sumerian people didn't actually disappear and were merely merged into the Akkadian people. But, if you go to the modern marshes of Iraq today, you'd see the only last living descendants of the Sumerians (the marsh Arabs) who's genes are made up of almost 71% Sumerian.

    • @JustSpectre
      @JustSpectre Před 3 lety +32

      Are there any genetic studies published on this? Actually it's quite difficult to find any genetic studies regarding Sumerians. Perhaps it's because most of the skeletal remains was discovered at the beginning of 20th century, so it wouldn't be suitable for studying.

    • @vadergamerboss6660
      @vadergamerboss6660 Před 3 lety +61

      @@JustSpectre There's a 2011 study that used data they gathered and data from the Iraqi government that published a full genetic map of the marsh Arabs (and mesopatamian Arabs as a whole). You should look that up.

    • @m136dalie
      @m136dalie Před 3 lety +12

      I find it hard to believe there are any 6000 year old samples from which you could perform proper DNA tests

    • @JustSpectre
      @JustSpectre Před 3 lety +77

      @@m136dalie Well we have genetic samples of Neanderthals and woolly mammoths, so why not. The samples are not pristine, that's for sure, but they can still contain some interesting pieces of information. It's not a question of age, but of quality of preservation.

    • @m136dalie
      @m136dalie Před 3 lety +17

      @@JustSpectre I'm still very skeptical. After all, mammoths and Neanderthals can be identified based off anatomy. Distinguishing a Sumerian from a nomad who lived nearby poses more challenges.

  • @AverytheCubanAmerican
    @AverytheCubanAmerican Před 3 lety +750

    *S O C I E T Y*
    Coming soon to a dank river valley near you.

    • @KAYEscl0sed
      @KAYEscl0sed Před 3 lety +8

      Hah! Bill Wurtz.

    • @Sovietube
      @Sovietube Před 3 lety +1

      b r u h

    • @Jobe-13
      @Jobe-13 Před 3 lety +2

      7000 years and the movie still isn’t over yet.

    • @Sovietube
      @Sovietube Před 3 lety +5

      @@Jobe-13 My favourite one was Society 8: Hitler's world tour
      It has a good storyline

    • @Koronuru
      @Koronuru Před 3 lety +5

      Look at Indus River Valley Civilization, they're gone! Guess who's not gone? CHINA!

  • @sinishq_by_cosishq
    @sinishq_by_cosishq Před 3 lety +489

    Hated History while studying in school, love it tremendously now cause of TED-Ed.
    When the education system makes you only parrot notes and topics just in order to clear the exam, you lose complete interest in these kind of subjects. And I feel bad for never giving history its due.

  • @InDaWilderness
    @InDaWilderness Před 3 lety +414

    So I'm actually a Ph.D. student in Assyriology (which includes the study of Sumer). I did enjoy many aspects if this video, but I do have to disagree on the premise. It is very hard to actually call the Sumerian culture an "empire." Yes its culture spread very far, but there was only a very limited political connection between the Sumerian cities. Because of this their political and military power only extended so far and very rarely outside of their own immediate territory. Thus, you can talk about then being one of the first civilizations - and a great one at that - but they really cannot be classified as an empire.

    • @himanshuchauhan2304
      @himanshuchauhan2304 Před 3 lety +2

      Would u think the sumerians were pushed to the Indian subcontinent after the rise of Judaism ? Then again to the southern Indian during vedic period ? My theory might be wrong about the present day south indian Dravidian race being the descendants of the sumerians.

    • @GrammeStudio
      @GrammeStudio Před 2 lety +22

      I was asking this question myself. Can we truly call it an empire when it's fragmented into multiple city states with no centralized control? multiple city states isn't even the issue, it's the lack of a single authority i.e. an emperor (hence the term "empire"). By definition, the description given by Ted falls short of criteria proposed by merriam-webster for what counts as an empire. Both the relevant meanings emphasize the need for there to be a single authority.

    • @paulpierce1001
      @paulpierce1001 Před 2 lety +3

      So, then what was Akkadia joining the city states and then expanding up the rivers into other city states as well as the east? That sounds like an empire. Is that not what the video is referring to? The Akkadian Empire not the Sumer Empire?

    • @jarlnils435
      @jarlnils435 Před 2 lety +11

      @@himanshuchauhan2304 that would mean that there is something like a race. For example, the goths were originally from the baltic sea, on their march south, through germania, pannonia, skythia, sarmatia, dacia and thracia. Than to the west to illyria, italia, gallia and iberia, where they founded the Gothic Kingdom. They had losses. They wandered over 100 years through europe. They had losses, had driven others from their land, others joined them and that in every region. When the goths came to iberia, the former germanic tribe was only cultural germanic but only 20% of it's people were still germans. Most were romans, gallo romans and members of various balkan tribes. They spoke not Gothic anything but a mixture of various latin dialects. Than in iberia they mixed with the native kantabrians, arevaci and other tribes and of course the romans. Than at some point the muslim invasion came. Most of the gothic kingdom was conquered and the invaders mixed with the people of the former gothic kingdom. Now there is maby 5% of the genes of the spanish people gothic. The sumerians, maby members of one city state, could have marched all the way through the desert to india but they would only be a few thousands. It is more likely that the dravidian people are descendants of the indus culture. The interesting thing is, that the hattians from the kingdom of Mittanni were related to the indus culture but not to any anatolian or mesopotamian neighbor of them.

    • @himanshuchauhan2304
      @himanshuchauhan2304 Před 2 lety

      @@jarlnils435 the Dravidian are genetically different from north indians buddy... Little bit different facial structures and I even find different mental throught process. I feel that Dravidian are more cooperative, calm and thoughtful, dedicated and very good religious and culture followers... North indians are more open minded... Revengeful kind of. These are not generalizations ofcourse... But my point is... We have been cohabiting with each other since ancient times.
      And u know racism is a thing. It has been in the past... Nobody can deny that. Skin color makes a lot of difference.. every animal is afraid of another animal who doesn't look like him.
      I am from India.... Our ancient manuscripts and culture speak of the things from which I came to conclude which I said earlier. I can be completely wrong and I accept it.

  • @saumyashree4926
    @saumyashree4926 Před 3 lety +1032

    The Sumerians were very inventive people

    • @blueeye2281
      @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety +2

      Hey I saw u at the last rusty lake video!

    • @thedeadman5528
      @thedeadman5528 Před 3 lety +28

      Ancient Indians also they invented trignometry and studied planetary positions ,around 500AD knowledge of india went to middle East through silk route from there it went to Europe ancient India was a land of great scientists and powerfull emperors they did the first plastic surgery and invented shampoo , and also made a lot of contributions in field of math ,science and architecture there monuments were designed by carving of rocks, knowledge exchange took place through silk route the indians invented algebra but the middle East were first to coin the name value of pi was also calculated but today all of the culture of great civilisation is forgotten or destroyed by foreign invasions the greatest civilisations were in Persia , sumeria , Indus valley( india) ,mayan ,Egyptian ,japanese civilisation

    • @prathamsingh8660
      @prathamsingh8660 Před 3 lety +13

      @@thedeadman5528 yeah I have read it as much as I have studied the Mayans , the Sumerians and the Indus valley civilization rose almost together . But were separated by their continents

    • @blueeye2281
      @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety

      @@saumyashree4926 me too

    • @roberthawks1084
      @roberthawks1084 Před 3 lety +2

      Nah, I’m more impressed with the Winterians

  • @omarhanif9101
    @omarhanif9101 Před 3 lety +262

    Ted ed's animation has never failed to impress us

    • @a.o.e7168
      @a.o.e7168 Před 3 lety +5

      Yeah Its Like a Masterpiece That makes me Facinated about Literature And arts

    • @RJ-dd6zl
      @RJ-dd6zl Před 3 lety +1

      Yeah

  • @snuffulufagussmithens7521
    @snuffulufagussmithens7521 Před 3 lety +624

    I could’ve skipped a whole unit in social studies just by watching this

  • @Alkalus
    @Alkalus Před 3 lety +415

    We: Were you killed?
    Sumerian culture: _Sadly, yes. But I lived._

  • @karolinamikesova
    @karolinamikesova Před 3 lety +251

    TED-Ed always works with absolutely phenomenal artists. Each video is unique and yet made in such a great way that everyone can understand it equally. Just Wow! Great work!

    • @Bell_Matt
      @Bell_Matt Před 3 lety

      They can afford it; look into their ticket prices.

    • @a.o.e7168
      @a.o.e7168 Před 3 lety

      Yeah Ted ed arts and animation is Really Inspiring!

  • @MC-nk8wr
    @MC-nk8wr Před 3 lety +105

    This music is so soothing and goes with the animation so well.

  • @belle2515
    @belle2515 Před 3 lety +593

    mud: exists*
    sumerians: 『 HIPPITY HOPPITY , YOU ARE NOW MY PROPERTY 』

  • @Opss56
    @Opss56 Před 3 lety +29

    As an Assyrian I appreciate these videos. Thank you TedEd 💕

  • @kyconfii
    @kyconfii Před 3 lety +1374

    Ah, yes, gold, silver, lapis lazuli, and...
    wood

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 Před 3 lety +183

      When you live on a flat plain with no trees wood is surprisingly precious.

    • @gnochhuos645
      @gnochhuos645 Před 3 lety +109

      @@merrittanimation7721 Just steal the logs from villager houses and you are good

    • @joerionis5902
      @joerionis5902 Před 3 lety +6

      @@gnochhuos645 When I wake up

    • @merrittanimation7721
      @merrittanimation7721 Před 3 lety +77

      @@gnochhuos645 Unfortunately they spawned in the desert biome.

    • @danzoom
      @danzoom Před 3 lety +41

      @@gnochhuos645 but desert villages don't have logs!

  • @gabrielzak.7942
    @gabrielzak.7942 Před 3 lety +372

    Why the word "empire"? "Civilization" would be more appropriate

    • @cremecrimson9035
      @cremecrimson9035 Před 3 lety +48

      An empire is a collective of different cultures under a single rule.

    • @nainaverma7822
      @nainaverma7822 Před 3 lety +30

      @Gabriel Zak Indus valley civilization was the first civilization. They did not appoint any emporer instead they had a parliamentry kind of structure where they discussed everything but no one was above anyone. This videos is talking about first emporer which is different.

    • @ebrahimjamshid8328
      @ebrahimjamshid8328 Před 3 lety +8

      @@cremecrimson9035 but it wasnt under a single rule, they were distinct city states

    • @Ramschat
      @Ramschat Před 3 lety +11

      @@ebrahimjamshid8328 Distinct city states... Which eventually ended up ruled by one king. Thus, the first empire

    • @nimrodbong8173
      @nimrodbong8173 Před 3 lety +4

      @@fathfez7991 Can most caucasians trace thei lineage back to sumeria? Like most Indians can to IVC and most chinese can to the yellow river?

  • @TheMCCraftingTable
    @TheMCCraftingTable Před 3 lety +117

    Minecraft players: *spawn in a ginormous desert* dang theres nothing I can use
    Some random sumerian: hold my clay

    • @husseinoskovjino9398
      @husseinoskovjino9398 Před 3 lety

      The problem is that these deserts doesn’t have any plam pine and cedar trees even though
      I mean iraq is actually a forested steppe region but wait
      Why dont they add steppes in minecraft?

    • @noobatthetower8747
      @noobatthetower8747 Před 3 lety

      @@husseinoskovjino9398 why would they add steppes when open plains already exist

    • @husseinoskovjino9398
      @husseinoskovjino9398 Před 2 lety

      @comet :0 laughable because we don’t have savannahs at all

    • @husseinoskovjino9398
      @husseinoskovjino9398 Před 2 lety

      @comet :0 in Iraq there isn’t any savannah
      And no the plateau isn’t a savannah

    • @husseinoskovjino9398
      @husseinoskovjino9398 Před 2 lety

      @comet :0 o

  • @learnwithmanik1426
    @learnwithmanik1426 Před 3 lety +14

    Ted Ed is one of the best channels. They have inspired me to create my own channel, which is out of my comfort zone. Am looking for support for more videos.

  • @haitham1553
    @haitham1553 Před 3 lety +59

    as an iraqi I'm really proud of my arab ancestors the babylonins, sumerians , akadian and assyrians.
    fun fact:- some of the nomadic tribes who invaded southern Mesopotamia were actually turkic base(based on their language) some of the turkic words found in the ruins are still used to this very day by the turks themselves

    • @nimrodbong8173
      @nimrodbong8173 Před 3 lety +11

      I've always had respect for Iraq as a fellow descendant of a river valley civilization. I hope one day that all these countries will regain their former glory

    • @horminmangfi5653
      @horminmangfi5653 Před 3 lety +19

      Those ancestors you mentioned aren't Arabs

    • @nimrodbong8173
      @nimrodbong8173 Před 3 lety +17

      @@horminmangfi5653 They were arabified if you get what I mean

    • @mohammadgm8463
      @mohammadgm8463 Před 3 lety +8

      Hormin Mangfi ok then who are the Arabs & where did they came from ? I don’t know why exactly some non Arabs just automatically assume all ancient people of Arabia aren’t Arabs , it’s crazy when some say Dilmun (Modern day Bahrain) / Majan ( // Oman) / Al Magar ( // Saudia) / Sheba (// Yemen) etc long list of ancient civilizations are not Arabs yet they’re in Arab lands with undeniably same language branch & same dna 🧬 phenotype & still practice traditions ?
      I think you guys don’t fathom what Arab means .. still waiting for your answer btw, enlighten me

    • @nimrodbong8173
      @nimrodbong8173 Před 3 lety +19

      @@mohammadgm8463 akkadian and assyrians were certainly not arabs

  • @rohanpotukuchi8424
    @rohanpotukuchi8424 Před 3 lety +190

    The last time I was this early Mesopotamia was still being built

    • @rishikeshwagh
      @rishikeshwagh Před 3 lety +8

      The last time I was this early, my girl said "ugh not again"

    • @sluggish_moxie2011
      @sluggish_moxie2011 Před 3 lety +1

      😂 good one!

    • @itsharuto7670
      @itsharuto7670 Před 3 lety +1

      dang, son, the last time I was early was before Pangaea even split up. UwU

  • @mirsami00
    @mirsami00 Před 3 lety +16

    This historical type animation is perfect for History related videos...
    TED ED is just amazing

  • @kyconfii
    @kyconfii Před 3 lety +23

    5:20 dude idk your car looks like it might roll away...

  • @CarlsAnne
    @CarlsAnne Před 3 lety +23

    I play Civ 6 which has Sumeria as a playable nation with Gilgamesh as the leader. I've seen them countless times in the game, so it's really pleasant to be able to know more about the nation, why the Ziggurat is an element in the game and where the city names came from!

  • @animeyahallo3887
    @animeyahallo3887 Před 3 lety +112

    The last time I was this late, Gilgamesh and Enkidu are still fighting.

  • @heinaghost411
    @heinaghost411 Před 3 lety +8

    I absolutely love the animation and the transitions! Thank you again Ted Ed for another wonderful video!

  • @hamoodykhalid3340
    @hamoodykhalid3340 Před 3 lety +34

    love from iraq 🇮🇶🇮🇶❤️❤️
    hope one day become great as old days

    • @rimacalid6557
      @rimacalid6557 Před 2 lety +5

      We will one day, we did it once again with the house of wisdom and we will do it again in the future, it's the prophecy of Muhammad pbuh

    • @farhanraja6572
      @farhanraja6572 Před 2 lety +1

      @@rimacalid6557 pbuh

    • @rimacalid6557
      @rimacalid6557 Před 2 lety

      @@farhanraja6572 thank you

    • @letsomethingshine
      @letsomethingshine Před 2 lety

      @@rimacalid6557 Pay no heed to a Diogenes (true wealth of wisdom be upon him) philosopher, lest you do not listen well and harden your hearts out of fear and jealousy enough unto anger as to shatter precious pearls:
      But careful, as "the future" was the promise of Sargon of Akkad as well.
      And it would be the promise of the Christians also, or anybody else, if you just let them equality and then to conquer. Promises are just promises. Especially when they come from the self-interested and empowered/rich who are like power-hungry foreigners and wolfs among you.
      Trust not in promises "not kept yet until later," that could have been delivered YESTERDAY.
      Kindness may be the head of wisdom, but the heart of wisdom is awareness. So listen without malice please.
      Once [humble and independent Diogenes] saw the officials of a prosperous temple leading away some one who had stolen a bowl belonging to the wealthy treasurers, and said, "Look! The great thieves are leading away the little thief.”
      “In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.”
      ― Diogenes of Sinope
      When some one reminded him that the people of Sinope had sentenced him to exile [for insulting the laws by attempting to show that the economy was manufactured like a scroll or statue is also manufactured], he said,
      'And I sentenced them to stay at home.'
      "I am a citizen of the world."
      “Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?”
      “Blushing is the color of virtue.”
      ― Diogenes of Sinope. Joyous humility begins the open grace of the good listener. But the wrongman seeks out excuses desperately.

    • @imserdar
      @imserdar Před 2 lety +1

      Everything comes down to an ideology in my opinion. If you want to become great as in the olds, you will have to change the ideology in the society.

  • @chikop.h.9391
    @chikop.h.9391 Před 3 lety +24

    Mud: *exist
    Sumerian Gods: "Lets make a doll for our cute Gilgamesh"

  • @typhoonofideas
    @typhoonofideas Před 3 lety +6

    Great video. It gives a bit of awe to realize how much time has passed since then and how many concepts/ideas take root in the deep past.

  • @dragonniz
    @dragonniz Před 3 lety +5

    That was enlightening, and beautifully done. Thank you! ❤️

  • @ntluck1592
    @ntluck1592 Před 3 lety +7

    Interestingly enough, it is thought that the Greek pantheon was heavily inspired off of Sumerian gods. Their trade network through Phoenicia to Greece helped spread many of what we now know as Ancient Greek culture and ways of life

  • @cloe412
    @cloe412 Před 3 lety +6

    I’m so impressed by them using clays and leaves to build cities and ships. With all the devices and technology, I can’t do anything.

  • @samamry9032
    @samamry9032 Před 3 lety +1

    Thank you for taking such effort to make such nice interesting videos like this possible.

  • @Mr_Jester980
    @Mr_Jester980 Před 3 lety +15

    Clays and muds: *exist*
    Sumerians: I'm about start this man's whole career.

  • @mustafabarzanji9280
    @mustafabarzanji9280 Před 3 lety +20

    Wonderful video. Though I should point out that at that time, Mesopotamia was significantly greener than it is today. Also, Indus Valley was another important trade partner.

  • @stephenmeier4658
    @stephenmeier4658 Před 3 lety +2

    The music for this is wonderful

  • @xeno4162
    @xeno4162 Před 3 lety

    Amazing video, keep up the good work TedEd. I learned a lot.
    Thanks

  • @lewismassie
    @lewismassie Před 3 lety +4

    Every now and again I'll be watching CZcams videos at 2am about the ancient peoples just like I am now, and I'll suddenly get this deep overwhelming feeling of just how much of human history has been forgotten. The Sumerians, the Indo-Europeans, the Indus River Valley Civilisation are all gone but not quite.
    Go into your city and find the oldest man-made object you can and look at it.
    Whether it was put there 10, 100, 1000, 10000 years ago it doesn't matter.
    Remember that someone put it there.
    They had a name, a spouse, parents, children, a favourite song, a nickname.
    They collected trinkets, went drinking with their friends, told jokes.
    They felt joy, sadness, anger, love.
    They breathed the same air in their lungs as you.
    They felt the ground under their feet and looked up at the same moon and stars.
    Remember they were no different to you.
    So much has been forgotten

    • @ohshoot6082
      @ohshoot6082 Před 2 lety

      That's exactly what Iraq is now. When they hear the word "Iraq," the first thing that comes to their mind is war. It saddens me that we were once the best country in the world, and now we are nothing, but ashes. I'm losing hope in humanity... 😔

  • @shaksiyat
    @shaksiyat Před 3 lety +24

    Why is Ted Ed's comment section so competitive

    • @mlogical4099
      @mlogical4099 Před 3 lety

      Yeah, no one accepts ur application easily

  • @parth1210
    @parth1210 Před 3 lety +1

    Can't give this channel enough praise. Kudos!

  • @blueeye2281
    @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety +2

    I don't know how you guys do such good animations. Kudos to the animators.

  • @hopefulhyena3400
    @hopefulhyena3400 Před 2 lety +4

    I also read somewhere that the mesopotamian culture also produced the earliest known lute-type instrument, which would mean that not only can we thank them for writing, but also many instruments from the shamisen to ukulele to guitar to banjo.

  • @muthanna9
    @muthanna9 Před 3 lety +3

    This is how I hope one day my country will be seen, for it's great past not it's bloody present
    I can't express with words how happy this little video made me

  • @adityakarkera747
    @adityakarkera747 Před 3 lety

    Thank you Ted for making such good informative videos.

  • @abhimanyugupta1989
    @abhimanyugupta1989 Před 3 lety

    The music in the beginning is so soothing, just the right one for meditation

  • @kekero540
    @kekero540 Před 2 lety +7

    I swear if someone calls the Bronze Age Middle East a desert again I’m gonna force them to build a giant ziggurat.

  • @JaybeePenaflor
    @JaybeePenaflor Před 3 lety +8

    Thanks, Sumerians for your lasting inventions and innovations! Subsequent civilizations and empires that rose from the Near East and the fertile crescent learned much from you, effectively conquering those who conquered you.

  • @abdullahmehboob4757
    @abdullahmehboob4757 Před 3 lety

    Another great video as always! 👍

  • @ikeekieeki
    @ikeekieeki Před 3 lety

    awesome, thank you for this video and animation

  • @Hacksolotl
    @Hacksolotl Před 3 lety +22

    “Great empires are not maintained by timidity.”

    • @letsomethingshine
      @letsomethingshine Před 2 lety

      Yes, their first mistake (unless they saw it as, or it actually was, an improvement) was allowing Sargon of Akkad to "benevolently" take them over.

    • @imserdar
      @imserdar Před 2 lety

      @@letsomethingshine Sumerians didn’t let Sargon the Great to take them over. Sargon defeated Lugalzagesi king of Uruk in a battle and took over the rule of Uruk as a result. Sumerians actually always formed some type of internal opposition to the Akkad’s rule.

  • @vivamathew5347
    @vivamathew5347 Před 3 lety +3

    The transitions in the animation of this video is amazing! ❤️

  • @benlewis5312
    @benlewis5312 Před 2 lety +2

    Just to clarify, the Akkadians ruled over the first empire, not the Sumerians. The Sumerians were the first true civilization, but a loose collection of city states with a common culture but no central control does not constitute an empire. If it did than all of Greece would have been an empire. I'm not entirely sure why a united Egypt isn't considered the first empire as it predated the Akkadians, but pretty much all historians agree that the Akkadians were the first

  • @SioPao105
    @SioPao105 Před 3 lety

    The narration is superb...soothing and clear.

  • @neutrinosadaf3709
    @neutrinosadaf3709 Před 3 lety +7

    The first name ever recorded in writing was 'kushim' name of accountant in the Sumerian civilization.

    • @letsomethingshine
      @letsomethingshine Před 2 lety

      "accountant" of beer making from barley grains, really, no? Kushim means Holy Shim, no?

  • @corleone7918
    @corleone7918 Před 2 lety +4

    Makes you wonder why this has been overlooked in the lore for so long.

  • @kamius1
    @kamius1 Před 3 lety

    Amazing lessons in history of mankind. Thanks for great video.

  • @JadeTrading
    @JadeTrading Před 3 lety +1

    Thank you for sharing🙌

  • @chugger2836
    @chugger2836 Před 3 lety +28

    Ah yes. The history of Babylon is incomplete without Gilgamesh

  • @smithyman33
    @smithyman33 Před 3 lety +31

    I’m sure the climate was much different in southern Iraq back then.

    • @Adenoidsqwe
      @Adenoidsqwe Před 3 lety +3

      Nope

    • @DragonwolfoftheSands
      @DragonwolfoftheSands Před 3 lety +12

      There's still marsh there today, calling it barren desert is like calling ancient Egypt barren desert. They built on wetlands and rivers in an arid region.

    • @1RAGEACE
      @1RAGEACE Před 3 lety +1

      @@DragonwolfoftheSands Fertile Cresant

    • @himanshuchauhan2304
      @himanshuchauhan2304 Před 3 lety +1

      The rivers must have been good to create good fertile land in that time.

    • @letsomethingshine
      @letsomethingshine Před 2 lety +1

      @@DragonwolfoftheSands Yes, calling it an arid region (with important rivers) is more fair than calling it a desert.

  • @Jobe-13
    @Jobe-13 Před 3 lety

    Stuff like this really helps to remind me of the world’s beauty and humans’ potential for good, despite all the chaos that’s been going on. Just wonderful stuff.

  • @shakilmahmudarafat5021

    The music is so amazing, I would like to listen to it few more times.

  • @joshuadietz3602
    @joshuadietz3602 Před 3 lety +17

    Someone somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia:
    "Yo Philip let's not reinvent the fire here man. We can use our pottery round thing also for transportation dawg!"

  • @harveybeaver9731
    @harveybeaver9731 Před 3 lety +8

    The first great military strategy: you can starve out the resistance when you capture all of the cities surrounded by deserts.

  • @stifanos6338
    @stifanos6338 Před 3 lety

    i love the background music. you feel its stories

  • @vishank7
    @vishank7 Před 3 lety

    Amazing as always TED!😄💎👌

  • @thespanishinquisition2200
    @thespanishinquisition2200 Před 3 lety +11

    It’s good to know that beer has always been a priority for humans

  • @usa_summer9656
    @usa_summer9656 Před 3 lety +3

    Okay so I just learned about 2 weeks ago.
    The Hittites were the first group to rule. (After sumerians) They used iron weapons and chariots to attack and win battle.
    The kassities were the next group to rule.
    The Assyrians also used iron weapons and chariots to win battles. They also spread terror before battles by burning crops and stealing from markets.
    And the Chaldeans were last (ish)
    The phonecians were the ones who used the boats to sail. They had mountains on either side of them, so they traded via the sea. They traded mostly cedar wood (as said in the video)
    I’m sorry if I got anything wrong we took the test like a week ago.

  • @creationmultimedia6940
    @creationmultimedia6940 Před 3 lety +1

    TED-Ed is a great channel which I am following. Always waiting for new Video attraction.

  • @mjstory1976
    @mjstory1976 Před 3 lety

    Awesome and informative video

  • @grubert3535
    @grubert3535 Před 2 lety +5

    There were far more trees in the region back then. The levant experienced massive deforestation over time as a result of exporting lumber to Mesopotamia.

  • @TristanSamuel
    @TristanSamuel Před 3 lety +5

    I was LITTERALLY just doing schoolwork on Hammurabi, and this gets uploaded XD

  • @angtasp3640
    @angtasp3640 Před 3 lety

    Loved the colours starting with brown and green symbolising origin and growth , ending it with red & crimson,colour does add a lot of dimension.

  • @constantinodelgado8509

    Currently teaching about them in my 6th grade Social Studies class. This is great, thanks!

  • @nicholasleaf3646
    @nicholasleaf3646 Před 3 lety +13

    Only one correction, the archeological evidence shows that THE first cities were built 10 000 BC, 5000BC before Sumers.

    • @tanayawani
      @tanayawani Před 3 lety

      exactly and it was the Harappan civilization

    • @ZaidT
      @ZaidT Před 2 lety

      Cities does not mean that they were or part of civilizations

    • @ZaidT
      @ZaidT Před 2 lety

      @@tanayawani It only dates to c. 3300 - c. 1300 BCE. Mesopotamian civilizations were way older

  • @blueeye2281
    @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety +71

    Me: Wait the Sumerians were the first empire?
    Ted Ed: *Always have been*
    The Assyrians: We have been tricked, backstabbed and quite possibly bamboozled!

    • @sanzidamaliha
      @sanzidamaliha Před 3 lety +3

      they said at the assarian video..that it was the first true empire.

    • @blueeye2281
      @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety +2

      @@sanzidamaliha yeah so is the Sumerians first false empire?

    • @fathfez7991
      @fathfez7991 Před 3 lety +6

      The answer to the first empire is neither Sumer or Assyria. It's the Akkadia

    • @blueeye2281
      @blueeye2281 Před 3 lety +1

      @@fathfez7991 r u sure? Cuz I'm not very good at this historical things. If so I'll adapt Akkadia as the first empire. Btw where was this empire?

    • @fathfez7991
      @fathfez7991 Před 3 lety +14

      @@blueeye2281 Well yes, the Sumer (Started 4000 ~ 4500 BCE) is the first complex civilization that the golden age is from 3000 BCE (4th millenium BCE), right 300 years after the first South Asian bronze age civilization which is Indus Valley from around 3300 BCE. The Sumer is not an 'empire' definitionly, since it has no emperor. It is a union of cities, each governed ny a council of the people, priests, or kings as the video explains. Not a kingdom, nor empire. On the other hand, the Akkadians from approximately 2350 BCE, has the first emperor, Sargon. Marking the first empire in human history.

  • @user-sk5by4nx6x
    @user-sk5by4nx6x Před 3 lety +1

    This is so cool because my learning this in my school.Also this helped me a lot

  • @beberoro1
    @beberoro1 Před 3 lety +4

    Assyrian here 😊 My baby sister is named after the Sumerian city “Ur” spelled differently than the originally but i love it

    • @beberoro1
      @beberoro1 Před 3 lety +1

      Assyrians had a part in those invasions as well, it wasn’t just the Sumerians :)

    • @ALIKN1-1
      @ALIKN1-1 Před 10 měsíci

      Just don’t backstab us like neo Assyria did XD

    • @mohammedizzat5416
      @mohammedizzat5416 Před 9 měsíci

      ​@@ALIKN1-1r not a summerian my guy

    • @ALIKN1-1
      @ALIKN1-1 Před 9 měsíci

      @@mohammedizzat5416 they are :)))

    • @mohammedizzat5416
      @mohammedizzat5416 Před 9 měsíci

      @@ALIKN1-1 your indian summerians are marsh arabs

  • @meeshaagarwal5249
    @meeshaagarwal5249 Před 3 lety +52

    CZcams comment section is the only place where most probably no one knows who came first 😂..except the person who did..

  • @strange_and_magnificent
    @strange_and_magnificent Před 3 lety +1

    That’s so fascinating!

  • @cloudyreader1152
    @cloudyreader1152 Před 3 lety +1

    The music and dulcet tones of the narrator are enough to give me goosebumps. Also, any mention of Gilgamesh brings a tear to my eye as Fate/stay night fan.

  • @aiko9393
    @aiko9393 Před 3 lety +13

    "MINE!"
    -Gilgamesh

  • @albertamalachi3560
    @albertamalachi3560 Před 3 lety +53

    tl;dr: The Sumerians invented many things. Including stuff like bureaucracy, taxes, and schools.
    Me: They forgot homework. The Sumerians supposedly *invented homework* too!

  • @t1t_8
    @t1t_8 Před 20 dny

    As a descendant of the Sumerians and I live in the same place where they lived in southern Iraq, I appreciate this work. Thank you.

  • @YouAndImpact
    @YouAndImpact Před 3 lety

    Great video 👍

  • @disrael2101
    @disrael2101 Před 3 lety +11

    You makes me love and be so curious about our human ancestors and history, school was never able to create that spark in me unlike your amazing engaging interesting storytelling

    • @heart3356
      @heart3356 Před 2 lety +1

      But I bet school was able to spark in you an unjustified hate and dehumanizing Palestinians

  • @chaitanyapandey5145
    @chaitanyapandey5145 Před 3 lety +4

    Fun fact .. Sumerian are the reason behind sixty minutes in one hour and sixty second in one minute

  • @12345abhikabhi
    @12345abhikabhi Před 3 lety

    Amazing video 😊👍

  • @evaporatedmilkee6263
    @evaporatedmilkee6263 Před 3 lety

    Did not need to watch this but I found very useful info about the wheel which I needed for a presentation.

  • @erikprank4611
    @erikprank4611 Před 3 lety +23

    It seems to me, that there is confusion here with the terms Empire and Civilization, or at least you use those terms in unorthodox way. Secondly, it seems to me that you are mixing the Ubaid culture and the Sumerians, and call them both Sumerians. As for Ubaid culture, we don't really know what language they spoke.

  • @-ahmed121
    @-ahmed121 Před 3 lety +3

    It’s amazing to consider that it the first city in human history and it have social ladders and religious beliefs

    • @himanshuchauhan2304
      @himanshuchauhan2304 Před 3 lety +1

      Even animals have those social ladders. Humans existed on this earth since a long long time

  • @iuvyne
    @iuvyne Před 3 lety +1

    Thanks so much, this helped with my history homework :D

  • @athenaparthenos9092
    @athenaparthenos9092 Před 3 lety

    This is why I love history so much!!❤️

  • @ravneetsingh3205
    @ravneetsingh3205 Před 2 lety +3

    Doesn't exactly sound like an empire since it didn't really have a central authority (like an emperor) or a centralized taxation system or a central army. Sounds more like a coalition of city states which happen to share some aspects of their culture, kinda like ancient Greece.

  • @christinawheeler3275
    @christinawheeler3275 Před 3 lety +5

    Did a project on cuneiform in high school after I read the Epic of Gilgamesh and Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth. This is such a great, in-depth summary!

  • @SnowKat-mn9qh
    @SnowKat-mn9qh Před 3 lety +2

    This video brought back all my memories of 6th grade history class, where I learned this for the first time. I remember that my teacher made us Mesopotamia-shaped sugar cookies when we started the unit. He was cool.

  • @madhavkulkarni8121
    @madhavkulkarni8121 Před 3 lety +2

    kudos to ted-ed! animators killing it as all ways

  • @davidhumphrey2593
    @davidhumphrey2593 Před 2 lety +18

    “Oh yes, the first mighty civilization, because we find it’s ruins in desert, must come from desert, right?”
    NO!! It is always possible for landforms to change over thousands of years, and so I personally believe it is most likely that the Mesopotamian land was covered in what we could call “farm-able” land back in the day, and then later by geologic means became a desert #themoreyouknow

  • @esraaQ6
    @esraaQ6 Před 3 lety +10

    Infortunately ,But now lraq it’s don’t have any rights . And the situation very miserable 😭عراق🇮🇶

    • @shweetaa
      @shweetaa Před 3 lety +1

      We pray it gets better :(

    • @Jobe-13
      @Jobe-13 Před 3 lety +2

      I’ve always found it incredibly ironic and interesting how the areas where humanity began have now become riddled with chaos. Mesopotamia and Ethiopia (and the rest of Africa to be more broad), to be exact.