Podcast Summary: The Ancients – “The Sumerians”

Released: August 31, 2025
Host: Tristan Hughes
Guest: Dr. Paul Collins (Assyriologist, Ashmolean Museum/British Museum)

Overview

This engaging episode of The Ancients dives into the story of the Sumerians—one of humanity’s earliest known civilizations, flourishing over 5,000 years ago in what is now southern Iraq. Host Tristan Hughes sits down with Assyriologist Dr. Paul Collins at the Ashmolean Museum to explore Sumerian cities, language, artifacts, social structures, and recent archaeological revelations. Along the way, they dispel long-held myths and question what it truly means to be “Sumerian.”

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Were the Sumerians?

• Origins and Geography ([04:13])
  • The Sumerians inhabited southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) from c. 3,500–2,000 BC.
  • They are credited with early inventions: writing, the wheel, and the world’s first cities.
  • Preceded the Assyrians, Akkadians, and Babylonians.
  • This era marks the transition from prehistory to history because of the advent of writing.
• Quote:

  "The Sumerians, if people know anything at all, sit very much in people's minds as the roots of our modern way of life." — Dr. Paul Collins (03:44)

2. Discovering the Sumerians

• How Were They Identified? ([05:41])
  • Sumerians were virtually unknown in the West until about 150 years ago, as their name doesn’t appear in the Bible or classical sources.
  • Early excavators found cuneiform texts that, on analysis, revealed a previously unknown language—Sumerian.
  • Edward Hincks, an Irish vicar and linguist, made a key breakthrough in recognizing Sumerian as distinct from Semitic languages in the late 1840s.
• Quote:

  "Edward Hincks... realized that the cuneiform signs were actually syllabic. ...And he recognized that there was an underlying other language there. This is the language which we now recognize as Sumerian." — Dr. Paul Collins (06:39)

3. Sumerian Language and Writing

• Language Isolate ([09:28])
  • Sumerian is a linguistic isolate—not Semitic, not related to known language families (similar to modern Basque).
  • The term “Sumerian” was adopted from a Semitic text; the people themselves likely didn’t use it.
• Earliest Surviving Writing ([11:50])
  • Earliest Sumerian tablets are bureaucratic: lists, contracts, and resource management.
  • Clay tablets survived well due to the abundance and durability of clay in southern Iraq.
• Multilingual Society ([14:06])
  • Hints in texts suggest Semitic and possibly other languages spoken alongside Sumerian; administrative language was often Sumerian regardless of spoken language.
• Quote:

  "Clay survives remarkably well. ...And because it's cheap and flexible and you have a system which is sufficiently complex to record a spoken language... it lasts for thousands of years." — Dr. Paul Collins (12:58)

4. Environment & Origins

• The Land of Sumer ([16:05])
  • A watery landscape, rich in agriculture, with cities like Ur, Eridu, and Uruk located in marshy, lagoon-filled terrain.
  • Archaeological evidence suggests population continuity from prehistory; no compelling need to propose large-scale migration to explain Sumerian emergence.
• 19th–Early 20th Century Ideas of Race ([22:04])
  • Early scholarship interpreted Sumerians as an intrusive racial group due to their linguistic distinctness, reflecting the now-rejected racial theories of the period.

5. Sumerian Cities & Urbanization

• First Cities? ([23:34])
  • Southern Iraq once thought to be the exclusive seat of the world’s earliest cities (Uruk, c. 3000 BC, tens of thousands of people).
  • Newer evidence shows comparable urban centers elsewhere (e.g., Tell Brak in Syria, 4000 BC), suggesting complex settlement patterns and dispersal.
• City-States Structure ([26:31])
  • By around 2500 BC, evidence suggests a landscape of competing city-states akin to classical Greece or Renaissance Italy, not a unified Sumerian empire.
• Quote:

  "Cities are effect just clumping together types of living in a more sort of compact arrangement, which you can find in other patterns elsewhere...so different ways of people sharing ideas, sharing materials, but over long, long distances." — Dr. Paul Collins (25:26)

6. Case Study: The City of Ur

• Excavations at Ur ([27:54])
  • Early European explorers recognized the site; major excavations led by Leonard Woolley (British Museum and University of Pennsylvania) in the 1920s–30s.
  • Key features:
    • The Ziggurat – monumental religious platform/structure, solid not hollow, possibly meant to bring the mountains (home of the gods) to the flat alluvial plain ([29:17]; [31:40]).
    • Temples atop platforms since the 4th millennium BC.
    • Palatial and temple complexes formed the heart of the city.
• Royal Tombs ([32:45])
  • Woolley uncovered thousands of graves; among them, 16 “Royal Tombs” with lavish goods: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, carnelian, and evidence of possible human sacrifice.
  • The “Great Death Pit” contained 69 individuals, most apparently women and probable sacrificial victims for the king/queen’s afterlife.
• Quote:

  "One of these pits, the so called Great Death Pit, had 69 individuals lying in neat rows covered in extraordinary jewelry, mirroring that found on the principal burial in the stone chamber, but reproduced in vast amounts." — Dr. Paul Collins (34:28)

  • On cause of death:

    "We now know...at least those individuals that were analyzed died horribly. Their skulls were smashed in with axes." (37:11)

7. The Queen’s Tomb (Pu Abi)

• Findings ([40:21])
  • A well-preserved royal tomb, labeled initially “Queen Shubad” (now recognized as Pu Abi).
  • Identified via a lapis lazuli cylinder seal.
  • Her name is Semitic, not Sumerian—challenged early assumptions about Sumerian identity ([43:41]).
• Media Sensation
  • The tomb’s discovery and treasures stirred international excitement, paralleling “Tutankhamun Mania.”
• Quote:

  "Shubad is meaningless, but Pu Abi actually is a Semitic way of writing a name..." — Dr. Paul Collins (43:41)

8. Art and Artifacts

• The Standard of Ur ([45:11])
  • An enigmatic artifact, likely not a “standard” (military flag), but exquisitely inlaid with scenes of war and feasting, made of lapis lazuli from Afghanistan.
  • Might have originally adorned a wall or formed part of a larger ceremonial object.
• Votive Statuary ([49:06])
  • Numerous statues (both male and female) with hands clasped, intended as perpetual temple prayers.
• Other Artistic Highlights
  • Gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian objects reflect vast trade networks and elite status.

9. Sumerian Military

• Warfare Depicted ([50:38])
  • Scenes on artifacts show four-wheeled carts (proto-chariots), infantry with spears, and kings in martial roles.

10. What Happened to the Sumerians?

• Language Shift, Not Extinction ([51:43])
  • No evidence of a distinct “Sumerian” population disappearing; rather, Sumerian ceased as a spoken language, remaining only in scholarly and religious contexts.
  • By the end of the third millennium BC, Babylonian (a Semitic language) predominates in everyday life.
• Quote:

  "We don't see people disappearing, we just see the language disappearing." — Dr. Paul Collins (52:45)

11. Rethinking the Sumerians

• Where Should We Place Their Legacy? ([53:41])
  • “Sumer” was a real place and a civilization, but likely always multilingual and multicultural.
  • The Sumerian tradition is a cultural hybrid, with Sumerian language and identity interwoven with others in the region.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Sumerian Origins:

"There's sufficient archaeological continuity from deep, free history to suggest that large parts of the population are simply there and not changing." — Dr. Paul Collins (17:20)

On Why the Sumerians Matter:

"The Sumerians, if people know anything at all, sit very much in people's minds as the roots of our modern way of life." — Dr. Paul Collins (03:44)

On Royal Tomb Sacrifices:

"At least those individuals that were analyzed died horribly. Their skulls were smashed in with axes." — Dr. Paul Collins (37:11)

On The Standard of Ur:

"Thousands of years old, and the detail that it shows. ...comprised again of this extraordinary blue lapis lazuli stone, which would have reached southern Iraq from Afghanistan." — Dr. Paul Collins (48:19)

Timeline of Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |---------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:44 | Meaning and origins of the Sumerians | | 05:41 | Discovery and decipherment of the Sumerian language | | 09:28 | Sumerian as a linguistic isolate | | 11:50 | Sumerian writing: clay tablets and administration | | 16:05 | Geography and prehistoric continuity in Sumeria | | 22:04 | 19th-century ideas of race and their impact on Sumerian studies | | 23:34 | Defining the first cities in southern Iraq, new archaeological findings | | 26:31 | Sumerian city-states and regional power | | 27:54 | Excavations at Ur and the significance of the ziggurat | | 32:45 | Discovery and analysis of the Royal Tombs at Ur | | 37:11 | Evidence of human sacrifice in "Great Death Pit" | | 40:21 | The Queen’s Tomb: from "Shubad" to Pu Abi | | 45:11 | The Standard of Ur: art, uncertainty, and trade connections | | 49:06 | Votive statues and Sumerian art figuration | | 50:38 | Sumerian military depictions in art | | 51:43 | Disappearance of the Sumerian language | | 53:41 | How to view Sumerian civilization today |

Conclusion & Looking Forward

The episode ends by urging listeners to appreciate Sumer as a vital, multicultural civilization with a profound and enduring legacy—from writing and city-building to art and interregional trade. Dr. Collins underscores the excitement around future discoveries and the ongoing need to rethink our ideas as new evidence emerges. He also references his book, The Sumerians, for further exploration of these themes.

Host’s Closing:

"We've only just scratched the surface. ...It's really exciting for the future, I'm guessing, in the archaeology field of ancient Sumer and learning more about it." — Tristan Hughes (54:43)

Recommended Next Steps:

• Visit the British Museum or Ashmolean Museum to see Sumerian artifacts firsthand.
• Read Dr. Paul Collins' book The Sumerians for an in-depth look.
• Stay tuned to The Ancients for future episodes on Mesopotamian civilization.