注：英語原文取自最古老版本的帝國(guó)時(shí)代一的幫助文件中，關(guān)于歷史的文本量相當(dāng)巨大，但在win7系統(tǒng)更新后，以win95為基礎(chǔ)的hlp文件被淘汰，如今已經(jīng)很難找到打開hlp文件的方法。如有大佬能提供支援就好了。

注：因?yàn)樵環(huán)lp文件并未隨著羅馬復(fù)興資料片的更新而更新，所以這個(gè)系列不包含新增的羅馬、迦太基、馬其頓和巴爾米拉文明。

注：因?yàn)槟甏眠h(yuǎn)（1996年左右），很多記述可能已經(jīng)與最新的考古發(fā)現(xiàn)有著顯著的差異。

注：蹩腳英語，翻譯腔，懶得潤(rùn)色的語句。

注：英語原文放在前面，漢語翻譯放在后面。

更多資料：

世界地理歷史小常識(shí)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.

蘇美爾文明（公元前5000至2230年）

蘇美爾是最古老的文明之一，他們的發(fā)展和擴(kuò)張依賴于豐富的河谷農(nóng)田。然而，在礦產(chǎn)資源和戰(zhàn)略位置方面，他們沒有其他人那么幸運(yùn)，也沒有能夠像埃及人一樣長(zhǎng)期存在。盡管如此，他們被認(rèn)為是早期最重要的文明之一，因?yàn)樗麄冇泻芏喈?dāng)時(shí)的進(jìn)步，他們?cè)诘乩砦恢梅烙∪鹾唾Y源很差的情況下，被迫進(jìn)行創(chuàng)新。在很多方面，他們?cè)跉v史上有更重要的地位，因?yàn)樗麄兊暮芏喟l(fā)明比埃及人更多。

位置

蘇美爾位于美索不達(dá)米亞南部（美索不達(dá)米亞意思是河流之間），底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河，兩者交匯后流入波斯灣。到公元前5000年，原始人農(nóng)民從東邊的扎格羅斯山脈來到這片河谷，這里土地肥沃，但在春末河水泛濫后，夏日陽(yáng)光下土地被烤的很硬。早期的定居者學(xué)會(huì)了如何控制堤壩和洪水，以及如何灌溉夏季的農(nóng)田。烏爾、烏魯克、艾力度的早期居民點(diǎn)首先變?yōu)楠?dú)立的城市，后來發(fā)展成城邦。

首都

作為城邦集合體，蘇美爾人沒有明確的首都，因?yàn)闄?quán)力中心會(huì)不停轉(zhuǎn)移。烏爾、拉加什、艾力赫、艾力度、烏魯克是最重要的城邦。

發(fā)展壯大

公元前5000年到公元前3000年，蘇美爾的農(nóng)業(yè)社區(qū)逐漸在底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河沿岸合并成城邦。這個(gè)城邦文明的頂峰從公元前2900年持續(xù)到公元前2400年。他們不停地相互交戰(zhàn)，爭(zhēng)奪土地和貿(mào)易，但從未聯(lián)合或者建立從老家向外擴(kuò)張的帝國(guó)，河谷的城邦在糧食生產(chǎn)、制造業(yè)和靠近重要貿(mào)易路線的幫助下更富有。當(dāng)北方和東方出現(xiàn)更強(qiáng)更好戰(zhàn)的鄰國(guó)時(shí)，這些國(guó)家就成為了誘人的目標(biāo)。

經(jīng)濟(jì)

蘇美爾人種植小麥、大麥、豌豆、洋蔥、大頭菜和棗，他們養(yǎng)牛養(yǎng)羊，捕魚狩獵野禽。糧食普遍豐富，人口也相應(yīng)增加，河谷里沒有銅，但是東部和北部山區(qū)有。蘇美爾人在公元前4000年學(xué)會(huì)了從礦石中提煉銅，公元前3500年學(xué)會(huì)了制造青銅。他們用食物、布和制成品交換原材料，例如木材、銅和石頭，這些原材料被加工成日用品、武器和更有價(jià)值的貿(mào)易品。他們的商人沿著底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河，與安納托利亞和地中海沿岸的人們進(jìn)行貿(mào)易。他們也在波斯灣交易來自印度河更東部的物品。

宗教文化

蘇美爾人崇拜數(shù)百個(gè)神，每個(gè)城市都有自己的守護(hù)神。主神，例如空氣之神恩利爾，忙于應(yīng)付個(gè)人的麻煩。因此，每個(gè)蘇美爾人都會(huì)崇拜一個(gè)特殊的小神或小女神，他們被期望與主神互動(dòng)。蘇美爾人不相信來世，對(duì)人類善良的限度的認(rèn)識(shí)是現(xiàn)實(shí)的，雖然神是無可置疑的，但他們并不總是善良的。每個(gè)城邦的靈魂和中心都是它的守護(hù)神的圣殿。蘇美爾人相信神擁有著城邦。部分土地是直接為神耕種的，通常由奴隸完成。剩下的土地由寺廟的工作人員或向寺廟支付租子的農(nóng)民耕種的。租子和供品支撐了寺廟的運(yùn)作費(fèi)用，也支持了窮人。奴隸是社會(huì)重要的組成部分，也是任何軍事行動(dòng)的目標(biāo)之一，甚至本地人也可能成為奴隸來償還債務(wù)。奴隸們被允許為自己多工作幾小時(shí)，并用任何積蓄來?yè)Q取自由。

統(tǒng)治

蘇美爾的每一個(gè)城市最初都由元老院統(tǒng)治，盡管在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間，一個(gè)被稱為盧格爾的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)領(lǐng)袖被選中領(lǐng)導(dǎo)軍隊(duì)。最后，盧格爾成為了國(guó)王并建立了王朝。有證據(jù)表明，蘇美爾人可能已經(jīng)通過選舉一個(gè)人民代表大會(huì)，向民主邁出了第一步。這包括兩個(gè)由重要公民組成的眾議院和一個(gè)可參加軍事任務(wù)的議員組成的下議院。保存下來的泥板顯示，蘇美爾人維持著司法法庭，在那里人們可以期待公正的審判，大部分的食品銷售和生產(chǎn)都是寺廟控制的。貴族階層的產(chǎn)生基于土地所有權(quán)、貿(mào)易控制和制造業(yè)。大多數(shù)貿(mào)易和制造業(yè)都在寺廟的控制范圍之外。

建筑

蘇美爾人因?yàn)殡y以找到石頭或木頭來建造房屋而被妨礙。曬干的泥磚是他們的主要建筑材料，這需要一些發(fā)明才能實(shí)現(xiàn)，他們是第一個(gè)使用拱門、穹頂和拱頂?shù)娜?，他們的城市被磚墻完全包圍。他們最重要的建筑是寺廟，他們被建造成一個(gè)巨大的土丘，叫做“吉古拉”。經(jīng)過攻擊、破壞、修復(fù)的循環(huán)，寺廟在同一地點(diǎn)被一次又一次地重建，隨著每次輪回變大。然而，泥磚的侵蝕和破碎速度比石頭快的多，蘇美爾人的建筑幾乎沒有幸存下來。

軍事

對(duì)蘇美爾軍隊(duì)影響的關(guān)鍵在于他們?cè)愀獾膽?zhàn)略位置。天然的防御只存在于西方（沙漠）和南部（波斯灣）的邊界上。當(dāng)更多的人口和敵人出現(xiàn)在他們的北方和東方，蘇美爾人更容易受到攻擊。幸存的藝術(shù)品和考古遺跡證明，蘇美爾士兵使用長(zhǎng)矛和青銅短劍，他們戴著青銅頭盔，拿著大盾牌。他們的軍隊(duì)沒有特別的標(biāo)記，但是記錄很少。他們?cè)谠S多城際戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中進(jìn)行圍城戰(zhàn)。泥磚墻無法抵擋有時(shí)間撬開磚墻或?qū)⒋u墻砸成碎石的堅(jiān)決進(jìn)攻者。蘇美爾人發(fā)明了戰(zhàn)車并率先在戰(zhàn)斗中使用。這些早期的戰(zhàn)車是四輪的，由奧奈格（野驢）拉著，在戰(zhàn)斗中不如后來的雙輪馬車設(shè)計(jì)有效。蘇美爾戰(zhàn)車可能主要用作快速運(yùn)輸工具，但幸存的藝術(shù)品表示，他們上面的戰(zhàn)士會(huì)投下長(zhǎng)矛和標(biāo)槍。

衰落滅亡

一群叫做阿卡德人的閃族人沿著底格里斯河和幼發(fā)拉底河在蘇美爾北部定居，阿卡德人很快接受了先于他們的，比他們更先進(jìn)的蘇美爾文化、宗教和文字。公元前2371年薩爾貢一世占據(jù)了基什的王位，逐漸征服了阿卡德的所有城邦。他轉(zhuǎn)向南方，征服了蘇美爾城邦，蘇美爾無法團(tuán)結(jié)起來防御。薩爾貢在公元前2371年至2316年統(tǒng)治期間建立了第一個(gè)歷史性的帝國(guó)，沿著肥沃的新月形地帶，從埃蘭向蘇美爾東部延伸到地中海東岸。薩爾貢死后帝國(guó)崩潰，他的孫子短暫地恢復(fù)過統(tǒng)治。大約在公元前2230年，阿卡德帝國(guó)被來自扎格羅斯山脈的古提亞人野蠻入侵而毀滅。新的城市和城鎮(zhèn)很快沿著河谷重新生長(zhǎng)起來，但蘇美爾已經(jīng)不再是一個(gè)獨(dú)特獨(dú)立的文明了。

遺產(chǎn)

蘇美爾人最為著名的發(fā)明是輪子和文字（均為約公元前4000年產(chǎn)生）。輪子對(duì)運(yùn)輸和陶器制造（陶制輪）很重要。蘇美爾文字被稱為楔形文字，由一組尖筆楔狀印模推到粘土中形成代表文字的風(fēng)格化象形圖組成。這種書寫源自于商業(yè)交易中的記錄和封條。他們是最早使用船只的人之一，其中包括用木頭框架包裹的獸皮做成的圓形船只，這些小船在三角洲的蘆葦蕩和水道中特別受歡迎。

這是帝國(guó)時(shí)代一相關(guān)文明說明文件翻譯的第（8/12）部：

1.埃及：CV13647116?

2.希臘：CV13828033

3.巴比倫：CV13907052

4.亞述：CV13984562

5.米諾斯：CV14070144

6.赫梯：CV14097823

7.腓尼基：CV14186644

8.蘇美爾：本篇

9.波斯：

10.商：

11.朝鮮：

12.大和：?