8. The Sumerians - Fall of the First Cities

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Published 2020-08-16
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In the dusts of Iraq, the ruins of the world's first civilization lie buried.

This episode, we travel into the extremely distant past to look at the Sumerians. These ancient people invented writing and mathematics, and built some of the largest cities that the world had ever seen. Find out about the mystery of their origins, and learn how they rose from humble beginnings to form the foundation of all our modern societies. With myths, proverbs and even some recreated Sumerian music, travel back to where it all began, and find out how humanity's first civilization fell.

** Fall of Civilizations the book is now available to pre-order: linktr.ee/fallofcivilizations **

SOURCES: www.patreon.com/posts/31032299

Credits:

Sound engineering by Thomas Ntinas

Voice Actors:

Jake Barrett-Mills
Rhy Brignell
Shem Jacobs
Nick Bradley
Emily Johnson

Photography of Sumerian artefacts by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg), CC-BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Music by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Artist: incompetech.com/

Title theme: Home At Last by John Bartmann. johnbartmann.com/

All Comments (21)
  • @BlackXWolfe
    Is this real? Am I actually watching a quality documentary about the Sumerian civilization that isn't talking about aliens? Sir, you have my everlasting gratitude.
  • @tygrr69
    I can only mourn that I had to turn 70 before I could see and learn this history. This was probably the best history lesson I have ever had.
  • @kar-70
    As an Iraqi citizen, I would really like to thank you for showing the true face of Iraq, full of civilization and history, contrary to what the media shows to everyone, that Iraq is a country of war and destruction. I would really like to thank you from the heart of a person who lives in Babylon Governorate (ancient Babylon).
  • @JonHullock
    26 million views after 3 years. Amazing work with no mention of aliens. Great thanks.
  • @m4anow
    I love that this has 17 million views after 1 year. In a world of 1 minute video clips, to see a 2 hour and 27 minute documentary flourish makes me happy.
  • Being an Iraqi whois late dad was from Nineveh in northern Iraq, I remember how keen my dad was on visiting museums he could all around the world and taking video footage of their collections of Iraqi artifacts and archeological findings. This has been one of the most beautifully narrated, well paced to the point of being harmonious and scientifically rich documentaries I have ever had the pleasure of watching. The fact that you covered the Semetic/ Summerian symbiotic history, which is the history of the ancestors of virtually every Iraqi so well is such a feat! My late Dad would would have been thrilled if he had the chance to watch it. The cradle of civilization as we know it deserved this level of professionalism and scientific accuracy. You have earnt a subscriber and my gratitude as a human being and an Iraqi. May you and your wonderful team be blessed always.
  • @jeffhill1107
    I have now found my personal safe place. A place to escape from my (often) troubled mind, the beautiful narration in these videos, and the highest obtainable quality (humanely possible) poured into them…for all of these things I want to say thank you. I can not articulate what reprieve you have granted me during a very frightening time. Lost family/friends/pets continuously mounting in my life, I am ashamed to admit how pathetic my life has become. It’s like I don’t exist. ANYWAYS, embarrassedly I say all that about myself. But my sentiment is one of praise for you or the team that produced this video and this content. You have given me a soothing/joyous escape while I battle against my problems. THANK YOU
  • I cannot tell you just how much I enjoy and am enriched by your episodes. Thank you
  • @Boreas11
    Your contribution to the general public's understanding of history is invaluable. Cheers.
  • @FluxDecay
    Sumerian civilization is so old that Babalon had legends about it, that is truly mind-blowing.
  • @TangledEarth
    To this very day this documentary from top to bottom is by far the best source of information related to the Sumerian history.
  • @errrkt
    3 years later and i still return to revisit this often. best sumer content hands down.
  • @AhmedAlKaabi82
    I'm Iraqi, from South Iraq, when I travel north on the highway, I cannot be rested until I see the old Ziggurat of Ur looking at me from afar horizon. Thank you for this magnificent documentary.
  • @pedroalves6425
    BBC level or beyond level of quality, The content, the editing, everything. Congratulations. This is the epitome of what Youtube can be,
  • @davesky538
    I have been studying this topic for 40 years. But after your lecture I weeped. Thank you. I will donate.
  • @ebrennie
    I’m an educator and geologist. I just want to express immense gratitude for what you are doing here. Paul, your approach to education and knowledge transfer is what we need more of. It’s very immersive. I am so appreciate that in every episode you discuss how the regional geology shaped a civilization. So few people understand how much the geology of this planet has influenced the shape of our entire species’s development. And as an educator I also appreciate how you give your audience frames of reference. I do this a lot because in geology we deal with Deep Time and for many people this is such a hard thing for them to grasp. In this episode, I admire how you help people understand the spans of time we’re dealing with here by using landmarks they will already have a feel for - a sort of time sense. How writing, for example, is essentially as old as the extinction of the wooly mammoth, or how Sumer was already considered ancient 1300 years before Stonehenge was ever built, and Stonehenge is older than Rome and the story of Jesus. I wish and wish and wish more educators used approaches like this when transferring knowledge. Thank you 🙏 so very much for all that your team does! This matters, even on those days when it might feel like it doesn’t.
  • @Rama-zy9nr
    As a Syrian who's been taught the history of this area very well in school, and who's really interested in the history of Mesopotamia, I can easily say that this is the best documentary I've seen about the Sumerians so far. I think it's brilliant that the video starts with identifying the geography and geology of this area, then moves to the story of early humans and the invention of agriculture before talking about the Sumerians themselves. This is not only due to how pioneering the Sumerians were, but also to how important it is to provide such background when you teach history. Excellent job :) Plus, it means so much to me that someone is talking about the Sumerians. It is too bad that most people I meet outside of our region don't seem to know anything about the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, which is unfortunate considering how pioneering these civilisations were. I hope to see more videos like this about this region in the future :) :) {Edit}: This comment surprisingly got a lot of attention, so I have to clarify to whoever thought that I was identifying as Sumerian that I would never make such a claim because I simply understand how genetics work. Read my comment again and you will see that I NEVER did that! That claim would be absurd and unscientific considering how much the populations of Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean have mixed over 5 millennia. Instead, what I'm doing is acknowledging this civilisation as part of the area's "history" and "culture", especially in Iraq.
  • @danielscott1409
    This was absolutely outstanding. Hard to believe it's available for free on YouTube. Very high quality.
  • @syfieldsjr1576
    Wow…I’m speechless! No aliens in this quality Doc. Just the truth!
  • @ldawg7117
    This is one of the most.. if not THE most professionally done, educational, absolutely fascinating channels on YouTube.