the sumerians

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Understanding the People of the Biblical World

One of God’s “Rosetta Stones”

for Understanding God’s Word

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d An Oversimplified Timeline of the Bible

(+ or - 100 years)

2000 BC

Abraham

1500 BC

Moses

1000 BC

David

500 BC

Babylonian Captivity

4 BC

Birth of Jesus

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d The Call of Abram – Gen. 121 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from

your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

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d The Call of Abram – Gen. 12

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

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The Sumeri

ans

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Ur of the

Chaldees

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d The Sumerian

City-States•Sippar•Kish•Nippur• Isin•Uruk

•Ur•Eridu•Umma•Larsa

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d Ziggurat of Nanna in Ur

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The Sumeri

an Religio

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The Sumeri

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?

1.The Sumerians were the first to develop writing.

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Cuneiform

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d Reading and writing in 

cuneiform were difficult because the Sumerian 

alphabet consisted of about 550 characters. 

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First Printi

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es

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?

2.The Sumerians were the first to develop a system of numbers. 

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d A Better System?

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Our clock is sexagecimal

! Notice how every 5 minutes is 30 degrees

of a 360 degree circle.

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?3.The Sumerians were the first to develop a calendar. 

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d First Lunar Calendar•The Sumerian Calendar was a 354 day lunar calendar.•Like the Hebrew calendar, it was corrected with a “leap month”

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?4.The Sumerians were the first to develop metallurgy, the science of metals.

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d The Bronze Age

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d An Ancient Mystery Solved

Ancient Sumeria was the first oil-based 

economy!

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?5.The Sumerians developed the first “legal system,” the code of Hammurabi.

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d The Code of Hammurabi

•The law was based on retribution and was severe.•The law was administered by a central authority.

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•The law was written. This made the law consistent.•Hammurabi’s code gave some protection to the “weak.”

The Code of Hammurabi

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d Why did God call Abraham, a Sumerian?6.The Sumerians were highly advanced in medicine.

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d God’s Purpose•It was God’s purpose to chose a people and reveal his law to them.•This required a literate people capable of reading letters and numbers.•This required a people with a concept of laws and justice.

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God’s Purpose•It was God’s purpose to reveal future prophetic truths in order to reveal His redemptive plan.•This required a people with an ability to mark time.

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d •It was God’s purpose to reveal future prophetic truths in order to reveal His redemptive plan.•This also required a people with an understanding of astronomical “signs” since God would at times reveal important events in this way.

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d Abraham’s Sacrifice•In leaving Ur and going into Canaan, Abraham left behind all the advantages of life in Sumeria.

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d Abraham’s Sacrifice•God required a man who would be willing to sacrifice comfort and personal goals, in order to become the father of His chosen people.•Abraham was such a man.

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Our Call to Sacrifice

What are some of the “advantages” that God is calling us to “leave” as followers of 

Jesus?

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d Our Call to Bring it Forward

What are some of the experiences and training from your life before following God 

that He is using now to bless His people?

Other people we need to know:

• Egyptians

• Canaanites

• Philistines

• Assyrians

•Babylonians

•Persians

•Greeks

• Romans