本篇文章共分 6 段，古文明蘇美爾文化的起源時間與地點，其發展的成因與過程，以及其對於當時地區性的影響力範圍一一加以說明陳述。

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The Sumerians and Regional Interdependence 蘇美爾人和區域相互依存性

1. 蘇美爾文明的出現

   With the emergence of the Sumerian civilization in about 3100 B.C., a new era in human experience began—one in which the economic, political, and social mechanisms created by humans began to affect the lives of cities, towns, and villages located hundreds and perhaps thousands of miles apart. In a real sense, a rapidly evolving world system linked hundreds of Southwest Asian societies all the way from modern-day eastern Iran to the eastern Mediterranean and the Nile Valley. This nascent world system developed as a result of insatiable demands for nonlocal raw materials in different ecological regions where societies were developing along very similar evolutionary tracks toward greater complexity. In each area, social developments and technological innovations were triggered not only by basic economic needs but also by the competitive instincts of newly urbanized elites, who used lavish display and exotic luxuries to reaffirm their social prestige and authority. Sumerian civilization is a mirror of this developing regional interdependence.

   隨著蘇美爾文明在公元前 3100 年的出現，人類經歷的一個新時代開始了—人類創造的經濟、政治和社會機制開始影響到相隔數百甚至數千英里的城市、城鎮和村莊的生活。從真正意義上講，一個迅速發展的世界體系將數百個西南亞社會從現代伊朗東部一直連接到地中海東部和尼羅河流域。這個新生的世界體系的發展是由於不同生態區域對非本地原物料永不滿足的需求而生，這些地區的各社會正沿著非常相似的進化軌道向更複雜的方向發展。在每個地區，社會發展和技術創新不僅是由基本的經濟需求引發的，也是由新的城市化精英的競爭本能引發的，他們用奢華展示和異國奢侈品來反覆強調他們的社會聲望和權威。蘇美爾文明是這種發展中的區域相互依存關係的一面鏡子。

2. 文明出現的環境因素

   Sumerian civilization came into being as a result of a combination of environmental and social factors. The Sumerians lived in a treeless, lowland environment with fertile soils but no metal, little timber, and no semiprecious stones. They obtained these commodities by trading with areas where such items were in abundance. Sumerian rulers controlled not only large grain surpluses that could be moved in river craft but also a flourishing industry in textiles and other luxuries. The trade moved up and down the great rivers, especially the placid Euphrates. Ancient overland trade routes linked the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with the distant cities and ports in the Levant (eastern Mediterranean area). Even as early as Sumerian times, caravans of pack animals joined Anatolia to the Euphrates, the Levant to Mesopotamia, and Mesopotamia to isolated towns on the distant Iranian highlands to the east.

   蘇美爾文明的出現是環境和社會因素共同作用的結果。蘇美爾人生活在一個沒有樹木的低地環境中，土壤肥沃，但沒有金屬，也沒有木材和半寶石。他們通過與盛產此類物品的地區進行貿易來獲得這些商品。蘇美爾統治者不僅控制著可以用河運的大量過剩糧食，而且還控制著繁榮的紡織業和其他奢侈品。貿易在大河上下游進行，特別是平靜的幼發拉底河。古代的陸路貿易路線將底格里斯河和幼發拉底河與黎凡特（地中海東部地區）的遙遠城市和港口聯繫起來。甚至早在蘇美爾時代，馱獸商隊就把安納托利亞和幼發拉底河、黎凡特和美索不達米亞，以及美索不達米亞和東部遙遠的伊朗高原上的孤立城鎮聯繫起來。

3. 青銅器與農業

   Bronze technology produced tougher-edged, more durable artifacts that could be used for more arduous day-to-day tasks. One resulting innovation was the metal- and wood-tipped plow, an implement dragged by oxen that was capable of digging a far deeper furrow than the simple hoes and digging sticks of earlier times. The plow was developed as irrigation agriculture assumed greater importance in Sumer, and the combined innovations increased agricultural yields dramatically. These yields not only supported larger urban and rural populations but also provided a means for the rulers of city-states both in Sumer and farther afield to exercise more control over food surpluses and over the wealth obtained by long-distance exchange.

   青銅技術產生了邊緣更堅硬，更耐用的工藝製品，可用於更困難的日常工作。由此產生的一項創新是金屬和木頭的犁，一種由牛拖動的工具，能夠比早期的簡單鋤頭和挖土棒挖出更深的溝。隨著灌溉農業在蘇美爾變得越來越重要，犁也得到了發展，這些創新的結合使農業產量大幅提高。這些產量不僅支撐了更多的城市和農村人口，而且還為蘇美爾和更遠地區的城邦統治者提供了一種方法，使他們能夠對糧食盈餘和通過遠距離交換所獲得的財富發揮更大的控制力。

4. 政治組織與商業活動

   An intricate and ever-changing system of political alliances and individual obligations of friendship linked community with community and city-state with city-state. In time, financial and logistical checks and balances were maintained by an administrative system based in the temples to bring order to what had begun as in formal bartering. Specialized merchants began to handle such commodities as copper and lapis lazuli, a semiprecious stone. There were wholesaling and contracting, loans were floated, and individual profit was a prime motivation. Increasingly, every city-state, and even entire civilizations, came to depend on the world system, not so much for political stability but for survival.

   一個錯綜複雜、不斷變化的政治結盟和個人友誼義務系統將社區與社區、城邦與城邦聯繫起來。隨著時間的推移，財政和後勤方面的制衡工作是由一個基於神廟的行政系統來維持，使正式易貨貿易在開始時便井然有序。專門的商人開始處理銅和青金石等商品，青金石是一種半寶石。批發和承包出現，貸款問世，個人利潤成為主要動機。越來越多的城邦，甚至整個文明，開始依賴此世界體系，與其說是為了政治穩定，不如說是為了生存。

5. 國防與軍事

   As the volume of long-distance trade increased dramatically, so competition over resources intensified. Each state raised an army to defend its water rights, trade routes, and city walls. The onerous tasks of defense and military organization passed to despotic kings supposedly appointed by the gods. Such Sumerian city-states as Erech, Kish, and Ur had periods of political strength and prosperity when they dominated their neighbors. Then, just as swiftly, the tide of their fortunes would change and they would sink into obscurity.

   隨著遠距離貿易量的急劇增加，對資源的競爭也隨之加劇。每個國家都組建了一支軍隊來保衛其水權、貿易路線和城牆。國防和軍事組織的繁重任務交給了據說是由神靈任命的專制國王。像埃里希、基什和烏爾這樣的蘇美爾城邦在統治鄰國時，曾有過政治強勢和繁榮的時期。然後，同樣迅速地，他們的命運會發生變化，他們會沉淪於無名之地。

6. 蘇美爾文化的影響力

   Inevitably, the ambitions of some proud Sumerian leaders led them to entertain bolder visions than merely the control of a few city-states in the lowlands. They were well aware that the control of lucrative sources of raw materials and trade routes was the secret of vast political power. In about 2400 B.C., a monarch named Lugalzagesi boasted of overseeing the entire area from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. This boast was probably false. It is likely that Sumerian cities dominated the overland routes that linked Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant, but their influence was never permanent, their control probably illusory.

   不可避免地，一些驕傲的蘇美爾領導人的野心使他們懷抱更大膽的願景，而不僅僅是控制幾個低地城邦。他們很清楚，控制有利可圖的原物料來源和貿易路線是巨大政治權力的秘密。大約在公元前 2400 年，一位名叫盧加爾扎克西的君主吹噓說他監管了從波斯灣到地中海的整個地區。這個吹噓可能是假的。蘇美爾人的城市很可能主宰了連接美索不達米亞、安納托利亞和黎凡特的陸路通道，但他們的影響從來都不是永久的，他們的控制可能是虛幻的。