Drought May Have Killed Sumerian Language

Live Science ^ | 12-5-2012 | Tia Ghose

[blam]

Drought May Have Killed Sumerian Language

Tia Ghose
LiveScience Staff Writer

Date: 04 December 2012 Time: 11:35 AM ET

The ancient Sumerians invented cuneiform, shown here on a clay tablet documenting barley rations issued monthly to adults and children. The language may have died out as a result of a 200-year drought 4,200 years ago. CREDIT: Public Domain

SAN FRANCISCO — A 200-year-long drought 4,200 years ago may have killed off the ancient Sumerian language, one geologist says.

Because no written accounts explicitly mention drought as the reason for the Sumerian demise, the conclusions rely on indirect clues. But several pieces of archaeological and geological evidence tie the gradual decline of the Sumerian civilization to a drought.

The findings, which were presented Monday (Dec. 3) here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union, show how vulnerable human society may be to climate change, including human-caused change.
(My next post will show you what really happened and it had nothing to do with human induced climate change)

"This was not a single summer or winter, this was 200 to 300 years of drought," said Matt Konfirst, a geologist at the Byrd Polar Research Center.

Beginning about 3500 B.C., the Sumerian culture flourished in ancient Mesopotamia, which was located in present-day Iraq. Ancient Sumerians invented cuneiform writing, built the world's first wheel and arch, and wrote the first epic poem, "Gilgamesh." [Image Gallery: Ancient Middle-Eastern Texts]

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[HomeAtLast]

Drought, or someone convinced them Akkadian was better for business!

[blam]

Disaster That Struck The Ancients

[Da Coyote]

Perhaps they were unfortunate enough to have as a leader the first village idiot in a line of village Obamadiots as their leader.

That’d do it.