Who were the Sumerians?

SUMER is located in the Southern half of modern Irak. Its climate is hot and dry, its soil is windswept, it has no minerals and very little stone and timber - indeed, a land doomed to poverty. The Sumerians, nevertheless, were a gifted, energetic people, inventive and resourceful, who with the help of irrigation and a pragmatic way of life turned this deprived land in a Garden of Eden. It was in Sumer that the first great urban centres came into being, as well as the cuneiform system of writing, which was soon used all over ancient Near East. These great urban centres or temple estates were known as Eridu, Uruk, Larsa, Lagash, Nippur and Kish. Power alternated between them and community life was organised around the temple. Recorded evidence shows that by 5,000 BCE Eridu, city of Enki, the God of Wisdom, held the power, which by 4,000 BCE shifted to Uruk, Inanna's city. There were close contacts among the temple estates, and a coherent culture. Sumerian civilisation deeply influenced the peoples of the Euphrates region, North Mesopotamia and parts of Iran. Sadly, centuries of competition resulted in bitter warfare and attempts of one city to impose hegemony over another or the even the whole region Sumerian language may have been long established in the region, but has no known relatives. Written documents gradually became more easily understood and informative throughout this period. Sumerian tales, legends and songs are part of a vast literature. Evidence shows that indeed recorded history began at Sumer.