Table of Contents
The Essential Guide to Sumer contains 12 chapters!
What does it look like?
Travelling around
Who are the Sumerians?
What is on the menu?
Sumer nowadays
When to go and Get ready!
Where to stay?
Sightseeing and shopping
Travel safe! Health and cleanliness
Having fun!
Get the Essential Guide today!
Who are the Sumerians?
The Sumerians call themselves the “black-headed” people. When the gods look at them from the sky, they see their “black heads” or their black hair on top of their heads. This is how they explain it. The Sumerians have been living in the Land of Sumer for thousands of years. Originally, they were marsh-dwellers. When the marshes started to shrink, partly because of the gradual decrease of the sea level, some Sumerians became farmers and started to organise simple irrigation networks.
Do you speak Akkadian?!
Who else lives in Sumer?!
Of course, I am bilingual!
The Sumerians - city dwellers
Fashion
Chatting with Sumerians
Get the Essential Guide today!
On the Sumerian menu
Feasting is essential in the Sumerian culture, so they have good cooks, famous, sometimes surprising, dishes and nice restaurants for tourists. Sumerians have a large choice of ingredients, many vegetables and pulses, various meats, plenty of fish, and lots of spices to enhance their recipes.
At the fish stall
Yummy desserts!
Drinks
Dairy products
Sumerian specials
A vegetarian paradise!
Spices
At the bakery
Meat and poultry
From the garden: fruits and vegetables
The daily diet
Cereals
Travel Safe ! Health and Cleanliness
Sumer is a peaceful and safe country right now. There are not too many thieves in the cities or robbers on the road. Most cities are clean. Waste management is rather well-organised at the scale of the city; within districts, the inhabitants oversee themselves the cleaning of the streets and the disposal of the rubbish.
In case something happens to you, the health system is efficient and not too expensive. Gula temples are open to all for emergencies. The Sumerian practitioners (diviners and healers) are knowledgeable and trustworthy, in general.
Gula temples
Healer
Are the Sumerian cities safe?
How to stay clean?
Quick solutions for small injuries
Sumerian Practitioners
Sightseeing in Sumer
Temples and their ziqqurrat are the most attractive places in Sumer. Ziqqurrat are now famous outside Sumer, and you are surely looking forward to seeing one of them. But other monumental buildings in Sumer are impressive, such as palaces, city-walls, even office buildings! Visiting museums is also a nice way to discover Sumer’s rich history and to spend an afternoon in a cool place! Finally, there are many nice places to discover in the Sumerian countryside.
In the countryside
Being a tourist in a Sumerian city
AboutSumerian Temples!
Get the Essential Guide today!
Our picks!
Visiting a Sumerian Temple
Shopping
How to use the Guide to Ancient Sumer
The information provided in this guidebook is based upon authentic textual, archaeological or iconographical sources, and recent research.
Navigate in the book:
This is your trip! There is no order to read this book. Go for the topics that appeal to you, pick an information here and there while leaving behind other ones as you would do when you travel. Explore the pages for some hidden tips and information, click when a hand appears or the element moves. Always check if the characters have something to say!
Sensory archaeology also helped us a lot to reconstruct the atmosphere of Ancient Sumer. To give life to Sumer and the Sumerians or to feel in some gaps, the author also used their imagination.
In the main text, passages in brown are based on facts; passages in blue are rather based on sensory archaeology and / or imagination. All Sumerian words are in a different colour.
The Table of Contents, on a separate Pdf file, can help you see where you are in the book or find a more specific topic or information.
We use a few further codes to let the reader know which information is more credible and which is more fanciful.
Follow our tourists and their advice! They are the TiS (Travel in Sumer) team.
I always tell the truth!
Facts
Sensory archaeology and debates
Click on it!
"Journey tips" are essentially based on sensory archaeology. They also present some discussions and debates about Sumer and the Sumerians. There are still many disagreements amongst the specialists.
Sumerian desserts
Sugar mainly comes from dates, or from figs and grapes at higher prices. Those fruits are processed to produce syrup. The elite use the pricy honey to sweeten their delicacies and drinks. ‘Sweet breads’ or small cakes (gúg), usually made with butter or ghee (ì.nun), are delicacies for the feasts of the gods or the elite.
Nippur biscuits!
A famous sweet is níg.ì.dé.a: it is a kind of spread that is served on top of a small biscuit baked with barley or emmer flour. The spread is a mix of dates with sesame oil or butter. Sometimes Sumerians also add dried grapes or a soft cheese in this spread.
Meat or vegetables?
If you are vegetarian, you will have no problems finding food you like. But serving meat is a way of honouring guests, so Sumerians have difficulties understanding why foreigners would only want vegetables. You will get faces in most taverns and restaurants if you order only a vegetable dish! Also a stay at a DDSak house always includes at least one dinner with the family. If you are a true vegetarian, let the family know on your arrival, or when you book.
Dairy products
Dairies are common in Sumer: ewes, cows and goats are all milked. But fresh milk, cream and butter do not keep well, so that sour milk is more common. They churned sour milk into butter or buttermilk, but common people prefer longer-lasting ghee. All are used in stews, cakes or breads, but sesame oil remains the daily fat for ordinary people. They have different kinds of dried goat cheese, and they prepare soft cheese and labneh (a kind of yoghurt) with curd milk. If you mix it with date or fig syrup, you obtain a nice dessert.
Take a tour to a Sumerian dairy!
Cereals
Cereals are the base of the Sumerian diet: mostly barley for common people, sometimes emmer wheat on special occasions, such as public feasting. They have first- and second-quality flours (depending on the way barley is processed), and they bake a great variety of breads or prepare groats, porridge and soups.
At the bakery
Ninda!
Ninda!
There are dozens of bread varieties, depending on the flour or mix of flours, on the size, on the shapes. Most commonly breads are flat disc-shaped like pitta breads, but they also make big loaves. They also sometimes put spices in their breads, or cheese, or fruits.
The city of Lagaš still lies in the marshes
The information provided in those windows are based on facts, from both archaeological and textual sources. They are "almost" certain, in the sense that there are always different ways to interpret ancient sources and the interpretations change over time!
On a tablet, the scribe always quotes an authentic Sumerian text.
Created by Esagil® Games for the project:“Travel in Ancient Sumer, Urban Studies and Sensory Archaeology to recreate Ancient Sumer” (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge – 2021-2022). Funded by the Art and Humanities Impact Fund (University of Cambridge)
Text: ©Marie-F. Besnier Design: ©Marie-F. Besnier Illustrations: ©Federica Muià, ©Vicki Herring and ©Marie-F. Besnier
The whole product was created by real persons. Nothing is AI generated.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-7385718-0-2
The daily diet
What you eat in a restaurant or in a wealthy DDSak house is not what commoners eat daily. Their diet can be monotonous. It mainly consists of cereal (barley) based products, such as breads, porridges and groats. Dairy products, poultry (and their eggs) and fish depend on where people live and on their own possessions. In the same way, owning a garden-plot brings a greater diversity of fruits and vegetables to the table.
The tourists tell you about their experience in Ancient Sumer. Many information they give are based on common sense and the travel experiences of the author!
What they see is mostly based upon original sources, as in the rest of the book. You should not have too much difficulties to understand by yourself the information that are not based upon original sources.
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Marie Besnier
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Transcript
Table of Contents
The Essential Guide to Sumer contains 12 chapters!
What does it look like?
Travelling around
Who are the Sumerians?
What is on the menu?
Sumer nowadays
When to go and Get ready!
Where to stay?
Sightseeing and shopping
Travel safe! Health and cleanliness
Having fun!
Get the Essential Guide today!
Who are the Sumerians?
The Sumerians call themselves the “black-headed” people. When the gods look at them from the sky, they see their “black heads” or their black hair on top of their heads. This is how they explain it. The Sumerians have been living in the Land of Sumer for thousands of years. Originally, they were marsh-dwellers. When the marshes started to shrink, partly because of the gradual decrease of the sea level, some Sumerians became farmers and started to organise simple irrigation networks.
Do you speak Akkadian?!
Who else lives in Sumer?!
Of course, I am bilingual!
The Sumerians - city dwellers
Fashion
Chatting with Sumerians
Get the Essential Guide today!
On the Sumerian menu
Feasting is essential in the Sumerian culture, so they have good cooks, famous, sometimes surprising, dishes and nice restaurants for tourists. Sumerians have a large choice of ingredients, many vegetables and pulses, various meats, plenty of fish, and lots of spices to enhance their recipes.
At the fish stall
Yummy desserts!
Drinks
Dairy products
Sumerian specials
A vegetarian paradise!
Spices
At the bakery
Meat and poultry
From the garden: fruits and vegetables
The daily diet
Cereals
Travel Safe ! Health and Cleanliness
Sumer is a peaceful and safe country right now. There are not too many thieves in the cities or robbers on the road. Most cities are clean. Waste management is rather well-organised at the scale of the city; within districts, the inhabitants oversee themselves the cleaning of the streets and the disposal of the rubbish.
In case something happens to you, the health system is efficient and not too expensive. Gula temples are open to all for emergencies. The Sumerian practitioners (diviners and healers) are knowledgeable and trustworthy, in general.
Gula temples
Healer
Are the Sumerian cities safe?
How to stay clean?
Quick solutions for small injuries
Sumerian Practitioners
Sightseeing in Sumer
Temples and their ziqqurrat are the most attractive places in Sumer. Ziqqurrat are now famous outside Sumer, and you are surely looking forward to seeing one of them. But other monumental buildings in Sumer are impressive, such as palaces, city-walls, even office buildings! Visiting museums is also a nice way to discover Sumer’s rich history and to spend an afternoon in a cool place! Finally, there are many nice places to discover in the Sumerian countryside.
In the countryside
Being a tourist in a Sumerian city
AboutSumerian Temples!
Get the Essential Guide today!
Our picks!
Visiting a Sumerian Temple
Shopping
How to use the Guide to Ancient Sumer
The information provided in this guidebook is based upon authentic textual, archaeological or iconographical sources, and recent research.
Navigate in the book:
This is your trip! There is no order to read this book. Go for the topics that appeal to you, pick an information here and there while leaving behind other ones as you would do when you travel. Explore the pages for some hidden tips and information, click when a hand appears or the element moves. Always check if the characters have something to say!
Sensory archaeology also helped us a lot to reconstruct the atmosphere of Ancient Sumer. To give life to Sumer and the Sumerians or to feel in some gaps, the author also used their imagination.
In the main text, passages in brown are based on facts; passages in blue are rather based on sensory archaeology and / or imagination. All Sumerian words are in a different colour.
The Table of Contents, on a separate Pdf file, can help you see where you are in the book or find a more specific topic or information.
We use a few further codes to let the reader know which information is more credible and which is more fanciful.
Follow our tourists and their advice! They are the TiS (Travel in Sumer) team.
I always tell the truth!
Facts
Sensory archaeology and debates
Click on it!
"Journey tips" are essentially based on sensory archaeology. They also present some discussions and debates about Sumer and the Sumerians. There are still many disagreements amongst the specialists.
Sumerian desserts
Sugar mainly comes from dates, or from figs and grapes at higher prices. Those fruits are processed to produce syrup. The elite use the pricy honey to sweeten their delicacies and drinks. ‘Sweet breads’ or small cakes (gúg), usually made with butter or ghee (ì.nun), are delicacies for the feasts of the gods or the elite.
Nippur biscuits!
A famous sweet is níg.ì.dé.a: it is a kind of spread that is served on top of a small biscuit baked with barley or emmer flour. The spread is a mix of dates with sesame oil or butter. Sometimes Sumerians also add dried grapes or a soft cheese in this spread.
Meat or vegetables?
If you are vegetarian, you will have no problems finding food you like. But serving meat is a way of honouring guests, so Sumerians have difficulties understanding why foreigners would only want vegetables. You will get faces in most taverns and restaurants if you order only a vegetable dish! Also a stay at a DDSak house always includes at least one dinner with the family. If you are a true vegetarian, let the family know on your arrival, or when you book.
Dairy products
Dairies are common in Sumer: ewes, cows and goats are all milked. But fresh milk, cream and butter do not keep well, so that sour milk is more common. They churned sour milk into butter or buttermilk, but common people prefer longer-lasting ghee. All are used in stews, cakes or breads, but sesame oil remains the daily fat for ordinary people. They have different kinds of dried goat cheese, and they prepare soft cheese and labneh (a kind of yoghurt) with curd milk. If you mix it with date or fig syrup, you obtain a nice dessert.
Take a tour to a Sumerian dairy!
Cereals
Cereals are the base of the Sumerian diet: mostly barley for common people, sometimes emmer wheat on special occasions, such as public feasting. They have first- and second-quality flours (depending on the way barley is processed), and they bake a great variety of breads or prepare groats, porridge and soups.
At the bakery
Ninda!
Ninda!
There are dozens of bread varieties, depending on the flour or mix of flours, on the size, on the shapes. Most commonly breads are flat disc-shaped like pitta breads, but they also make big loaves. They also sometimes put spices in their breads, or cheese, or fruits.
The city of Lagaš still lies in the marshes
The information provided in those windows are based on facts, from both archaeological and textual sources. They are "almost" certain, in the sense that there are always different ways to interpret ancient sources and the interpretations change over time!
On a tablet, the scribe always quotes an authentic Sumerian text.
Created by Esagil® Games for the project:“Travel in Ancient Sumer, Urban Studies and Sensory Archaeology to recreate Ancient Sumer” (Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge – 2021-2022). Funded by the Art and Humanities Impact Fund (University of Cambridge)
Text: ©Marie-F. Besnier Design: ©Marie-F. Besnier Illustrations: ©Federica Muià, ©Vicki Herring and ©Marie-F. Besnier
The whole product was created by real persons. Nothing is AI generated.
All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-7385718-0-2
The daily diet
What you eat in a restaurant or in a wealthy DDSak house is not what commoners eat daily. Their diet can be monotonous. It mainly consists of cereal (barley) based products, such as breads, porridges and groats. Dairy products, poultry (and their eggs) and fish depend on where people live and on their own possessions. In the same way, owning a garden-plot brings a greater diversity of fruits and vegetables to the table.
The tourists tell you about their experience in Ancient Sumer. Many information they give are based on common sense and the travel experiences of the author!
What they see is mostly based upon original sources, as in the rest of the book. You should not have too much difficulties to understand by yourself the information that are not based upon original sources.