The modern country called Iraq (which developed out of ancient Babylon) has been a cradle of civilization since 4,800 BC.
The first systems of writing and justice are believed to have originated from Sumeria and Babylon (now Iraq).
The Sumarians, an ancient people, are claimed by white scholars to be of unknown origin because they were Africans (especially in practice because they were deep rooted devoted pagans).
Who are The Ancient Sumerians?
Sumerians described themselves as black headed people.
Why?
It is known that the Persians and ancient Egyptians wore wigs but the Sumerians loved to shave their black hair and wore caps rather.
Their modern descendants are the Assyrians, Marsh Arabs, Mandaeans and some Iraqi Arabs so the ancient Sumerians would have resembled their descendants.
The name “Sumer” is derived from the later Babylonian name for southern Babylonia, (“mät umeri”), the land of Sumer.
Later the Greeks, called it Mesopotamia: (mesos “middle” and potamos “river”), so “land between the rivers”.
The Sumerians themselves, called their country, “The Civilized land”
Other people of the area were known as Akkadians, they inhabited the land just north of Sumer.
Assyrians, inhabited the land just north of the Akkadians.
Akkadians are known by that name because “Sargon the great” built a city called “Agade”.
Akkadians and Sumerians did not make a distinction between themselves.
The name Babylonia, is taken from the minor Amorite town of Babilla.
After the ascension of King Hammurabi, it become the major city of the region.
Therefore in historical writing, Mesopotamia and Babylonia, are commonly used to refer to the entire region.
The ancient country of Sumer was located in the southern part of the modern state of Iraq.
In early times, Sumerians like Egyptians, were fastidious about cleanliness, and like the Egyptians, they were for the most part “Head Shavers”.
However, unlike the Egyptians, they did not wear wigs to cover their shaved heads, they seem to have preferred wearing caps.
It is not known if they also practiced circumcision, as did the Egyptians.
The Sumerians reached the peak of their civilization around 3,100 BCE, and this lasted until 2,500 BCE, described as the Archaic Sumerian era.
During that era, African Kings controlled the Sumerians.
For example, African King Kudur Nakunta, conquered Chaldea and Babylon around 2,900 BCE and took back treasures, including the famous statue of the goddess of Nana to Susa, the capital of his empire.
The Sumerians cuneiform writing exclusively portrayed administrative and business activities.
Their ‘Old or Classical Sumerian period,’ followed between 2500 and 2300 BCE, during which their cuneiform characters and letters described African style depicting both private and official incantations and rulership.
Their ‘New Sumerian period,’ introduced the dynasty of Ur and ended in 2000 BCE. Semitic people from the desert destroyed the dynasty and established their Isni, Larsa, and Babylon dynasties.
The Semites of that time were, of course, of Canaanite (Egyptian) origins.
From then on, the Sumerians lost their political identity, and their language gradually disappeared.
Cuneiform Writing
The Post Sumerian Cuneiform writing period was influenced by the Hurrian of Northern Mesopotamia, around the stretches of the Euphrates.
They adopted Old Akkadian cuneiform writing with strong Semitic influence of around 2000 BCE, and passed this on to the Indo-European Hittites who invaded central Asia Minor around the time.
The writing described myths, epics, hymns, lamentation, rituals, incantations, proverbs and wisdom compositions, all emphasizing Chaldean traditional ethos.
Cuneiform writing was adapted as in the consonantal script of the Canaanite city of Ugarit on the Syrian Coast (c1400 BCE).
The Phoenician consonantal script provided the new typological pattern on which the Ugaritic and Old Persian systems were constructed, keeping only the outer likeness of the wedge form.
The entire cuneiform writing epoch was therefore totally African.
Cuneiform signs were put together and developed to represent sounds, so they could be used to record spoken language.
Once this was achieved, ideas and concepts could be expressed and communicated in writing.
Cuneiform is one of the oldest forms of writing known.
It means “wedge-shaped,” because people wrote it using a reed stylus cut to make a wedge-shaped mark on a clay tablet.
Letters enclosed in clay envelopes, as well as works of literature, such as the Epic of Gilgamesh have been found.
Historical accounts have also come to light, as have huge libraries such as that belonging to the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.
Cuneiform writing was used to record a variety of information such as temple activities, business, and trade.
It was also used to write stories, myths, and personal letters.
The latest known example of cuneiform is an astronomical text from 75 C.E.
During its 3,000-year history, cuneiform was used to write around 15 different languages including Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Elamite, Hittite, Urartian, and Old Persian.
The Greeks translated some Sumerian words found on cuneiform tablets into Greek letters later.
Who Are The Chaldeans?
The Biblical Abraham was a Chaldean.
Ancient Chaldeans were Black.
Relics of prehistoric Blacks were discovered in the region, whose earliest civilization were Sumerians, described in Babylonian inscriptions as Black-faced people.
The three largest ancestral groups of people born in ancient Iraq were the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Arabs.
Ur of the Chaldees
Ur of the Chaldees (or Chaldeans) was a place in Mesopotamia and is mentioned four times in the Old Testament:
Genesis 11:28 says that Haran (Abram’s brother and Lot’s father) died in Ur of the Chaldees, “the land of his birth.”
Genesis 11:31 says that Abram left Ur of the Chaldees and moved to Canaan.
Chapter 12 goes on to explain that this move was the result of God’s call to Abram to leave his home and move to a new land that God would one day give to his descendants.
In Genesis 15:7, God identifies Himself to Abram: “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”
In Nehemiah 9 the Israelites confess their sins and recount the history of Israel: “You are the LORD God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham” (verse 7).
Ur may have been a city, and there have been many sites suggested as the location of Ur, but no theory is definitive.
The site that is most commonly suggested is a city on the Euphrates River, about 150 miles northwest of the Persian Gulf.
The Septuagint (an Ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament) simply calls Ur of the Chaldees the “land of the Chaldees,” and in the New Testament Stephen, reviewing the history of Israel, says that Abraham came out of “land of the Chaldeans” (Acts 7:4).
Many scholars believe that Ur is not the name of a city but simply a word that means “land.”
If this is the case, then Ur of the Chaldees is simply the land of the Chaldees.
Chaldea was in the area known as the Fertile Crescent. Depending upon the time period, the territory of the Chaldeans varied, but it would have included the lower part of the Fertile Crescent, extending from the upper edge of the Persian Gulf northwest to the area of the city of Babylon.
The Chaldeans ruled Babylon for a while.
The exact boundaries of their territory are not clear.
The point of the story is that God called Abram out of an area of civilization and prosperity.
Ur of the Chaldees, the place where he lived, would have had ample water and land for pasturing and would have been active with commerce.
It was “the place” to be. God called him away from that to a place that was unknown to him.
Abram would probably have had a hard time imagining any place better than the place where he already was.
But Abram believed the promises of God, and God credited that faith to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3)
The mainland of the Chaldeans was in southern Mesopotamia and included the city of Babylon.
The Chaldeans were mortal enemies of the Assyrians, and participated in the wars that finally brought down the Assyrian Empire after the death of the Assyrian leader Ashurbanipal in 627 BCE.
Their empire did not last long, however.
A new power, the Persians, arose to the east of Mesopotamia and defeated the Chaldeans in 539 BCE.
The Persian victory was due to the talented leadership of their ruler, Cyrus the Great, and the weaker leadership of the Babylonian/Chaldean/Armanean ruler, Nabonidus, who had alienated many of his supporters.
At about 630 B.C, “Nabopolassar” became king of the Chaldeans, and in 626 B.C, he forced the Assyrians out of Uruk and crowned himself king of Babylonia.
He then began wars aimed at the destruction of Assyria.
By dynastic marriage, an alliance was made with Media, the two allies then attacked and destroyed the Assyrian Empire.
In 605 B.C, Nabopolassar died in Babylon.
His son Nebuchadrezzar II, then became king.
Nebuchadrezzar II’s interest however, was in conquest and booty.
He did particular damage in Canaan, where many Hebrews were forced into Babylonian exile.
Upon his death Awil-Marduk (called Evil-Merodach in the Old Testament) became king.
His policies, as well as those of the next king, his brother-in law, “Neriglissar” were the same as those of Nebuchadrezzar II, namely conquest and booty.
After the death of Neriglissar, the Aramaean from Harran named “Nabonidus” became king, the circumstances of his ascension are unknown.
He made a defense treaty with Median king Astyages, as a defense against the Persians, who were becoming a growing threat under their king Cyrus II.
He can also gave preference to the god Sin over the Babylonian god Marduk, thus creating powerful enemies in the Marduk priesthood.
He devoted himself to renovating old temples, taking a special interest in old inscriptions, perhaps in reverence for the ancient Amorite dynasty of Hammurabi.
These kings had black ancestry.
