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The Sumerian Empires

It is believed that the Sumerians may have been one of the first to develop real cities. They are believed to have been of Iberian or Dravidian origin. Located along the Tigris and Euphrates valley, the Sumerian hegemony had its initial beginnings under the leadership of a conqueror by the name of Lugal-anne-mundu sometime around 2900 BCE. During his time the power of Sumer extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean. He seems to have lacked heirs for the empire collapsed upon his death. It wasn't until the high priests of Lagash set themselves up as kings that the Sumerian Empire was re-established on a more long-lasting basis.

In 2334 BCE, the Lagash dynasty gave way to Sargon of Akkadia, who took over and started his own dynasty that lasted until about 2193 or thereabouts. It's not entirely clear what happened except that the Sargonian dynasty appears to have suffered decay from within. Suffice to say, it was unable to adequately respond to the Gutian Barbarians, and like Rome over a thousand years later, it was overrun and collapsed. Notwithstanding the resulting chaos, Sumer was not done with being an empire.

Circa 2112 BCE, it is recorded that King Utukhegal of Ur finally got rid of the Gutians and effectively establish what would be the third dynasty of Ur. This lasted until about 2002 BCE when the Elamites finally put an end to Sumerian influence once and for all.

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