In 1837 during one of the official visits of the English diplomat and linguist Henry Rawlinson saw on a steep rock Behistun that rises along the ancient road to Babylon, some strange terrain, surrounded cuneiform signs. Rawlinson copied and reliefs and inscriptions, and eight years later he published both, and his translation of the inscriptions. Its publication was a sensation.

In those same years, the French Explorer Botta opened near Khorsabad first Assyrian Palace. This finding is also literally stunned the scientific world. Crowds of people as a miracle was looking at the amazing monuments of art found in lifeless Sands, images of kings and warriors, of the gods and slaves, rushing at full speed bearded bowmen and lancers, giant statues strange creatures with the body of a bull, eagle's wings and a human head... So out of oblivion were mysterious and great civilization, so ancient that even Herodotus, the greatest historian of Ancient Greece, who lived in the IV century BC, as it is already knew nothing.

"You, who in the days to come will see this inscription, which I commanded to knock the rock, and these images of people, nothing destroy and don't touch..." - these were the first words read by Rawlinson, and a few years later cuneiform could read any orientalist. Opening followed one another, and finally archaeologists have found those who invented the cuneiform script is the technique of writing that has spread throughout Asia for centuries. They were the Sumerians, the people, in the end of IV Millennium BC settled in the fertile lands of Mesopotamia, in the lower reaches of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and created unprecedented for those times the state Schumer.

The Sumerians invented the world's first irrigation canals. They learned to drain the swamp and carry water to the fields for several centuries before the Egyptians. Either stone or wood in their country was not, and they did a stone for yourself - burnt clay bricks and building of their houses and temples. They built the city, the oldest in the world, and architectural and construction methods, developed their architects, entered the practice of Nations, which did not suspect about existence of their teachers.

The Governor of the Sumerian city of Lagash. XXI century BC

Today it is known that the first Sumerian city was established in the end of IV - beginning of III Millennium B.C. and foremost among them was Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Nippur, Lagash. In cities flourished trade, artisans produced magnificent ceramics and tools made of bronze. Each of the cities was an independent state, ruled by a king-ENSI. Cuneiform tablets talk about the wars that were fought for land, water, slaves. They painted their practices on the Royal lands and houses of citizens. The Sumerians were engaged in Boxing, wrestling and hunting, and also participated in the race to light two-wheeled carts pulled by donkeys. Their priests watched the sun and stars from the walls of the sacred towers. They calculated as a year of days, divided the year into twelve months, week for seven days, have determined that day twenty-four hours and one hour sixty minutes. In short, the more historians found the Sumerian texts, the more fascinated. It turns out that it was the Sumerians invented the bow, the plough and the wheel. They were the first to grow wheat, flax, peas and grapes. But what is interesting! Once these plates start talking about where and when did the Sumerians in the beautiful country Mesopotamia, dispassionate hand chronicler explodes unrestrained fantasy. This is the beginning of the riddles of the country Schumer. So, according to one history, the first 120 Sumerian rulers reigned... 241 200 years, according to another - 456 000! Moreover, in the Chronicles tells us that people still remembered the time when people did without a king, without a state", and of the lists of rulers is evident that the first tsars considered messengers of the gods. However, such myths about the origin of the Supreme power is characteristic of most ancient Nations, but the Sumerians there is one important difference - they are the tsarist government did not fall from heaven, and came out of the sea.

On the firm conviction of the Sumerians, all my knowledge they are required to God EA. He appeared out of the water in the image of chelovekom. The details of the myth quite interesting: "And behold from the Eritrean sea (Arabian Gulf), where it rises to Babylonia, appeared reasonable creature, named EA. The whole body of the beast that was a fish, just under the head of a fish he had another, a man; and his speech was also human. It is being used to conduct all day among the people, not taking no food.

It gave people the written language, science, art of all kinds, taught them to settle cities, to build cathedrals, to establish laws and measure the earth, taught them to plant and harvest a variety of fruits. And when the sun was setting, this amazing EA plunged again into the sea and spent the night in the sea, for there was his house".

Ancient texts, highlighting the supernatural origin of the EA, mention the lights, crowning the head of chelovekom.

In the magical texts priests Eridu, the ancient Sumerian city, were also mentioned as apkallu - people-fish guarding EA and appearing everywhere with him.

If you believe the myths of the ancient people, it should be considered to be the ancestral home of the Sumerians some fantastic country Dilmun that lay behind the seven seas. Himself EA, connoisseur of the sea", was the ruler. It seems no accident that the Sumerians were excellent sailors, who knew well the entire coast of the Persian Gulf. On one clay plate survived the image of the ancient world map, Dating back to 3200 BC, and confirming their vast geographical knowledge. Some more recent information has allowed to identify Dilmun with the island of Bahrain. Since the 50s, the island started archaeological excavations, and as a result have found various testimonies of human activities: disposal, pyramidal temples and the main thing - a variety of printing from clay and stone, which merchants marked their goods. They surprised the entire scientific world, because among them met as Sumerian and belonging to the ancient civilizations of the Indian subcontinent Mohenjo-Daro. In the last archaeologists have convinced engraved image on stamps, on the one hand - the exploits of Gilgamesh and Atani, on the other bulls zebu, sacred animals of the Indian subcontinent. Thus, it was established that the lively trade in copper, gold, ivory, lazuli and cornelian, established between two opposite shores of the Indian ocean five thousand years ago!

But the greatest sensation was caused by the discovery of several more stamps with images on them ptitsechelovekov. The fact that such a characteristic drawings found in only one place on earth - on Easter island, which once prospered cult of it...