SUMERIAN TECHNOLOGY—BOBULA 639 
Ficure 4.—A masterpiece of early engraving represents Ninurta-Gilgamesh, the mighty 
hunter, on a jasper seal cylinder. 
Sumer because the corresponding artifacts such as the wheel, or 
constructions like the arch, occur first in the Sumerian sites. The 
only legitimate claims for contemporary achievement by another peo- 
ple may be those of the Egyptologists, but even these claims are often 
questionable. It is of course possible, though not probable, that an 
earlier wheel than the Sumerian may be discovered in India or Iran, 
as Gordon Childe (1951) emphasizes. But until this actually hap- 
pens, we have to accept the “claim of Sumer” on this “most decisive 
factor of the industrial revolution” and many other achievements. 
The nontechnical “firsts” of the Sumerians recently received some 
publicity. Dr. S. N. Kramer (1956) selected from the clay tablets 
of Sumer a number of “firsts”: the first law code, the first love 
song, and the first grumble against the tax collector known in human 
history. There are also the first proverb, the first city map, the 
first medical prescription, and the first account of a schoolboy’s day, 
all shedding light on the way of life of the Sumerians. Here and 
there allusions have also been made to the inventions of the Sumerians 
in the field of technology, although these were never listed in spite 
of the fact that the excavations of recent years have brought new 
proof of the amazing technological knowledge and skill of these 
Ficure 5.—From seal which belonged to Gudea, patesi of Lagash; the shaven priest-prince 
receives for his people the most precious gift from the Lord of the ‘‘Water of Life.” 
