Warfare in Sumer

Sumerian armies consisted of bronze-armoured soldiers armed with various weapons, including spears, swords and sickle-swords, engaging each other in phalanx-like formations.

The oldest known helmet ever, the Golden Wig, was made of beaten and engraved gold with a wadded linen liner.

[4] They were pulled by donkeys, mules, or crossbreeds; horses were not introduced before the 2nd millennium BCE and when present may have been too expensive outside of elite units.

For example, Umma and Lagash waged several wars against each other, while the cities of Ur, Uruk, and Kish all rivalled each other.

[citation needed] Wars were often started as one city-state tried to secure greater power — a legendary example is Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, declining to become a vassal of Kish.

[7] Modern historians know very little about the tactics of Sumerian armies because records glorify victories, but rarely talk about how the battle was fought.

[1] Although the walls of some ancient Sumerian cities may not have initially served as defensive fortifications, being originally designed to protect cities from wild animals and floods, and to demonstrate the power and wealth of a settlement, they eventually took on a defensive aspect; moats also become widely used in the 13th century B.C.

A large section of the population would often be captured and enslaved, while the victor would dedicate the spoils of war to the patron deity of their city.

Often, writers praised wars and battles, describing the conquests as glorious, or glorifying the wealth garnered from looting.

It reads: "Manishtushu, king of the world; when he conquered Anshan and Shirihum, had ships cross the Lower Sea.