Rezumat/Abstract. During the pre-historical period, The Sumerian civilization had developed between the Tigris and the Euphrates, now southern Iraq. The Sumerians were favoured by a natural environment conducive to living, good for agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. They managed to build cities both on land and in the wet ecosystem, set up an army, have fortified cities. More importantly, they invented writing among other things. Today the inhabitants of those marshes, who are locally called "maadan" (or swamp inhabitants), have kept the sustainable lifestyle inherited from the Sumerians. They build homes adaptable to the tradition of the environment using the art of weaving rushes and reeds living in groups of rural conglomerates or natural islands. Thousands of years later, the wetlands have decreased owing to a variety of reasons, among which could be the climatic changes in addition to the passive actions people did to the environment. This has led some inhabitants to migrate to the neighboring cities. In the present time, this area has received some international concern when, on July 17, 2016, the UNESCO declared it as a protected area recognized over the world.

Cuvinte cheie/Key words: Sumerians, human settlements, revitalization, ecosystem, ecology, habitat, biotic

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54508/rsdu.2021.06

Bibliografie/References

1. Al-Lami, A.A., Salim, M.A. (2014), The Ahwar of southern Iraq-Refuge of Biodiversity and the Relict Landscape of the Mesopotamia Cities, The Republic of Iraq.
2. Allawi, A. A. (2007), The occupation of Iraq: winning the war, losing the peace, Yale, (revăzut de M.M. Hafez, Political Science Quaterly 123.1, p. 158-159), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1538-165X.2008.tb01712.x.
3. Bertman, S. (2014), Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Oxford, https://mfv.ro/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Handbook_to_Life_in_Ancient_Mesopotamia.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOopyZIi0isS-TAcBvRyguWiMDW-cGPkL5h-ikty7IvixPWlzxNVN.
4. Burns, J. Q. and A. (2009), Ending the War in Iraq – NYTimes.com, https://archive.nytimes.com/atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/john-burns-q-and-a-ending-the-war-in-iraq/.
5. Crawford, H. E. W. (2004), Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge.
6. Goodnick Westenholz, J. (1996), Ur – Capital of Sumer, in J. Goodnick Westenholz (ed.), Royal Cities of the Biblical World, Ierusalim, https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/7513?language=en&srsltid=AfmBOopJkKIET8UQPFDfrT1g2zC_xj2lqeur8cDzodp6RvK9ko6ZSnjT.
7. Haigh, F. (1996), The Indian British Administration –Iraq-from Sumer to Saddam, 2nd ed., Geoff Simons-Maclmillan Press Ltd., https://books.google.com/books/about/Iraq.html?id=mdGD0AEACAAJ
8. Haseeb, K. (1998), Arab-Iranian relations, în Markaz Dirāsāt al-Wa􀀀dah al-Arabīyah published by Centre for Arab Unity Studies, Beirut, Lebanon.
9. Hodges, H. (1964), Artifacts: An Introduction to Primitive Technology. New York, https://books.google.com/books/about/Artifacts.html?id=9UHbAAAAMAAJ.
10. Kramer, S.N. (1963), The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character, Chicago, https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/sumerians.pdf.
11. Leick, G. (2001), Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City, Londra.
12. Matthews, R., Nashli, H. F. (eds.) (2013), The Neolithisation of Iran: the formation of new societies, Oxford: British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology and Oxbow Books, https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hossein-Davoudi/publication/322288489_Tepe_Khaleseh_A_Late_Neolithic_Site_in_Zanjan_Province/links/5a9187ae45851535bcd78b66/Tepe-Khaleseh-A-Late-Neolithic-Site-in-Zanjan-Province.pdf.
13. Nemet-Nejat, R.K. (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Greenwood, https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie0000neme.
14. Podany, A. H. (2013), The Ancient Near East, Oxford, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780195377996.001.0001.
15. Postgate, J. N. (1994), Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History, Londra, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003581500071341.
16. Saggs, H.W.F. (1984), The Might that was Assyria, Londra, https://archive.org/details/mightthatwasassy0000sagg.
17. Schwartzstein, P., (2015), Iraq’s Famed Marshes are Disappearing-Again, National Geogaphic, 9, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150709-iraq-marsh-arabs-middle-east-water-environment-world.
18. Simons, G. (1996), Iraq: From Sumer to Saddam, a 2-a ediţie, Londra, https://archive.org/details/iraqfromsumertos0002simo.
19. Stephens, K. (2013), Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses, Pennsilvania.
20. Ushakov, I. (2007), Histories of Scientific Insights, New York.
21. Vogelzang, M. E., Vanstiphout, H. L. J. (eds.), (1996) Mesopotamian Poetic Language: Sumerian and Akkadian, Leiden, https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/7501?language=en&srsltid=AfmBOooXQn4_QLc2mAr5sCLOH8puFoO9aDsy58cvzCNVKTadrls8aWJj.
22. Watson, J. (2020), Lo-TEK. Design by Radical Indigenism, Köln, Germania, https://www.lo-tek.com/book.

Text integral/Full text