First the Sumerians came from the North.

最早，苏美尔人从北部来到这里，

The cuneiform script is a great invention by the Sumerians.

楔形文字是苏美尔人的一大发明.

Sumerian religion was polytheistic, that is, the Sumerians believed in and worshipped many gods.

苏美尔人的宗教拾多神教, 也就是, 苏美尔人奉信和膜拜很多神灵.

In the fortieth century before our era, the Sumerians had entered Mesopotamia.

苏美尔人于公元前40世纪进入美索不达米亚，

The most important of these were the Sumerians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

最重要的部族是苏美尔人、巴比伦尼亚人和亚述人。

Yet now we know that, in some respects, the Sumerians were ahead of the Egyptians.

可是现在我们知道了苏美尔人在某些方面已超过埃及人。

We may have borrowed other ideas from the Sumerians but we do not know it.

我们可能还借用过苏美尔人的其它创意，只是不自知而已。

They were nearer the level of the ancient Sumerians or of the Maya civilization of America.

他们更接近古代苏美尔人的水平,或者是美洲玛雅文化的水平.

What the Sumerians had discovered was a precursor to the medicine known today as aspirin.

苏美尔人在那时发现的药物，就是当今广为人知的阿司匹林的前身。

The Sumerians were entirely absorbed by those races that entered the fertile valley at a later date.

后来。苏美尔人被占领两河流域的其他种族同化，再也找不到踪迹，