The World's First Recorded War Started Over a Ditch

The world's first recorded war wasn't fought over gold or glory. It started over a ditch, a boundary stone and a strip of farmland in ancient Sumer around 2450 BCE. Step into Mesopotamia and discover how the rival city-states of Lagash and Umma fought over land and water, why a king carved his victory into the Stele of the Vultures, and what this ancient border dispute reveals about why wars begin. In this video: • The oldest evidence of violence, from Jebel Sahaba to Hamoukar • How Sumerian cities depended on canals and irrigation • The Lagash–Umma border conflict and the Gu'edena • Eannatum, the Stele of the Vultures and the oath sworn to the gods • Why the war kept restarting for generations • The ordinary people history forgot Note: Almost everything we know about this conflict comes from Lagash's own inscriptions, so historians debate how much is fact and how much is royal propaganda. We cover both sides of that debate in the video. Sources: Stele of the Vultures (Louvre), Cone of Entemena, Jerrold Cooper's studies of the Lagash–Umma conflict, Marc Van De Mieroop's A History of the Ancient Near East. If you enjoy immersive stories from the ancient world, subscribe for more. #AncientHistory #Sumer #Mesopotamia #HistoryDocumentary #AncientCivilizations