The First Recorded War in Human History: Sumer vs. Elam (c. 2700 BCE)

Battles & Warfare Article#1

Unveiling the Forgotten Birth of Organized Conflict

Before the great empires, before Egypt's pyramids or Babylon’s walls, there was Sumer—and there was war.

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I. A War So Ancient, It Was Nearly Erased

The earliest war ever recorded in human history—not myth but historical fact—occurred around 2700 BCE, between the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer and the eastern region of Elam, in what is now southwestern Iran.

This wasn't a border skirmish or a village raid. It was a state-level military campaign launched by a king named Enmebaragesi of Kish, whose name and reign are both confirmed through archaeological discovery and inscribed historical records. According to the Sumerian King List, a royal chronicle written in cuneiform on clay tablets, Enmebaragesi:

“Made the land of Elam submit.”¹

This brief but powerful statement marks the first recorded victory in human history.

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II. Confirming the King: Was Enmebaragesi Real?

For decades, scholars debated whether Enmebaragesi was a mythological figure—until the discovery of alabaster votive vessels at the ancient city of Khafajah (Tutub) changed that. These vessels, dated to the Early Dynastic Period, were inscribed with his name, reading:

“For Enlil, Enmebaragesi, king of Kish.”²

These inscriptions provided the first archaeological confirmation of a named king from the King List. He was not a legend. He ruled, built temples, and fought wars that were remembered for generations.

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III. Why Did the War Happen?

While no tablet survives telling the exact cause of the war, historians have pieced together its likely motives. Sumer was agriculturally rich but lacked key resources like stone, timber, and metal. Elam, located in the Zagros highlands, had what Sumer needed—and controlled trade routes into Iran, Central Asia, and beyond.³

This suggests the war wasn’t arbitrary—it was a calculated campaign to gain control of strategic resources and economic power. Elam was both a geopolitical threat and a commercial rival. Enmebaragesi moved to neutralize it.

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