5th+hour+2011-2012+Sumer

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**Ancient Sumer/Mesopotamia**

Intro: Ancient Sumer is the oldest known civilization in the middle east. Sumer existed in the fertile crescent, which was an area with rich soil and golden wheat fields. The fertile crescent attracted stone age farmers who came and established cities. (Ellis, 1997)





Government:

Sumer had many pendant cities. Rival cities often battled for food and water. Sumerians had war leaders, but over time, the war leaders evolved into heredity leaders over time. In every city state, the war leader was responsible to maintain the city walls and the irrigation systems. The leader enforced the laws and led their armies in war. The government got more complex, and

the leader employed scribes to do things such as collect taxes, and keep records. Sumerians worshiped gods, so the leader was also seen as the chief servant of the gods and led ceremonies to please them.

Public Work: The fertile land attracted many people, and buildings were formed. Sumerians had few natural resources, and made great buildings and cities out of clay bricks. Sumerian cities were often rectangular in shape, and surrounded by high walls. The largest buildings were ziggurats (pyramid temples), and each had a golden statue on top. Homes were quite small, and one family usually stayed in one small home together. Sargan built the first empire known to history, but it was invaded and crushed after his death.

Religion:

The Sumerian people worshiped many gods; these gods controlled every aspect of life. They believed that these gods ate, drank, married, and raised families. The Sumerians believed that in order to keep these gods happy and there cities safe they would bring offerings to places of worship. People celebrated many holiday’s which were about the gods, the most important holiday was the New Year when the king won Inanna (the life-giving goddess of love). The Sumerians believed in an afterlife much like the Egyptians, and believed that after you died you would be sent to the underworld where you would stay and not be released.

 Cities:

Sumer cities were usually rectangular in shape and were sourrounded by high walls. Most people lived in small houses that weep packed into a tangled system of narrow lanes and alleys. The rulers of the city lived in huge palaces that had giant courtyards. Cities were made out of earth and water. Erech and Ur were great cities that were built out of clay bricks. (Ellis, 1997)

Art/Architecture: Sumerian art was of marked excellence from very early times. A vase in alabaster from Erech shows ceremonial procession of men and animals to the goddess Inanna, carved in four bands on an elegant vase shape. A major artistic achievement is represented by a female head, called Lady of Warka. Their techniques including cuneform the first writings,which they invented before 3000 B.C. lacking the raw materials needed for art, the Sumerians traded crops from the fertile crescent (the most rich soil available) for the metal, stone, and wood that they needed for sculpture, pottery, jewlery, carvings, and metal tools and art. Clay was native and abundant in there area, and its qualities determined their style of building and the nature of their pottery.

= = Written Language:

Sumerians created the first form of writing, it is called Cuneiform. Cuneiform was developed from pictures that priests drew to record goods that were brought to temples to rehouses. Priests created new symbols to represent complicated thoughts. Cuneiform was used to record laws, treaties, and contracts.Scribes went to school for many years to learn how to write Cuneiform. The scribe school house was called an edubba, which means “tablet house”.If scribes were late or made a mistake in school they could be hit with a cane (caned). Scribes learned how to write by copying and reciting. Ellis, 1997 = =

= = Job Specialization: Sumerian jobs included the ruling family(family incharge at the time), priests, merchants, artisians, ,farmers, and slaves. most farmers were peasants and worked on the land belonging to the kings/temples, put some farmers were lucky to own there own land and there ownslaves, most priests worked in the temples, and the ruling family made the laws and watched over to keep there city working andowned most of the slaves and put them to work. these were all developed in the hierarchy(system of ranks). = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Social classes: Every Sumerian city had a distinct social hierarchy. The highest social class consisted of the ruling family, leading officials, and high priests. The middle class included merchants, artisans, and lesser priests. The majority of people were in the lowest class which consisted of peasant farmers. Some farmers had their own land but most worked on land belonging to the king or temples.Sumerians owned slaves. Most slaves were people who had been captured in war, but some people sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts. = = == = = = =

Conclusion: Ancient sumer made many important contributions to history that still affect us today. Sumerians created writing, invented the first wheeled velicle, discovered how to extract iron from ore, and created one of the first libraries. Ellis, 1997 = =

Works cited:

-http://www.strayreality.com/Lanis_Strayreality/sumerian_civilization.htm- -[]-[]-[]-[] -[] -Ellis, 1997 -[] -[]