Transcript Chapter 5: Is Ancient Sumer a Civilization?

Chapter 5: Is Ancient Sumer
a Civilization?
7 Characteristics of a Civilization
1)
Stable Food Supply
2)
Social Structure
3)
System of Government
4)
Religious System
5)
Highly Developed Culture
6)
Advances in Technology
7)
Highly Developed Written Language
Stable Food Supply
People can only survive if they have enough
food to survive
 One item created was an irrigation system which
included canals, dams, and reservoirs which
brought water to the land when it was needed
 2nd item was a wooden plow which would turn
the soil to make sure it was ready for planting
 Pushed across ground themselves or used oxen
to pull it

Social Structure

Social structure included different jobs and social levels to which people
belonged to

People at higher levels had a higher status or importance than those below

Upper level: priests, government officials, and land owners which had the large
and luxurious houses in the center of the city

Middle class: common class which included merchants and craftspeople such
as metalworkers


They made swords and arrowheads for army, plows and hoes for farmers, and luxury
items such as mirrors and jewelry for the upper class

Common class also included farmers and fishermen who lived in small, mud brick
houses at the edge of the city and worked to build and fix irrigation systems and
served in army if need be
Bottom class: slaves who lived in owners’ houses and owned no property of their
own
System of Government

Sumerian city states were ruled by a king who was chosen by the
gods to rule and were very powerful because people believed they
should obey the gods

Kings enforced laws and collected taxes as well as building temples
and ensure irrigation systems were cleaned and useful

Leading army was one of most important jobs of king because
fighting over water and land borders happened often

Army consisted of professional soldiers and temporary citizen soldiers
with some traveling on foot and others driving chariots pulled by
horses

Under the kings were governors who ruled the towns and scribes
who wrote laws
Religious System

A religious system includes set of beliefs in a god or gods with forms of
worship

Religion was very important part of Sumerian daily life including growing
crops and settling disputes (Sumerians were Polytheistic or believed in
many gods)

Sumerians built temples and religious towers called ziggurats which the
king maintained and were made of mud bricks located near temples

Believed Gods lived in ziggurats and added long staircase so gods
could climb down

Statues also used to express beliefs and were detailed and lifelike
including those praying to the gods

Many ceremonies for religion occurred with music and human sacrifice,
or killing of a person as an offering to gods
Highly Developed Culture

Culture included arts such as painting,
architecture, and music

Made practical objects or items with uses and
decorative items including designing temples
and ziggurats

Music was believed to bring joy to gods and
people played instruments and sang including
love songs

Instruments included drums, pipes, and the lyres
which was a small harp
Advances in Technology

Most important invention was the wheel dating back to 3500
BCE

Used by pottery makers to make clay into pots as well as for
farmers on carts and chariots for army

People used to carry their goods on flat bottom carts called
sledges which used to get caught in mud before the creation
of wheels

Oxen could now carry 3 times the weight on carts with wheels

Another advance was the arch built above doorways and
added strength and beauty to Sumerian buildings
Highly Developed Written
Language

Created written language known as Cuneiform which used a
sharp pointed tool called a stylus to write into clay tablets

Believed to be created around 2400 BCE and was used in
earliest forms to record information about trades Sumerians
made

Started out at about 2,000 symbols to stand for ideas and
sounds but then limited to about 700

Based on the idea of pictographs which are symbols that
stand for real objects

When drawing the symbols and the clay dried, it became a
permanent record
7 Characteristics of a Civilization
1)
Stable Food Supply
2)
Social Structure
3)
System of Government
4)
Religious System
5)
Highly Developed Culture
6)
Advances in Technology
7)
Highly Developed Written Language
Question
Was Ancient Sumer a
civilization? You will decide in
a 3-paragraph constructed
response.