Chapter 5: Is Ancient Sumer a Civilization?
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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.