This booklet helps students to learn about the Ancient Sumer which was the first civilization and also highlights the grade, environment, technology, science and mathematics, writing, society, culture, different aspects of living.
1. Ancient Sumer: The first Civilization c. 3500 – 2000 b.c.
2. The Cradle of Civilization • Sumerian civilization emerged c. 3500 B.C. in the southern region of Mesopotamia (“the land between two rivers”) • The Sumerians are credited with developing the first civilization in world history
3. An Environment Shaped by Rivers • The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers deposited thick silt each year, which allowed farmers to produce large The banks of the Tigris River crops of wheat and barley (above) • The land was (and is) flat and swampy – today’s “Marsh Arabs” still live in this region of present-day Iraq • Unpredictable flooding and Marsh Arab homes and droughts made life chaotic – boats sometimes there was too much water and sometimes too little
4. An Aerial View of Sumer Today Iranian Tigris Plateau River M Za ES gro O sM Euphrates PO oun TA tain River s M IA Sumer Arabian Desert Persian Gulf
5. Sumerian Technology • The Sumerians created irrigation systems to control flooding and maximize crop production • They built large structures from sun-dried bricks made of clay • They invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow, which improved trade and farming • They were the first people to forge bronze from copper and tin by around 3000 B.C.; this innovation allowed for stronger tools and weapons
6. Sumerian Writing & Mathematics • Sumerian cuneiform emerged as the first formal writing system; scribes used a stylus to make wedge- shaped marks in wet clay tablets • Record keeping was essential Sumerian cuneiform for documenting laws and tablet keeping track of commerce • It also enabled the creation of the first lunar calendar and the development of a number system based on 60 – used for measuring time and circles today (applied to geography) Early Sumerian calendar, c.
7. Small statue of Sumerian Society a scribe • Specialization of labor contributed or palace to the rise of a complex social official class system: of Ur Levels of Sumerian 1.Priests and kings made up the society represented on highest class, served by scribes an inlaid wooden box, c. 2600 B.C. 2.Merchants traded for the goods that could not be obtained in Sumer, such as stone, wood, and metals 3.Artisans and farmers made up the vast majority of people 4.Slaves were at the lowest level of society but could work their way to freedom
8. • Sumer developed as Sumerian independent city-states, including Ur, Uruk, Lagash, City-States Umma, Nippur, and Kish • Each city-state controlled its city and the surrounding farmland • Complex governments emerged that could plan irrigation systems, resolve property disputes, and defend against rival city- states • Priests ruled from ziggurats, which served as both temples and government centers
9. Sumerian Arts & Culture • Sumerian art works offered evidence of a wealthy society that valued religion, music, and natural beauty • Sumerian artisans produced many works of pottery, metal, and ornamentation
10. Sumerian Religion • Sumerians followed a polytheistic system of religious belief; they believed in many gods, each of whom controlled some aspect of nature • The gods behaved much like humans and Sumerians offered worship and sacrifices to them to avoid their wrath Above: • Sumerians believed the souls of the Images of Sumerian dead passed on to a gloomy afterlife gods • The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story Left: An of a mighty king who failed in his Assyrian quest to find immortality – it is the sculpture earliest known work of literature of Gilgamesh
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