3. little rain, but soil enriched by layers of silt
deposited by the overflowing of the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers
flooding , due to spring run-off, was
unpredictable, and sometimes caused
damaging floods
people learned how to control the flooding
(irrigation and drainage ditches) made it
possible to grow an abundance food
promoted agriculture and supported cities,
where trade and industry could thrive
4. first Sumerian city with population of 50,000
people by 2700 B.C.
walled city with defensive towers and
dwellings made of mud bricks
dwellings of different sizes, indicating a social
structure consisting of peasants and of people
with higher status (city officials, priests &
priestesses)
5. most prominent building in a Sumerian city
was the temple dedicated to the chief god or
goddess of the city, often built atop a ziggurat
priest or priestess who supervised this temple
had great power (surplus food and crafts
stored here)
Sumerians believed that gods ruled their cities
even when ruled by a king, it was believed that
these rulers derived their power from the gods
(divine authority)
6. farming
trade (bartered with civilizations in Eastern
Mediterranean and India wool, barley, dried
fish, wheat and metal goods for imported
copper, tin and timber)
industry (tools and jewelry made of bronze)
7. nobles (royalty and priests & their families)
commoners (servants, farmers, merchants,
fishers, and artisans)
slaves (used for building projects, weaving,
grinding grain, as workers for rich landowners)
8. achievement effect on our lives today
cuneiform (Sumerian form of writing) basis for modern forms of
communication
the wheel cars, trucks, etc. still use wheels
9. potters wheel
sundial
first to use bronze
devised a number system based on 60
used geometry to measure fields & erect
buildings
charted the heavenly constellations
10. If anyone commits a robbery and is caught,
then he shall be put to death.
If a man wishes to separate from a woman who
has borne him children, or from his wife who
has borne him children, then he shall give that
wife her dowry, and a part of the usufruct (right
of use) of field , garden, and property, so that
she can rear her children.
If a man put out the eye of another man, his
eye shall be put out.
11. severe penalties for criminal offenses
officials held strictly accountable for enforcing
laws
regulated marriage
patriarchal society
women had rights (although not as many as
men)
12. characteristic evidence in Mesopotamia? time (approximate)
cities? Eridu, Ur, Uuk 3500-500 B.C.
government? kings, Code of Hammurabi
religion? priests & priestesses, ziggurat, 2100 B.C.
social structure? nobles, commoners, slaves 3500-500 B.C.
writing? cuneiform 3500 B.C.
art? Epic of Gilgamesh, Standard of Ur 2700 B.C.
14. depicting a a border skirmish (excavated in Ur in 1920 – now in British Museum
15. portrays a banquet scene – attendants parade animals, fish, and other goods
(possibly war booty) before seated figures, while a lyrist entertains the throng