Ancient Sumer's History

c. 5000-3500 BC: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia. This is the achievement of the Sumerian people. c. 3500: Writing begins to be developed. At first this is based on pictograms, and takes about a thousand years to evolve into a full cuneiform script.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

About 3500 B.C., the first cities were built in Mesopotamia. The first system of writing was invented about 3300 B.C. Sumerian is credited with these accomplishments.

The society of Sumer, as said in a document “ was home to a privileged class of elites who headed households by nearby irrigated land”. Sumer was a growing civilization with a written language, education, government, religion, economy, and family hierarchy. “Sumer was a particular civilization that developed in the region of Mesopotamia.” Due to Mesopotamia being so plentiful, this let Sumer bloom into a great civilization. A written language in Sumer was in the form of cuneiform, characters formed by the arrangement of small wedge-shaped elements.

Sumerian kings where military leaders. They would have to protect their people yet control the military. The kings would set up the military as well as making sure the military was strong enough in battle. ancient Mesopotamians believed that taking over other lands was a mission and it wasn’t easy or granted to them. The kings where to have made sure each warrior had their own set of armor and weapons when a battle would happen. Winning a war in the Sumerian society looked very good on the king because they would get more land.

The Sumerians created a civilization located in the Fertile Crescent, or Mesopotamia, which is located in the Middle East. The legendary ruler of the Sumerians, Hammurabi, was famous for his set

The city of Uruk played a major role in the process of early urbanization and was a leader in civilized accomplishments such as advanced government and architecture. Uruk was located on the Euphrates river which played a major role in Uruk developing into the largest city in the world at this time. The Sumerians relied heavily on the Euphrates to irrigate crops and as a water supply. They also depended on the river for transportation and trade. The river helped Uruk to grow to a city with around 50,000 citizens making it the largest city at the time. Uruk was so technologically advanced that the walls surrounding the city were described as “like a strand of wool, view its parapet that no one could copy” which shows how advanced they were compared to other cities. Humanity is an

The two rivers had a delta which was called the Fertile Crescent. This was because of its crescent-like shape and because of how fertile it was due to the two rivers depositing rich silk into it, giving it the ability to support agriculture. The two rivers were incredibly important to the ancient Sumerians because it supplied them with water for their irrigation systems. They were able to also dump their sewage as well. The water gave them mud to use as clay for building. The river led them to the concept of regional government, which was used to manage their irrigation systems, consequently resulting in them creating a city-state. Unlike the Chinese and Harappan people, the Sumerians left behind records that we today are able to decipher. Their writing system was called ‘cuneiform’, which they wrote on clay tablets. This tell us that the Sumerians were civilized and organized. Unlike the Chinese, they utilized their time to learn how to read and write instead of fighting

This “land between two rivers” held a crucial fragment of countless civilizations that came to fruit after its downfall equivalent to Egypt, Greece and the empire of all empires, Rome. Prominent from 3,500 BCE and 2,300 BCE Sumerian culture flourished in endeavors. According to historical text, this civilization of Mesopotamia became the first to institute and organized religion with temples, priests, and creation stories of “the great flood.” Along with religion, a system of government became instituted to hold each city-state or region under a form of law. The government in these times consisted of a kingship of sorts, where a supreme ruler took control of law creation, enforcement, and punishment—which is similar to the monarch system in modern society. In addition to religion and government, inventions of mathematics, education tactics, and trade networks also came to fruit in Ancient Sumerian society (Cole 7-10).

Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a

One piece of evidence to support this reads, “The Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia built city walls and temples and dug canals that were the world's first

One of the major roles of the Sumerian kings was to be a shepherd and protector to their people. “Yet the king should be a shepherd to his people” (1).Rulers were especially responsible for the well-being of their kingdoms. Moreover, the Sumerian rulers were expected to be soft at heart and respectful. “His lust leaves no virgin to her lover,

A video on YouTube called “Mesopotamia” by Pirieenzo and narrated by Simon Chilvens tells the story of the Sumerians, the oldest known civilization. It is said that for nearly five thousand years, in the Iraqi desert, the Sumerians invented writing and the wheel. They divided time into minutes and seconds and built gigantic cities. The Sumerians loved culture and the arts. It is stated that their caravans crossed the desert opening up the first trade groups. The Sumerians’ stories inspired our founding myths and their memories lives on the Old Testament writing the history of the mankind. However, this brilliant civilization died leaving its very existence as a mystery.

Generally within textbooks on Western civilization it tells us about how the Sumerians began organized agriculture, domesticated wheat and such animals as the horse and donkey, initiated urban living by building cities, and invented writing and the wheel. The Sumerians, apparently, initiated human civilization 6000 years ago. Nevertheless, European (white) written textbooks do not recognize them like they

Describe the layout and function of the various kinds of dwellings used by the Ancient Romans in the cities and countryside.