excess of food. They were getting more than what was needed. There had fields filled with barley and groves. This allowed for the development of other occupations and job opportunities. By 3000 BC their community slowly but surely progressed into twelve self-governing “city-states,” each being made up of of a city and its neighboring rural area (1.3). Through the increase of food for city residents, who engaged in “non-agricultural” occupation, this allowed for them to be in another work area other than farming. So, for the first time in history, people were allowed to have other professions. These professions include crafters, religious leaders, traders, and officeholders. The Sumerian people also established schools that educated the superior
They didn’t have the proper farmland and the same animals. Furthermore, this digressed the way their civilization spread and grew. Diamond researched and established that certain lands were blessed only due to their geographical location. The earliest civilization began in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. This land had rich soil and a variety of animals, which made the land promised and geographically lucky. As time passed people living in the area learned new ways to keep their civilization alive. The Fertile Crescent became known as the “Promised Land” and a way of survival was introduced as farming and the domestication of
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
4. Agriculture was also a big part of this, business and cities grow in largey such in a small amount of time, during this time period. By having their lands being expanded. Since many people were able to stay in this land, they were able to make prohibit through this.
People went from foraging and hunting while living in villages, to agriculture which lead to the surplus of grain which lead to beer. Having the surplus of grain allowed for some people to specialize in other professions because not everyone was needed to produce food. Having multiple professions contributes to the development of cities. One of the developed professions was priest who collected goods in the form of taxation. Cities began to grow as priest accumulated power. Priest used taxed as a tool to expand villages into towns which got expanded into cities.
“In addition to demonstrating that people could transport and store food effectively, the presence of cities also indicates that people were producing enough surplus food to allow for a specialization of labor” (Wheeler 1). So in short, we could say that if everyone was a farmer with this new access to water and new technology, then no one would be building the city or preparing for the future. There would be no storage bins for grains, no roads and no one to govern the city and create written laws or policies for their growth. Supplying the city with water wasn’t just a technical issue, but it also affected the economical, legal and political development of any ancient
Slowly, permanent villages rose up all over the world and it became possible for families to bear more children making population surged. Within these new villages it became doable for the civilians to specialize in the sort of work they could do best. In permanent settlements economies based on trade were cultivated, languages were formed, and so did cultures. (Document #8)
Did you know that the sumerians made several advancements that impacted their society such as writing.the wheel, and the plow. All of these things had different uses to the Sumerians.
Sumerians made life easier because they made several advancements. Some of them help them with writing, building, and planting. Writing would help them because it developed language. The wheel helped because they helped make carts and wagons. The plow helped because it broke through hard clay for soil planting.
Third of all, another advancement that the Sumerians achieved, was the plow, it helped with farming. The plow helped make farming more efficient that it was, it also helped control the weeds. This advancement also helped them with farming, by helping with many thing, so they didn’t have to farm by hand anymore. The plow was the turning point in agriculture, and is used to turn and to break up the soil. The plow, had also caused a major population growth due to the increase of food, because of this there were many people to grow crops so they have more to
Since food became more available and a surplus the population began to grow. They also had more free time. In their free time they were able to specialise in other pursuits that weren't farming and tool-making, such as milling, pottery, weaving, and carpentry. In order to control the villages and protect them from crimes and threats that happened inside and outside the villages they had to create some sort of government. There were people who "... were in a position to enforce laws, punish law-breakers, rule over internal disputes, fight wars, and commission public
Our ancestors may have endured painful lives before the proper art of medicine, but it was because of that agony which inspired many to pursue diverse ways of healing. Although we may never know the true identity of the first healer, we will always remember the framework they laid out for medical ideas we use today. From every medical practice back then, surgery was the first branch practiced successfully. The style they used to perform surgery in ancient times was extremely similar to the procedures we use today. Accordingly, these similarities include the patient being laid down, using an anesthetic to numb the patient, and the use of tools when performing on the area.
As a result, people stopped focusing solely on obtaining food and began filling other necessities of villages and cities. Occupations such as merchants, artisans, soldiers, and politicians emerged. Because these roles had never existed before, cities procured unique benefits from the appearance of such professions. First, new ideas spread as merchants moved from place to place exchanging goods and, more importantly, technology to other civilizations. Next, artisans began building more intricate architecture and tools, giving way to more complex buildings. Third, soldiers provided a key defense to large cities, offering far superior protection compared to simply walls. Finally, religion became an imperative component of society as it began attempting to explain the world’s mysteries, serving as a substitute for modern science. As societies became more complex, more occupations arose, and thus more needs were filled. The countless number of professions today can be credited to the simple jobs that emerged several thousands of years
Agriculture was the basis for wealth. Religion played a central role in government and daily life. Leaders strongly identified themselves with the gods. Many societies rose and fell during the period we designate as the Ancient Near East. Stability was fleeting and this most of the objects pertained to religion and rule. The earliest of these communities were the Sumerians. The Sumerians are credited with many firsts: the wheel, the plow, casting objects in copper and bronze and cuneiform
Mesopotamians developed specialized crafts and supported private entrepreneurship. They also were involved in foreign and domestic trade.
the irrigation system in Mesopotamia lead to the growth of large cities ,because it caused them to have a surplus of food so less people had to be farmers and do other jobs which created division of labor when more and more jobs were created more buildings and homes/people came into the village which became a town then a city.