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Civilization/Nation/Group: Sumerians____________________________
Time Period: _3500-2000 BC__________________________________
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In southern Mesopotamian, Sumerians supplanted the people who previously resided there,
the Ubaidians and Semites. They population grew after the development better canals to
irrigate crops and to transport crops by boat to village centers. Also after the improvement of
their roads.
Sumer consisted of 12 city-states
Sumerians develop extensive commerce by both land and sea. They imported items made of
wood, stone, tin, and copper from afar.
Edublalmah and Egipar were places where the king and high priests lived.
The commoners were buried in pits. The royal were buried in tombs surrounded by
spectacular items made gold and precious stones.
Sumerians used slaves. Women slaves would weave, press, mill, and port.
Sumerians living in city-states, were led by a king. Citizens were prevalently separated from
the ruling party.
Each Sumerian city-state was ruled by a king. His authority dictated the maintenance of
irrigation systems, temple and building construction, deliberation of justice, and the
formation and amendment of trade and defense policies.
Towards the end of the third millennium BCE, Sumerian city-states became controlled the
ruler of Ur, Ur-Nammu.
Among the Sumerian city-states there were numerous conflicts over such rights as water and
land. It was common for one city-state to make attempts to completely gain control over a
neighboring city-state.
Kind Sargon of Akkad conquered this region after the its internal disagreements
Around 2000 BC, became controlled by Babylonians after they invaded the area.
The Sumerians made the temples of the gods enormous and decorated them. Sumerians also
created high temple with platform since they wanted the homes of the gods to be higher than
their own homes.
A king would usually leave his name carved on objects to be buried in the foundations or
stamped on the bricks. In hopes that the gods would bless him and his kingdom.
Made with mud bricks, ziggurats were built by Ur-nammu. Ziggurats
were huge platform resembling pyramids to make temples higher.
In the Sumerian cities, Uruk, Eridu and Nipper, there were ziggurats dedicated to a god or
goddess in these cities.
Sumerians developed many different ways to understand time and created accurate calendars
vital to planning agriculture.
It was actually developed by the Babylonian ruler, Hammurabi but the Sumerians followed
it. (They developed the oldest known law system called Hammurabi’s code.)
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Sumerians were the first to use alloy bronze to development better instruments than before.
This discovery soon spread to the rest of the Middle East.
Sumerians created pottery, craved in stones and shells, and creating statues around 3000
BCE.
They developed the first pictographic writing system, now called cuneiform.
They also developed pseudo-science within the context of religion like astrology.
Sumerians developed the potter’s wheel, the sailboat, and the seed plow.
Main Idea: Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations. It leads to many modern day advances.,
developing early forms of law Hammurabi’s code.
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