Sumer
Brandon Mark, Chris Charran, Keara
Pagniello, Sarah Ahmed and Sybil Tong
The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the
ancient non-Semitic inhabitants of southern
Mesopotamia, Sumer, by the Semitic Akkadians.
The Sumerians referred to themselves as "the blackheaded people".
Religion
Keara Pagniello
There was no organized set of gods
Each city-state had its own patrons, temples and
priest-kings.
But since the Sumerians were the first ones to
write down their beliefs, it was the inspiration for
the much later Mesopotamian mythology, religion
and astrology.
Who did Sumerians worship?
Tell Asmar votive sculpture 2750-2600 BC
Anu;
as a full time god, equivalent to “heaven” –
indeed, the word “an” in Sumerian means
“Sky” and his consort Ki means “earth”
Ur III (Middle Bronze Age) form of the cuneiform character DINGIR (AN) (dingir), meaning "heavens" or "deity"
Enki;
in the south at the temple in
Eridu. Enki was the god on
beneficence, ruler of the
freshwater depths beneath the
earth, healer and friend to
humanity who in Sumerian
myth was thought to have
given humans the arts and
sciences, the industiries and
manners of civilization; The
first law book was considered
his creation
Enki
Enlil;
was the lord of ghost-land, in the
north at the temple of Nippur. His
gifts to mankind were said to be spells
and incantations that the spirits of
good or evil were compelled to obey,
Enlil with his wife, Ninlil
Inanna;
the deification of venus, the morning
(eastern) and evening (western) star at
the temple (shared with An) at Uruk.
One version of the star
symbol of Inanna/Ishtar
This is Inanna on the Ishtar Vase
in the French museum Louvre.
Utu;
was the sun god at Ur
Nanna;
was the moon god at Sipper
These deities were probably
the original matrix: there were
hundreds of minor deities.
The Sumerian gods related with different cities and
their religious importance often grew and advised with
those cities political power.
Sumerians believed that the universe consisted of a flat
disk enclosed by a tin dome. The Sumer afterlife
involved a descendant into a gloomy netherworld to
spend eternity in a worthless existence as a ghost.
Ziggurat
Sumerian temples had a central nave with aisles along either
side. Next to the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one
end there would be a podium and a mudbrick table for
sacrifices. Granaries and storehouses were located near the
temples. After a time the Sumerians began to build the temples
on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of
rising terraces.
Intellectual and Writing
Sarah Ahmed
Writing
Sumerians have the oldest known text to humans. This
form of writing is called cuneiform.
They Even Had Developed Their Own
Alphabet
There’s Nothing Like It!
The Sumerian language is
a language isolate in
linguistics. It belongs to
no known language
family!!!
They Even Developed Their Own Style
of Counting…
The Sumerian continued to be the language of
religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic
speakers had become the ruling race.
Spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th
millennium BC.
Replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language around
2000 BC, but continued to be used as a sacred,
ceremonial and scientific language in Mesopotamia
until about 1 AD.
That’s 4001 years of existence!
Architecture
The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are
the ziggurats, large layered platforms which supported temples.
Some scholars have theorized that these structures might have
been the basis of the Tower of Babel described in Genesis.
The Arch
The Sumerians also developed the arch, which enabled
them to develop a strong type of roof called a dome.
They built this by constructing several arches.
Science & Technology
Sybil Tong
Sumerian Inventions
The wheel (c. 3700 BC)
The potter’s wheel
Boats and ships (wood, reeds, skins, etc.)
Beer
Tools and Weapons (ex. saws, chisels, hammers, nails
etc.)
Bronze metal
Science and Math
Math system based on the numeral 60
Algebra and Geometry
System of weights and measures
Irrigation systems
Sewer system
Mapped constellations
Agriculture
Barter/trade system
Importance
Geographical conditions in Mesopotamia were poor
Without Sumerian technology, there would not have
been a successful civilization
Without Sumer, there would not have been any other
of the Mesopotamian city states
Government and Law
Chris Charran
The King
The king was responsible for constructing buildings
and temples, maintaining the city borders and
irrigation systems, and enforcing the laws. Even though
the king had power, he was not allowed to act as a
dictator.
King Followers/Enforcers
The king had people known as Scribes, which were like
the public secretaries. Their duty was to collect taxes
and keep records for the government.
The king also had Advisors who assisted him in
decisions; also helped him ruled and ensured that
people obeyed his laws.
Sumerian people also had to pay taxes (land, crops,
etc.) to the government.
King Hammurabi
The Akkadian Dynasty only lasted 200 years in
Mesopotamia, and a new king was crowned his name
was King Hammurabi.
King Hammurabi devised a plan to rule over such a
large area but with structure and justice.
The King Hammurabi created what is known as the
“Code of Hummaurabi”. The code was written by
Hammurabi himself. Its goal was to maintain a society
of strict and justice and that the strong may not opress
the weak
The Code
The Code was above everyone, even the king was not
exempted from the law. There were very severe
punishments for whoever broke the code; sometimes it
might even lead to death depending on what law was
broken.
The code was openly displayed to all of the citizens of
Sumerian, in doing so nobody could say they did not
know the law, and use that as an excuse.
The Code
The code was carved in stone, and as a result it was
binding and it could not change no matter who was
being punished by the code.
Hammurabi code provided a clear separation of
religious authority and non-religious authority.
Military
Brandon Mark
The Sumerian military were the first
to invent many weapons and
defenses making them far beyond
other nations or empires at the time.
Some of the inventions consisted of;
Helmets, Socket axes, Sickle swords,
chariots, and full plated body armor.
The first uses of helmets were extremely
important at this time for one reason; it
protected them from one of the deadliest
weapons at the time (the mace).
Socket axes were also crucial during this
time period because of their potential to
pierce armor and replacing the mace.
Sickle swords and chariots became some
of the most used tools later in history for
their military purposes. The fact that the
Sumerians invented the chariot suggests
that they also invented the wheel.
The first use of plated body armor was
also from the Sumerians along with their
fighting style called Phalanxes. Phalanxes
are organized six files deep, with an eightman front all bearing shields and spears.
The use of Phalanxes was extremely
difficult and suggested that the
Sumerians were the first civilization in
human history to have a standing
professional army.