LESSON 2 - The Sumerians
The Big Idea
The Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia.
Main Ideas
- The Sumerians created the world’s first advanced society.
- Religion played a major role in Sumerian society.
- The Sumerians invented the world’s first writing system.
- Technical advances and inventions changed Sumerian lives.
- Many types of art developed in Sumer.
Main Idea 1
An Advanced Society
The Sumerians created the world’s first advanced society.
The City-States of Sumer
- Most people lived in the rural areas and were farmers.
- Cities were the urban centers of Sumerian society.
- A city-state consisted of a city and all of the surrounding countryside.
- The amount of countryside in each city-state depended on its military strength.
- City-states fought each other to gain more farmland.
- City-states, like Ur and Uruk, gained and lost power over time.
- A king of Uruk named Gilgamesh became a legendary figure.
Rise of the Akkadian Empire
- Akkadians built a society north of Sumer.
- The Akkadian ruler Sargon had the first permanent army.
- He defeated ll of the city-states of Sumer.
- When his army conquered northern Mesopotamia, he established the world’s first
Empire.
- Sargon ruled for 50 years. After his death, his empire only lasted a century
longer.
- Sumerians conquered the area once again.
Main Idea 2
Religion played a major role in Sumerian society.
- Sumerian polytheism was the basis for all Sumerian society.
- Polytheism was the worship of many gods.
- Gods had enormous powers.
- In Sumer, priests had great statues built.
- Priests were people who performed religious ceremonies.
Main Idea 2 (cont.)
- The division of society by rank or class is the social hierarchy.
- Kings were at the top of the order because they claimed to be chosen to rule by the
gods.
- Social order:
- Kings
- Priests
- Skilled craftspeople, merchants, and traders
- Large working class of farmers and laborers
- Slaves
Main Idea 2 (cont.)
Men and Women in Sumer
- Men generally held the political power and made laws.
- Women generally took care of the home and children.
- Education was generally reserved for men, but some upper class women were
educated.
- Some women were priestesses in Sumerian temples.
- Enheduanna, a priestess who wrote hymns, is the first known female writer in history.
Main Idea 3
The Invention of Writing
- The cuneiform system involved the use of sharp tools called styluses.
- The Sumerians first used cuneiform to keep business records.
- The Sumerians also used their writing skills to write books about history, poems, and
math.
Main Idea 3 (cont.)
Cuneiform
- World’s first system of writing
- Cuneiform Symbols could represent syllables. Earlier pictographs had represented only
objects.
- The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets with a stylus.
Scribes
- Writers
- Kept track of items people traded and wrote down government records
- Becoming a scribe was a way to move up in social class.
Other Uses
- Wrote works of literature, stories, proverbs, and songs.
- Wrote poems about the gods and military victories.
- Created epics, long poems that tell the stories of heroes.
Main Idea 4
Advances and Inventions
Technical advances and inventions changed Sumerian lives.
Technical Advances
- Development of the wheel which were used for carts and wagons, (potter’s wheel)
- The plow increased farm production.
- Sewers under city streets
- Created tools out of bronze
Math and Sciences
- Number system based on 60
- Calculated areas of rectangles and triangles
- Listed names of animals, plants, and minerals
- Used medicines for healing and cataloged medical knowledge
Main Idea 5
The Arts of Sumer
Many types of art developed in Sumer.
Architecture
- Sumerians were skilled in architecture.
- Rulers lived in large palaces.
- Most Sumerians lived in houses with many rooms around a small courtyard.
- A ziggurat, or pyramid-shaped temple tower, rose above each city.
The Arts
- Sculptors produced many statues of the gods for their temples.
- Jewelry was a popular item made from imported gold, silver, and gems.
- Engraved cylinder seals are one of Sumer’s most famous types of art.
- Music was played for entertainment and worship.
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LESSON 3 - Military Empires
The Big Idea
After the Sumerians, many cultures ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent.
Main Ideas
- The Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia and created a code of law.
- Invasions of Mesopotamia changed the region’s culture.
Main Idea 1
The Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia and created a code of law.
The Rise of Babylon
- After Ur lost power, other groups fought to control the region.
- Babylon was home to a powerful government
- A man named Hammurabi became Babylon’s king and the city’s greatest monarch
(ruler of a kingdom or empire)
Hammurabi’s Code
- Hammurabi was a brilliant wa leader who brought all of Mesopotamia into his Babylonian
Empire
- Oversaw building and irrigation projects and improved the tax system
- Developed a set of 282 laws that was written down for all to see
- The set of laws, Hammurabi’s Code, contained some ideas still found in laws today.
- Specific crimes brought specific penalties.
- Social class was taken into account. It was a greater crime to injure a rich man than a
poor one.
- It was unique not only because of how thorough it was, but also because he wrote it
down for all to see.
Invasions of Mesopotamia
Main Idea 2
Invasions of Mesopotamia changed the region’s culture.
The Hittites and Kassites
- The Hittites were the first to master ironworking, so they made the strongest weapons of
the time.
- The used the chariot, a wheeled, horse-drawn cart, which allowed them to move quickly
around the battlefield.
- They were taken over by the Kassites after their king was assassinated.
- The Kassites rule for almost 400 years.
The Assyrians
- The Assyrians had a strong army that used chariots and iron weapons.
- They spread terror before battles by looting villages and burning crops.
- The government demanded heavy taxes.
- Assyrian kings ruled their empire through local leaders who each governed a small area.
The Chaldeans
- The Chaldeans attacked the Assyrians when they were weak and destroyed their
empire.
- Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city that had the famous Hanging
Gardens.
- They admired the Sumerian culture, studied their language, and built temples to
Sumerian gods.
- Babylon became a center for astronomy.
