Sumer- The World’s First Civilization Mesopotamia Sumer- The World’s First Civilization

Sumer- How do we know? In the 1900s, archaeologists found the remains of several cities from Ancient Sumer Eridu is believed to be the world’s oldest city founded around 5400 BCE Uruk is believed to have a population of around 80,000 people in 2800 BCE This is much larger than any other city discovered in Mesopotamia Gilgamesh was king of Uruk The Epic of Gilgamesh is believed to be the first written story in history

Sumer Sumer is believed to be the oldest known civilization in history Started in 5300 BCE and lasted until 2000 BCE Over 3,000 years! Located in modern-day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers The rivers flooded every spring, which made the area fertile and great for growing crops

Discovery of Agriculture This first happened in Mesopotamia in an area called Sumer People began to settle down and create the world’s first cities

Sumer- Irrigation The Sumerians developed irrigation systems to control the flooding and bring water to their crops Irrigation- Controlling water to use for agriculture or prevent flooding Canals, levees, and dams were created to get the water to crops and to stop from flooding their cities

Irrigation Systems Irrigation systems were created to get water to crops and prevent flooding The people of Mesopotamia would dig a ditch that brought water from the source to the fields This allowed for more crops to be grown at once

Sumer- Job Specialization Because of the irrigation systems, Sumer was able to grow extra crops Extra food leads to job specialization (also called division of labor) Now the people of Sumer did not all have to farmers and they could start doing other jobs: Pottery Making tools & weapons Building Bakers Weavers

Sumer- Religion Religion was very important to the people of Sumer They were polytheistic. This means they believed in many different gods Each city was centered around a ziggurat (temple) They believed that the god or goddess lived in the ziggurat and would worship them

Sumer- Government Each city-state had their own king (called an ensi) The king had many responsibilities: Leading religious ceremonies and building ziggurats Leading the military and protecting the people Collecting taxes Building irrigation systems (canals, levees, and dams) Acted as judges to settle disputes or when a crime was committed

Cuneiform The Sumerians developed the first system of writing around 3500 BCE, called Cuneiform Sumerians wrote on clay tablets For the first time ever, humans were able to keep written records

Cuneiform Scribe- A professional writer Scribes would work for: Government officials Priests Merchants

Impact of Cuneiform Cuneiform allowed the citizens of Mesopotamia to keep records: Farmers could keep detailed records of crops Merchants could keep detailed records of sales Laws could be recorded and posted where everyone could see Children went to school to learn how to read and write cuneiform

Impact of Cuneiform We know a lot of information about the Sumerians and way of life in Mesopotamia because they left us written records

Sumer- Advanced Technology The Sumerians also had many more innovations: Bronze tools and weapons Calendar- Helped predict flooding Came up with the idea of 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour Developed the world’s first wheel for wagons. This led to more trading and traveling Plow for planting crops

Calendar The Mesopotamian people were able to create a calendar in order to know when the floods would arrive: As a result, farmers were able to harvest more food. This food surplus enabled the cities to support larger populations. Having surplus food, which could be traded for other goods, also helped Mesopotamians establish trade with other civilizations.

Calendar These ancient calendars were lunar (based on the cycle of the moon) Today, our calendar is based on the Earth's movement around the sun. Over time, most kingdoms adopted the Babylonian calendar Months were around 30 days long and were named after the 12 constellations in the zodiac The basis of the our modern calendar can be seen in these divisions

The Plow The plow made it easier to break up the soil for planting Plows were made of iron and were pulled by oxen. By using these new tools farmers could do more work and produce more food

The Wheel Before the wheel, people had to carry their items by hand The wheel allowed humans to use carts This allowed people to carry more goods and supplies Wheels allowed for quicker and easier transportation Animals could also pull the carts

Sumer- Social Classes Specialized labor (jobs) created social classes Each city-state was organized the same Children fell into the same social class and had the same jobs as their parents People could not move up in social class

Sumer- Social Classes Kings- Rulers Government Officials- Worked for the king Priests- Made offerings to the gods and led religious ceremonies to please the gods and keep the city-states safe

Sumer- Social Classes Scribes- Professional writers. They usually worked for the government or help merchants keep track of trade Merchants- Traded goods between the city- states and would later trade with other civilizations like Egypt and India Artisans- Made crafts of had specific jobs: Weavers Pottery Made weapons and tools Bakers

Sumer- Social Classes Farmers- Grew crops and harvested food to trade They would give food to the king for protection and irrigation They would give food to priests so the gods would reward them with a good harvest Slaves- People became slaves by being captured during wars or they were criminals and it was their punishment Their job was usually hard labor, like digging irrigation ditches or carrying bricks for ziggurats