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Brainpop. The Sumerians. The Sumerians. 4000 B.C.E. They lived in southern Mesopotamia in a number of independent city-states. Each consisted of a small city and its surrounding area. The rulers of these city-states constantly were at war with one another. The Sumerians.
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Brainpop The Sumerians
The Sumerians 4000 B.C.E. They lived in southern Mesopotamia in a number of independent city-states. Each consisted of a small city and its surrounding area. The rulers of these city-states constantly were at war with one another.
The Sumerians They used money, which made individuals wealthy. The head of the military would become King. War leaders evolved into hereditary rulers.
Ziggurat In the center of each city was a temple that housed the city’s gods. A ziggurat was a step pyramid that was a religious temple. Polytheistic Gods controlled every aspect of nature and everyday life Obey the gods and keep them happy with daily offerings or the gods would send wars, floods, & diseases to punish the people. The priest was the only one allowed in ziggurats; therefore, he was very important.
Cuneiform The earliest writing was based on pictograms, which were used to communicate information about taxes and crops. Ancient Sumerian record keepers marked pictographic symbols in soft pieces of clay with a pointed reed. The clay tablets were then baked to make them hard. Overtime, writing was changed into ascriptcalledcuneiform. Cuneiform means wedged shaped, because the marks in the clay were wedges. Not everyone learned to read and write. The ones that were picked by the gods were calledscribes. Boys that were chosen to become scribes (professional writers) began to study at the age of 8. They finished when they were 20 yearsold.
Inventions Cuneiform Thewheel, which was first used for pottery and then the 1st wheeled vehicles. They developed a number system based on the unit60. They divided thehourinto 60 minutes and the circle into360degrees. They also developed basic algebra and geometry. The water clock. The 12month calendar The plow The Sailboat
Royal Tombs of Ur From 1922 to 1934, an archaeologist named C. Leonard Woolley excavated the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur City famed in Bible as the home of patriarch Abraham Many great discoveries such as extravagant jewelry of gold, cups of gold and silver, bowls of alabaster, and extraordinary objects of art and culture Opened the world's eyes to the full glory of ancient Sumerian culture Great Death Pit Found at Ur was a mass grave containing the bodies of 6 guards and68 court ladies(servants of kings and queens) servants walked down into the grave in a great funeral procession they drank a poisoned drink and fell asleep never to wake again, choosing to accompany the kings and queens in the afterlife
Board Game From Ur http://www.ethnoludie.com/rules/ur/p01_en.html