1 / 11

Sumer

Sumer. Sumer Develops. The challenge of controlling the two rivers forced cooperation, thus Sumer arose Developed in the region where the two rivers meet Due to the fertile soil people were able to create surpluses of food. Uruk , the first Summerian city, developed around 3750 B.C.E.

nvalenza
Download Presentation

Sumer

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Sumer

  2. Sumer Develops The challenge of controlling the two rivers forced cooperation, thus Sumer arose Developed in the region where the two rivers meet Due to the fertile soil people were able to create surpluses of food. Uruk, the first Summerian city, developed around 3750 B.C.E.

  3. Sumerian City-States City-state is an independent state that includes a city and its surrounding territory. Each city-state had its own government, laws, and main god. Sumerians and later Mesopotamians built walls around their cities.

  4. Changes in Sumer Seed funnel Irrigation Writing

  5. Trade in Sumer Southern Mesopotamia had little wood or stone. Trade was done by bartering, exchanging goods for other goods without the exchange of money. Used large rafts (barges) to transport goods Eventually Sumerians used a sail on their boat to speed up travel process

  6. Sumerians Writing first began in Sumer. Sumerian schools taught boys the new invention of writing Professional writers called scribes Kept records for the kings and priests

  7. Sumerian Government The first leaders of Sumer were priests, not kings As issues among city-states grew the priest would choose the best person to lead the city-state into war Some military leaders became the first kings To stay in power the kings needed the support of the priests, so the kings were careful to respect the priest's rights and power The priests would declare that the gods had sent the king to rule the city and the idea that kings were choosen by the gods became common in Sumer

  8. Sumerian Government The earliest known code of laws was issued around 2100 B.C.E by Ur-Nammu Ur-Nammu law code included laws about marriage, slavery, and causing harm to others

  9. Social Classes Highest class included the ruler, top officials, and priests, wealthy merchants Middle classes was made up of farmers and skilled workers The lowest class was mostly slaves Each class was distinct and people were not able to move from one class to the next

  10. Sumerian Religion Sumerians were polytheistic They believed the gods controlled every aspect of life Sumerians believed only priests knew how to communicate with the gods In large Sumerian cities temples were known as ziggurats

  11. The Downfall of the Sumerians Sumerian kings began fighting over use of river water and land By 2000 BC, Sumer was a weakened area 1759 BC, Sumer was conquered by another group of people - the Babylonians, who were from the north.

More Related