what do you think it means to be highly civilized?

1. what do you think it means to be highly civilized?

2. Was Ancient Sumner a Civilization? By studying artifacts that were found in the mid 1800’s, archaeologists have discovered tablets, pottery, and artifacts in Mesopotamia.

3. Was Ancient Sumner a Civilization? • One artifact the Standard of Ur was found where the ancient city of Ur stood. It was made from wood, lapis lazuli (Semi Precious Blue Stone) , and shell which probably was traded because it is not found close by.

4. Characteristics of a Civilization • Historians have stated that these characteristics make a culture a civilization: • Stable Food Supply • Social Structure • System of Government • Religious System • Highly developed culture including arts such as painting, architecture, music, and literature. • Advances in technology • Highly developed Written language

5. Stable Food Supply • A society has a stable food supply if they have enough food for its people to survive. • The Sumerians invented a plow to till the soil to prepare it for planting and this invention most affected the food supply. • The Sumerians made the plow out of wood and used animals such as the Ox to pull it, which are still used today. The Plow

6. Social Structure • Civilizations need a social structure with different jobs and social levels. • Archaeologists have found that the Sumner had an upper class made up of priests, landowners, and government officials. • They lived near the center of the city with two story houses. Ancient city of Uruk

7. Social Structure • The Middle Class was the common class, which included merchants, craftspeople, farmers, fisherman, and the army. They lived in small brick houses at the edge of the city. • At the bottom of the social structure were slaves who had no property and lived in their owners homes. Upper Class Sumerian House

8. Government Sumerian King • The Sumerian city states were ruled by kings and the Sumerians believed that those kings were chosen by the gods to rule in their place. • The Kings has the responsibilities of leading army, enforcing laws, and having temples built • Scribes were a person who helped record laws. • The Sumerians were the first people to develop a system of written laws.

9. Religion • In Sumner religious beliefs influenced every part of social life. • Sumerians expressed their religious beliefs by building temples and religious towers called ziggurats. Ziggurats

10. The Arts • The arts began to thrive in Sumner, with Sumerian metalworkers making weapons, cups, jewelry, and decorative items. • Music also began to surface with drums, pipes, and Lyres (harp) paying tribute to the gods. Sumerian Lyre

11. Technology • Technology began to advance with the Sumerians and discovered the wheel and with that invention invented wheeled carts, and chariots for warfare. • Another technological advance was the Arch in architecture, which added strength Sumerian buildings. Sumerian Arch

12. Writing Cuneiform • Archaeologists also discovered a written language called cuneiform, which also showed that the Sumerians were not prehistoric. • Sumerians produced cuneiform with a wedge shaped stylus (pointed tool) on clay tablets. • Cuneiform used as many as 2,000 symbols, but eventually reduced the number for 700 for their written language.