Chapter 3 section1 The Rise of Sumer

The Rise of Sumer Sumerians settled in southern Mesopotamia in about 3500 B.C. Sumerian civilization is the earliest know civilization on Earth For the first time people began to control their physical environment Built levees along the 2 rivers to keep back the flood waters to use in the summer dry season Chief crop was barley

Where is it located?

Rise of Sumer System of irrigation canals took planning Set up government to make laws so they knew what was expected of them Population grew – began to build cities Great city of Sumer was called Ur. Sumerians were the first city builders in this area of the world.

City- States Each Sumerian city was considered a state in itself, with its own god and government Each city- state was made up of the city and the farmland surrounding it Near center of city were houses of upper class priests and merchants Behind the houses of the rich were the houses of the middle class- government officials, shopkeepers, artisans Houses of the lower class were farther out- farmers, unskilled workers, and fishermen

Model of a city

City State The Sumerians were very proud of their cities There were often wars between the city states They fought over boundary lines and to prove who was better and stronger

Religion and Family Life At the center of each Sumerian city was a temple called a Ziggurat Around the Ziggurat were courts where most business activity was centered and celebrations occurred The courts and the ziggurat were the center of Sumerian life Sumerians believed that all forces of nature (rain, wind, floods) were alive

Religion and Family life These forces could not be controlled so they viewed them as gods Sumerians believed they were on Earth to serve these gods Only priests knew the will of the gods- so priests were very powerful

Religion and Family life Sumerian writing called cuneiform was developed because people had to keep track of business details When a student graduated from school, he became a scribe or writer

Religion and Family life Only Sumerian males went to school- women could run businesses and own and sell enslaved people The husband was the head of the household- his wife could run his affairs while he was away Children were expected to support their parents when they grew old and were to obey older family members

Priest Kings At first, Sumerian priests were also kings of the city state One of the famous ones was called Gilgamesh of Urak Tales told about him made him seem more like a god than a person One tale written about him in 1700 B.C. is the oldest known story in the world. The Sumerian priest-kings received advice from an assembly made up of free men

Priest Kings When war broke out with another city- state, the assembly would choose one of its members to serve as military leader until the war was over As time went on, these leaders stayed in charge even after peace returned By 3000 B.C., they took the place of priests as permanent kings At the same time, kingship became hereditary or passed down from parent to child.