Who were the Sumerians and why were are they important? What is a city-state? Who is sargon the great? What is an empire?

The worship of many gods is called polytheism. The Sumerians had many gods. Enlil – Lord of the Air Enki – God of wisdom and water Inanna – Goddess of love and war Utu – The sun god Nanna – Goddess of the moon Every city-state had a god that they thought was its special protector.

Sumerians believed their gods controlled everything. Gods controlled the harvest and could bring disasterous floods. Gods could make you sick or wealthly. Every sumerian believed that they must dedicate their lives to pleasing the gods to avoid punishment. Because of this, priests in sumer held great power.

Sumerians believed that priests could interpret the wishes of the gods. They also believed that the priests could get the gods to be good to them. Priests could perform ceremonies and make offerings to make the gods happy.

A system of ranking people or things above or below other people or things. Where certain people rank within their society

1.Kings and their family 2.Priests 3.Skilled workers, traders and merchants 4.Farmers and unskilled workers 5.Slaves The farther down the list you were, the less important your life was.

Men have power in the city-state and made the laws. Women took care of the home and children. Education was usually only for men and some upper-class women. A few of these educated women could become a priestess.