1. Chapter 3, Lesson 3 Mrs. Legro’s 6th Grade Social Studies
Life in Sumer
Chapter 3, Lesson 3
Mrs. Legro’s 6th Grade Social Studies

2. Objectives Describe the key features of Sumerian society.
Describe the major technological advance of the Sumerian people
Explain the Sumerian role in the development of written language.

3. Sumerian Society Social Classes
A group of people with similar customs, backgrounds, training and income.
A division into several social groups or classes.
Kings & Priests
Landowners, government officials, rich merchants
Farmers and Artisans
Slaves

4. Kings & Priests
A link to the Gods = Great influence over the people

5. Slaves Taken as prisoners during war Death of Sumerian parents
Very poor Sumerian parents
Borrowed more money than he/she could repay
Slaves had rights
Could conduct business
Borrow money
Buy their freedom

6. Role of Women All social classes included women.
Women in early Sumer had more rights than they did in later Mesopotamia.
Upper-class women became priestesses (role of honor).
Free women could own land and work as merchants and artisans.
The main role was to raise their children.

7. Why Were Kings and priests in the highest class?
They believed the have a link to the gods, which gave them great influence over people.

8. Sumerian Science and Technology
What tools did the Sumerians invent?
The plow (about 6000 B.C.)
The Wheel (about 3500 B.C.)
The potter’s wheel

9. What was the Benefit of these tools?
The Plow
Broke up hard soil
Made planting easier
The Wheel
Wagons to transport goods
Potter’s Wheel
Could make pottery faster
First important tool invented to help farmers
First, they were pulled or pushed by people, and then animals
Wheels helped farmers transport their goods to the market.
Pots were important storage containers for surplus food

10. Other Technologies… Bronze Math Sumerians were the first people to use
A mixture of copper and tin
Stronger than copper
Tools lasted longer and stayed sharper
Became another item Sumerians could trade
Math
Developed to keep records of crops and trade goods
Number system based on the number 60
Used a triangle and measuring rope to set land boundaries
Understood geometric shapes

11. How did new tools make life better for the Sumerians?
The plow made planting easier.
The wheel helped people transport things faster.
The potter’s wheel made pottery making faster.
Bronze tools lasted longer and stayed sharper.

12. How did the Sumerians invent writing?
The began by using symbols called pictographs to keep track of trade goods. In time, these symbols began to stand for ideas as well as objects. Later, they began to use symbols made of wedges and lines instead of pictures. This is called cuneiform

13. Written language Invented writing by 3000 B.C. Met business needs
Label goods
Picture Writing
Clay tokens with an image
Pictographs: picture writing
Pictographs were eventually used for sounds as well as objects
Sounds and objects allowed for the writing of more words

14. Written Language Cuneiform
Wedge-shaped writing using symbols (not pictures)
Used a sharpened reed called a stylus to press markings into a clay tablet
Very complex writing system
Sumerian language contained about 600 different symbols
People who specialized in writing were called scribes
It took years to learn all of the different symbols, therefore, very few people could read or write.

15. Why were scribes highly respected in Sumer?
They were the most highly educated people in the society and performed an important function.

16. Lesson summary
Sumerian society had several classes. Kings and priests were at the top and slaves were at the bottom.
Inventions, such as the plow and wheel, and mathematical knowledge improved Sumerian life.
The Sumerians created a system of writing to record business transactions and histories.

17. Can you answer the following?
Describe the key features of Sumerian society.
Describe the major technological advance of the Sumerian people
Explain the Sumerian role in the development of written language.