1. Was Ancient Sumer a Civilization
History Alive Chapter 5

2. Ancient Sumer characteristics

3. 5.3 Stable Food Supply Invention #1 Invention #2
Invented complex irrigation, such as dam, levees, canals
Invented the plow to prepare the land for farming

4. 5.4 Sumerian social structure

5. 5.6 Religion Sumerians built temples with towers called ziggurats
Believed gods lived in the tower
Believed that gods were pleased when people showed love, devotion and obedience
Held religious ceremonies, played music and rituals

6. 5.8 Technology Before the Wheel After the Wheel
Sumerian pottery makers used a wheel as a surface for shaping clay into pots
Created wheeled carts for farmers and chariots for the army
Wheeled carts made it easier to transport goods
Other inventions
Arch, used above doorways

7. 5.9 Writing Pictograph Cuneiform
A symbol/picture that stands for an object
Scribe drew symbols with sharp reed on wet clay
Writing that uses wedge shape characters
Over 700 symbols

8. Chapter Summary Sumerians created a stable food supply
Their society had complex social structure
They had a government headed by kings
Built temples/ziggurats
Developed arts, technologies and written languages
World’s first civilizations
Lasted 1,500 years from 3500 to 2000 B.C.E.