Mesopotamia 1.2: The Sumerians

Mesopotamia 1.2: The Sumerians

Guiding Question: What was life like in Sumer?

​Sumer's Civilization

• ​people from Sumer are known as Sumerians

• ​built cities including Ur, Uruk, and Eridu

• ​these cities became centers of civilization that controlled the lower part of the Tigris and Euphrates valleys

​City-States Arise

• ​Sumer's cities were surrounded by mudflats and patches of scorching desert

• ​this harsh landscape made it hard to travel and communicate with others

• ​Sumerian cities became independent and raised their own crops and made own goods

• ​Cities gained political and economic control over lands around them and created city-states

​City-States Arise

• each city-state had its own government and was not part of any larger governing state

• populations of city-states ranged from 5,000-20,000

• ​Sumerian city-states were protected by a large city wall

• ​city-states often went to war with one another over resources and political borders

• ​they also traded during times of peace and formed alliances to protect their common interests

Open Ended

What was the most important building in a Sumerian city-state?

Multiple Choice

Who lived closest to the ziggurat in a city-state?

• priests and merchants

• shopkeepers and craftspeople

• farmers and fisherman

​Gods, Priests, and Kings

• ​Sumerians believed in many gods or polytheism

• ​these different gods played different roles in Sumerian life

  • ​power over nature - rain, wind

  • guided things that people did - brickmaking, plowing

• ​although Sumerians honored all of the gods, each city-state claimed one as its own

​Gods, Priests, and Kings

• ​to honor its god, a city-state included a large temple called a ziggurat

• ​means "to rise high"

• ​the very top was a holy place which was the god's home and only priests were allowed in

• ​in the early days, priests of the ziggurat ruled the city-states

• ​Sumerian city-states became monarchies and kings claimed they received their power from the gods

• ​the first rulers were likely war heroes, but over time their rule was passed on by family

Open Ended

The top of the ziggurat was considered very holy. What was thought to be inside the top tier of the ziggurat?

Social Groups

• ​People in Sumer were organized into social classes and usually remained in the same social class they were born into

• ​Upper class

  • ​Kings, priests, warriors, and government officials

• ​Middle class

  • ​largest group

  • ​scribes, merchants, farmers, fishers, and artisans

• ​Lower class

  • ​enslaved people

  • ​Prisoners of war, criminals, in debt

  • ​worked for upper class

​Farmers

• ​Farmers

  • ​had a plot of land in the area around the city-state

  • ​dams and waterways ran through this farmland

  • ​grew wheat, barley, and dates

  • ​raised sheep, goats, and pigs

Trade and Merchants

• ​​Trade

  • ​Sumerians did not always have goods they needed

  • ​metalworkers usually needed to trade items to get metal

  • ​Trade routes linked Sumer to places far away like Egypt and India

  ​Merchants

  • ​went to other lands and traded wheat, barley, and tools for timber, minerals, and metals

  • ​minerals and metals were for jewelry

​Roles of Men and Women

• ​Women

  • ​ran the home, taught daughters to do the same, and cared for children

  • ​some owned businesses

  • ​had few civil rights

• ​Men

  • ​head of home

  • ​boys went to school and were trained for a specific job

• ​Families

  • ​law required parents to care for children

  • ​required adult children to care for their parents if parents needed help

​Let's Review...

​

Multiple Choice

What roles did the gods play in Sumerians' life?

• they had power over nature like controlling how much rain there was

• they guided the things people did such as plowing

• Both

Multiple Choice

Which of the following classes did priests belong to?

• Upper

• Middle

• Lower

Multiple Choice

Which of the following classes did farmers belong to?

• Upper

• Middle

• Lower

Multiple Choice

What items did merchants trade for on trade routes?

• barley and wheat

• metal and minerals

• meat and cheese

Multiple Choice

What type of crops did farmers grow?

• wh

• b

• d

• all