Download The Rise of Sumer Notes

The Rise of Sumer Notes
What were city-states?
How did the Akkadian
Empire rise?
Sumer was the world’s first civilization.
● No one knows where they came from, but in 3000 BC they
settled in Mesopotamia.
● Most people were farmers.
● The centers of Sumerian society were urban or city areas.
● By 2000 BC it is believed that some of Sumer’s largest
cities had more than 100,000 residents
● A city-state consisted of a central city and all the
countryside around it.
○ Military strength determined the amount of
farmland controlled by a city-state.
○ Each city-state had a strong army because they
fought each other for more land
● They also build,thick walls to protect their cities
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How did religion shape
the Sumerian Society?
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Developed along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
They lived North of Sumer, but were not Sumerians
In 2300 BC the Akkadian king Sargon wanted more land.
He built a capital,Akkad, on the Euphrates River and
launched a series of attacks with his permanent army.
Sargon defeated all the Sumerian city-states and northern
Mesopotamia.
He created an empire, land with different territories and
peoples under a single rule. His empire stretched from the
Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Sargon was emperor, ruler, for more than 50 years.
Sumerians practiced polytheism, the worship in many
gods.
○ Each city-state had one special god as its special
protector.
○ Priests had great status in Sumer and helped to
gain the favor of the gods.
Sumer had a social hierarchy, the division of society by
rank or class.
○ Kings of Sumer were chosen by the gods to rule,
and priests were just below the kings.
Trade had a huge impact on Sumerian society.
Traders travelled and traded grain for gold, silver, copper,
lumber, and precious stones.
Men generally held political power. Upper class women
were sometimes educated.
Enheduanna was the first female writer and priestess to
write a hymn to Inanna.
Draw the Social Hierarchy somewhere on this page.
Sumerian Achievements Notes
What kind of Writing did
they use?
Cuneiform is the world’s first writing system developed by the
Sumerians.
They used styluses to make wedge-shaped symbols on clay
tablets.
It was an advanced form of pictographs, picture symbols, where
symbols represented syllables and would combine multiple
symbols to express words.
A scribe, writer, was hired to keep business records (items traded).
Developed into written works for history, law, grammar, and math.
Sumerians wrote epics, long poems that tell of stories of heros.
Ex. The Epic of Gilgamesh, was the story of a legendary Sumerian
King.
What kind of advances
in technology and
math/science did Sumer
make?
Most important development was the wheel.
Inventions that came from the wheel were: carts, potters wheel.
Plows were pulled by oxen and broke apart the hard clay soil of
Sumer.
A clock that used falling water to measure time was also invented.
Sumerian advances improved daily life. Sewers under cities,
bronze to make weapons and tools, makeup, and glass jewelry.
In math, developed a base 60 system, circles have 360 degrees,
dividing a year into 12 months. Calculating area of rectangles and
triangles.
Kept records of animals, plants, and minerals
Used natural ingredients to produce healing drugs
Catalogued medical treatments according to symptoms and body
parts.
What kind of
architecture and art did
Sumer have?
Architecture is the science of building. Rulers lived in large
palaces. Richer people live in two story homes. Many people lived
in small one story houses.
City centers housed ziggurats, pyramid shaped temples, that rose
above the city.
Sculptors made statues of the gods for the temples, used ivory and
rare woods for smaller objects, and created pottery.
Jewelry was very popular and made of gold, silver, and gems.
Cylinder Seals were engraved with designs. They were used to
create designs, or sign documents.
Music was also enjoyed. Pipes, drums, tambourines, and lyres
were played and taught regularly.
Complete the Cuneiform activity on the back for homework.