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City-States of Ancient Sumer Chapter 2 Section 3 Geography Geography Mesopotamia – means land between two rivers. (Tigris and Euphrates Rivers) Fertile land attracted Stone Age farmers. Flat lands and constantly fought over Euphrates Tigris Floods and Irrigation Terrifying People floods were forced to cooperate to build dams to hold back floods and irrigation to carry water to their fields The First Cities First civilizations emerge in southern part of Mesopotamia. Few building materials – No rocks or wood built with mud. Government and Society People turned to war leaders and these leaders evolved into hereditary rulers Leaders were responsible for maintaining the city walls and irrigation systems – Later employed scribes to collect taxes and keep records Government continued Each Sumerian city-state had distinct social hierarchy – system of ranks Priest Farmers, merchants, artisans Slaves Role of women The role of women changed over time Earth mother goddesses was replaced by male gods. Wives of rulers could supervise workshops and rule when the king was absent Sumerian head dress Religion Polytheistic Gods behaved like normal people. – Favored truth and justice but were responsible for violence and suffering Marduk Each city build a ziggurat – Pyramids with a shrine on top to the chief god. ziggurats Afterlife Believed in the afterlife – Seen as a grim place where people sat in dark places and ate clay Advances in Learning Invented the earliest form of writing. – Cuneiform – wedge shaped writing made in clay tablets Grew out of a system of pictographs. Contributions Developed basic algebra and geometry Made accurate calendars by studying astronomy Also credited for the first wheeled vehicles