Download Life in Sumer What were the social classes that

Life in Sumer
What were the social classes that made up Sumerian society?
Kings,priests
Landowners, government officials, rich merchants
Farmers, artisans
Slaves
Sumerians believed their kings and priests had a link to the gods so they
had great influence over the people
Most slaves in Sumer were taken as prisoners during war
Children might become slaves if their parents died or were very poor
they worked in the temple
If you owed someone money and couldn't pay them back, you worked off
your debt by becoming their slave for a period of time
Slaves: They had some rights. They could conduct business and
borrow money. Slaves could also buy their freedom.
Women: Women were in every social class. Some upper-class
women became priestesses which was a role of honor. They could
own land and could work as merchants and artisans. Their main role
was bearing children.
Sumerian Science and Technology
INVENTIONS:
The plow ...6,000 BC...first important farming tool...they were
digging sticks with handles...they could be pulled or pushed by humans and
later by animals...they broke up the soil and made planting easier...water
could sink more deeply into plowed soil so plants received more water
The wheel...3500 BC...used for transporting goods...helped farmers
take their crop to the marketplace...potter's wheel helped make pottery
out of clay...
Bronze...first people to use bronze...for tools...trade
Sumerian Mathematics
Developed arithmetic to keep records of crops and trade
Number system was based on 60 (60 seconds in a minute, 60
minutes in an hour)...circles 360 degrees...
Used a triangle and rope to set land boundaries
Understood geometric shapes...rectangles, squares,triangles
Used geometric shapes to make bricks, build ramps and dig
canals
Written Language
Invented writing by 3,000 BC for business purposes
As trade expanded, they needed to keep records of exchanges
They also wanted to label goods
At first they used clay tokens and sealed the tokens in clay containers for
safekeeping
They would mark the outside of the container so they knew what was inside
usually with a symbol
These symbols are known as "pictographs" which means "picture writing"
Cuneiform
At first, pictographs showed objects...later, they stood for ideas
...next they stood for sounds
They used a stylus to press markings into a clay tablet...the stylus was wedge shaped
Over time, the Sumerians stopped using pictures and only used symbols
This is called "cuneiform"...
Their language had 600 symbols
Few people could read and write...the people who could often became scribes...they
were professional record keepers and highly respected
At first, Sumerians used records mostly for business dealings
Then they started writing about events such as wars, floods and
kings
Other cultures in Mesopotamia adopted the cuneiform writing
system
Archaeologists have found thousands of cuneiform tablets in Asia
Main Points
Sumerian society had several classes. Kings and priests were at the
top and slaves were at the bottom. Everyone else was in the middle!
Inventions, such as the wheel and the plow, and mathematical
knowledge improved Sumerian life
The Sumerians created a system of writing to record business deals
and histories