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Mesopotamian Achievements
Agricultural Techniques
• Innovation: a new way of doing things
• People of Mesopotamia began mixing tin with copper and created
bronze.
• Bronze is much stronger than copper.
• By 2,500 B.C., people were using bronze tipped plows which could turn
soil more easily. This led to larger fields and larger crops.
• People developed a way to plow soil and plant seeds at the same time.
They attached a funnel to the plow and filled it with seeds. As the plow
moved, seeds were released.
• This allowed fewer farmers to produce even more crops.
Agricultural Techniques
• Experienced farmers started to write advice for future
farmers.
• These were a form of almanacs (a annual calendar
containing important dates and information for
agriculture.)
• Written on clay tablets they described the best ways to
plant, to irrigate, and to care for crops.
• One tablet read: “When you are about to cultivate your
field, take care to open the irrigation works so that their
water does not rise too high in it.”
Measurement
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City-states needed larger farms to fed larger populations.
Ownership of land became increasingly important.
City officials wanted to keep track of how much land each farmer used.
This led to a standardized system of measurement for land.
They developed the iku. 1 iku = 37,600 square feet
We still use a similar system today: 1 acre = 43,560 square feet.
Standard units of measurement were also set for weights and volume. (Including the
quart)
This made for accurate and fair trade.
The Sumerians created a number system based on the number 60.
Our division of time into hours, minutes, and seconds comes from the Sumerians.
By 2,100 B.C., Sumerians counted off days in a year, using a 360-day calendar.
They also divided the circle into 360 degrees.
Building
• There were very few trees for building, so many cities used mud.
• They built simple flat-roofed, mud-brink houses.
• They had thick walls that kept them cool in the summer and warm
in the winter.
• Kings and high-ranking officials had larger homes of two or more
stories.
• Artists would decorate their walls with designed clay tiles.
Buildings ~ Ziggurats
• The largest and tallest building in each city-state was the ziggurat.
• These were grand temples that had evolved from idea of the one-room temples of Ubaid.
• Ziggurats grew in size as the cities grew in power.
• Ziggurats were constructed of layers of mud-bricks.
• Some stood as tall as 7 stories high.
• At the top there was a shrine for the city’s special god.
• Kings’ palaces and high-ranked officials’ homes stood inside a wall with the ziggurat.
• Overtime, they built smaller homes outside the wall for less wealthy people, usually of
reed and mud plaster.
• They also built shops, workshops, and parks near the ziggurat.
• The ziggurat was a busy center for the city.
Walled house for
a wealthier
family. Often
many generations
lived in a single
building
Transportation
• The world’s oldest wheel was found in Mesopotamia from 3,500
B.C.
• Sumerians were the first to build carts, two-wheeled and fourwheeled carts and chariots that were pulled by oxen or donkeys.
• Caravans traveled the same path over and over, creating a path
and eventually a trade route.
• They created boats for water travel. The boats were shaped like
a basket and built from reeds and covered by animal skins. A mast
and sail were in the center of the boat.
• They also created canoe boats that they guided with poles.
Writing & Literature
• The earliest known writing was found on a clay tablet
from Kish 3,500 B.C.
• On the tablet were picture symbols that recorded trade.
• Hundreds of clay tablets have been found at Uruk,
evidence that by 3,100 B.C. Sumerians had a system of
writing.
• They developed cuneiform, writing using wedge-shaped
symbol.
• They developed 700 symbols, each standing for a
different syllable.
• Syllables and symbols were based on the spoken
language.
Writing & Literature
• Few people knew how to read and write.
• Scribes (people who recorded things for others) became very important members
of society.
• (KNOWLEDGE = POWER!!)
• Scribes used sharpened reeds to write in cuneiform on soft clay.
• Writing allowed government, economy, and society to develop further.
• The were able to record boundary lines, wars, lists of kings, and gifts given to the
temples.
• They recorded trade of food and supplies.
• They recorded literature, wrote down songs, and stories.
• Most famously, The Epic of Gilgamesh
Art
• Sumerian craftsmen made many different kinds of jewelry from
gold, silver, and gemstones including crowns, headdresses, rings,
bracelets, and pins.
• The Sumerians believed that gifts of jewelry would help to keep
the gods and goddesses of the underworld happy.
• Many examples of Sumerian jewelry have been found in graves of
both men and women.
• Another important creation of Sumerian artists were cylinder seals
which would be rolled over clay to create patterns. Some of these
seals were used to sign important documents.
Music
• Music in Sumer was used both for religious services and
entertainment.
• The Sumerians were one of the earliest people to create stringed
and wind instruments such as the lyre and flute.
• Artists often made musical instruments in the shape of animals –
especially bulls.
• Like scribes, musicians trained in special schools for many years to
master their instrument.