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Download Social Studies: Chapter 4 lesson 1 Class Notes
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Name __________________ Date ___________________ Social Studies Notes Chapter 4: Lesson 1 The Sumerians Learning Targets: I will be able to explain what it was like to live in Sumer. I can describe the Sumerian ideas and inventions that have been passed on to other civilizations. Questions answered by notes Why did people settle in Mesopotamia? Notes What was life like in Sumer? Civilizations1st developed around 3,000 BC in the river valleys of Mesopotamia People needed water and their crops needed water Mesopotamia means “The land between the river” Rivers were the Tigris and Euphrates Mesopotamia was located within the Fertile Crescent Flooding sometimes – the positive about the flooding was that it brought silt = small particles of soil Silt was good soil for farming Irrigation = method of watering crops Surpluses = extra amounts which allowed specialization They formed city-states = a city with political and economic control over the lands around them Polytheism = worship of many gods Ziggurat = a large temple Priests were the original rulers – later the city-states Visual became monarchies What ideas and inventions did Sumerians pass on to other civilizations? Social Classes “Traditional” roles for men and women If you lived in Sumer, you were probably a farmer Trade was important because they did not have all the goods they needed Kings, Priests, warriors, Government officials Merchants Farmers Fishers Artisans (Largest Class) Mesopotamia has been called “the cradle of civilization” Their Inventions include: The writing system they developed was the earliest know system in the world They created a way of writing called cuneiform Only a few people – mostly wealthy boys – learned how to read and write Some became scribes = official record keepers The world’s oldest known story is from Sumer= Epic of Gilgamesh Epic = a long poem that tells the story of a hero Sumerians were the first people to use the wheel (cart and potters’ wheel) 1st to make bronze out of copper and tin Place-value system of numbers Tables for calculating division and multiplication Slaves 60-minute hour, 60 second minute 360 degree circle 12 month calendar (based on cycles of the moon) Sailboat Wooden plow Questions answered by notes Notes Visual
