Mesopotamia

Ancient Sumer

BY: Jillian Nerice & Umama Ahmad

Education

The Sumerians learned by using the words and letters called cuneiform. They wrote on a tablet made out of clay. They used a piece of wood called stylus to write on the tablet to make symbols (letters or drawings). Due to the difficulty in learning the cuneiform script, few Sumerians were literate, although they could probably recognize some common words. They wrote laws and rules for the country after learning how to write.The name 'cuneiform' means 'wedge-shaped' and comes from the Latin cuneus (wedge). It is based on the appearance of the strokes, which were made by pressing a reed stylus into clay. These type of symbol emerged in 3,000 BC. Sumerian cuneiform is the earliest known writing system. Its origins can be traced back to about 8,000 BC and it developed from the pictographs and other symbols used to represent trade goods and livestock on clay tablets.

Religion:

They did not have only one god to believe in. Each country had their own belief or god that they would worship. The Sumerians were polytheistic, they believed in more than one god/goddess.  The Sumerians believed that the gods would give anything to them and protect them from earthquakes, sand storms etc. They would always give a lot of food to the gods and if something went wrong they would get angry at themselves for what they did to make the gods angry.  In the Sumerian city-states, temple complexes originally were small, elevated one-room structures. In the early dynastic period, temples developed raised terraces and multiple rooms.  Ziggurats became the preferred temple structure for Mesopotamian religious centers.

Ziggurat

People:

The rich people had jobs like being the priests, nobles, government officials and warriors of the country.The workers had jobs like being the fisherman, traders, artisans made up a middle or ‘freeman’ classes that helped the country with the food. The slaves worked for the high classes, they did housework and all the hard work. They wrote their laws on a piece of clay using the cuneiform. The laws are not the same for rich and poor, but the weak were given some protection against the tyranny of the strong.  There were some very important rules that you had to followed. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death,

and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put

to death. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money,

he shall receive the fine that the action produces.