Brainpop The Sumerians

The Sumerians

• 4000 B.C.E.

• They lived in southern Mesopotamia in a number of independent city-states.

• Each consisted of a small city and its surrounding area.

• The rulers of these city-states constantly were at war with one another.

The Sumerians

• They used money, which made individuals wealthy.

• The head of the military would become King.

• War leaders evolved into hereditary rulers.

NOBILITY

FREE CLIENTS

COMMONERS

SLAVES

The Royal Standard of Ur

The Royal Standard of Ur

Ziggurat• In the center of each city was a temple that housed the city’s

gods.

• A ziggurat was a step pyramid that was a religious temple.

• Polytheistic

• Gods controlled every aspect of nature and everyday life

• Obey the gods and keep them happy with daily offerings or the gods would send wars, floods, & diseases to punish the people.

• The priest was the only one allowed in ziggurats; therefore, he was very important.

Cuneiform• The earliest writing was based on pictograms, which were used

to communicate information about taxes and crops.

• Ancient Sumerian record keepers marked pictographic symbols in soft pieces of clay with a pointed reed. The clay tablets were then baked to make them hard.

• Overtime, writing was changed into a script called cuneiform.

• Cuneiform means wedged shaped, because the marks in the clay were wedges.

• Not everyone learned to read and write. The ones that were picked by the gods were called scribes. Boys that were chosen to become scribes (professional writers) began to study at the age of 8. They finished when they were 20 years old.

Deciphering Cuneiform

Deciphering Cuneiform

Inventions• Cuneiform• The wheel, which was first

used for pottery and then the 1st wheeled vehicles.

• They developed a number system based on the unit 60. They divided the hour into 60 minutes and the circle into 360 degrees. They also developed basic algebra and geometry.

• The water clock.• The 12 month calendar• The plow• The Sailboat

Royal Tombs of Ur

• From 1922 to 1934, an archaeologist named C. Leonard Woolley excavated the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur

• City famed in Bible as the home of patriarch Abraham

• Many great discoveries such as extravagant jewelry of gold, cups of gold and silver, bowls of alabaster, and extraordinary objects of art and culture

• Opened the world's eyes to the full glory of ancient Sumerian culture

Great Death Pit • Found at Ur was a mass grave containing the bodies of 6 guards

and 68 court ladies (servants of kings and queens) • servants walked down into the grave in a great funeral procession• they drank a  poisoned  drink and fell asleep never to wake again,

choosing to accompany the kings and queens in the afterlife

Board Game From UrBoard Game From Ur

http://www.ethnoludie.com/rules/ur/p01_en.html