Sumerian Civilization

Created by:

Alyssa

Julio

Vocabulary

• Cuneiform-Sumerian writing made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool into clay tablets.

• Arch-Curved structure over an opening.

• Ziggurats-Sumerian temples made of sun-dried brick.

• city-state-Form of government that includes a town or city and the surrounding land controlled by it.

Read to Discover

• How did geography affect the development of the Sumerian civilization?

• What were the achievements of the Sumerian people?

• What was life like in Sumerian society?

The Land: Its Geography and Importance

• A strip of fertile land begins at the Isthmus of Suez and arcs through Southwest Asia to the Persian Gulf. The land within this crescent-shaped area is so well suited to farming that it is known as the Fertile Crescent. Between 5000 B.C. and 4000 B.C., Neolithic farmers began to build an identifiable civilization in the Fertile Crescent. Their society was built around the cooperation necessary to control floodwaters and to irrigate fields.

The Tigris and Euphrates River

• The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers are major geographical features of the Fertile Crescent.

• The Tigris-Euphrates Valley has been known by many names, including Mesopotamia. The southeastern part of the valley has usually been called Babylonia.

• Both the Tigris and the Euphrates overflow often, sending floodwaters swirling over the surrounding land.

More information

• Unlike the Nile flood, the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates cannot be easily predicted.

• The early people of the valley viewed nature and the gods as harsh and unpredictable.

• As with the Nile Valley, the Fertile Crescent was surrounded by dry lands and mountains.

Some More Information

• Tribes of wandering herders lived off the grasses and other plant life there. They often invaded the valley, conquered it, and established empires.

• Over time, these invaders grew weak and new waves of invaders conquered them. This pattern makes the history of the Fertile Crescent a story of repeated migration and conquest.

Sumer and Its Achievements

• As the Tigris and Euphrates flow to the Persian Gulf, they carry rich soil. In ancient times, particularly fertile soil covered the lower part of the Tigris-Euphrates Valley.

• Neolithic people settled in this area, called Sumer, and grew crops. Over time, they created what we call Sumerian culture.

• By 3000 B.C. these people used metal and had developed a kind of writing called pictographs, or picture writing. Sumerian pictographs are one of the earliest known forms of writing.

Pictures

Sumerian writing

• Sumerians wrote by pressing marks into clay tablets.

• Writers used a wedge-shaped tool called a stylus.

• Cuneiform writing developed from pictographic writing. Sumerians had about 600 cuneiform signs.

Architecture and science

The Sumerians may also have invented several important architectural designs. The arch, a curved structure over an opening, is one of the strongest forms in building.

By combining several arches, the Sumerians built rounded roofs in the shape of domes or vaults.

• The most striking Sumerian buildings were the temples, known as ziggurats.

• Each could be up to 150 feet high. The top served as a shrine to a Sumerian god.

Egyptian Life and Culture

Created By: Alyssa

Read to Discover

• What did the Egyptians achieve in the arts and architecture?

• How did the Egyptians express their religious beliefs?

• How were farming and trade carried on in Egypt?

Vocabulary

• Scribes-Egyptian clerks who read or wrote for those who could not do so for themselves.

• Mummification-Process of preserving the body with chemicals after death.

• Caravans-Groups of people traveling together for safety over long distances.

The Main Idea

• Egyptian culture was marked by long periods of stability built around their religion and geography.

Architecture and the arts

The Egyptians built the pyramids as tombs for the pharaohs.

The best-known pyramids, including the Great Pyramid, tower above the sands at Giza.

Built in about 2600 B.C., the Great Pyramid covers about 13 acres at its base. It was originally about 480 feet high and was constructed with more than 2 million blocks of stone, each weighing about 5,000 pounds.

More Information

• Building the pyramids required great skill. Egyptian architects and engineers ranked among the best in the ancient world. Historians believe the engineers built ramps and levers, which were used by thousands of workers to move the heavy stones.

• The Egyptians perfected other art forms as well. Sculptors crafted small, lifelike statues of rulers and animals. Buildings were decorated with paintings of everyday life. The paintings show farmers in their fields, artisans at work, and people at banquets. They provide us with colorful examples of the Egyptian way of life.

Science, math, and medicine

• Early in their history the Egyptians invented a calendar based on the movements of the moon.

• Some time later, the Egyptians realized that a bright star appeared above the horizon right before the Nile floods. The time between one rising of this star and the next is 365 days.

• To keep track of the years, Egyptians counted the years of the pharaohs' reigns. For example, they might refer to the first, second, or tenth years of the reign of a certain pharaoh.

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• In addition to developing a calendar, the Egyptians used a number system based on ten. This system is similar to the decimal system used today. The Egyptians used fractions and whole numbers. They also used geometry to build pyramids and rebuild fields after floods.

• The Egyptians made important discoveries in medicine. They knew a good deal about the human body. They used their knowledge to treat illnesses and to preserve bodies after death. Although Egyptian treatments included "magic spells," they also often involved herbs and medicines.

Education and Religion

• To pass on their knowledge, Egyptians developed an educational system.

• Education focused mainly on an elite group of people called scribes, or clerks.

• Scribes learned to read and write so that they could work for the government.

• Religious instruction formed an important part of Egyptian education. Schools were usually attached to temples. In fact, religion played a major role in Egyptian life.

The gods

In the early days of Egyptian civilization, many villages had their own local god or gods. These gods often had an animal symbol that people considered sacred. Sacred animals included the cat, the bull, the crocodile, and the scarab beetle.

• In time, some of these gods came to be worshiped by people throughout Egypt.

• The most important god was Amon, the creator, identified with the sun.

• Osiris, who judged people after death, was also associated with the Nile River—just as the Nile River regularly flooded and receded, Osiris periodically died and was reborn.

The afterlife

• At first, Egyptians believed that only pharaohs had an afterlife, or life after death. Later, Egyptians believed that everyone, including animals, had an afterlife.

• They believed that in the afterlife a person was judged. The person's heart, which would tell whether the person had lied, murdered, or been too proud, was weighed on a great scale against a sacred feather, the symbol of truth.

• If the scale balanced, the heart had told the truth. It could then enter a place of eternal happiness.

• If the scale did not balance, the heart was thrown to a horrible monster called the Eater of the Dead.

More Information

• Egyptians believed that the body had to be preserved to make life after death possible.

• To do this, they developed a process called mummification.

• Organs were removed from the body, which was then treated with chemicals. This process preserved the body for centuries. Workers placed the mummy in a tomb stocked with clothing, food, tools, and weapons. They even included painted figures that represented servants.

• The number and value of the objects in the tomb depended on the importance of the dead person. The Egyptians considered that the objects were necessary for the afterlife.

Society and Economy

• The pyramids reflected the greatness of the pharaohs. Most Egyptians could never hope for wealth or power.

• They ranked as the equals of their husbands in social and business affairs.

• An Egyptian woman could own property in her own right. She could leave that property to her daughter.

• In many ways, Egyptian women had more freedom and power than women of other cultures in the region.  

Farming

Farmland in Egypt was divided into large estates. Peasants did most of the farming.

Wheat and barley were the chief grain crops. Flax was grown and then spun and woven into linen.

Farmers also grew cotton, just as important to Egypt in ancient times as it is today, for weaving into cloth.

The peasants, however, could keep just part of the crop. The rest went to the pharaoh, who legally owned all land.

The life of a farmer was difficult.

Trade

• Trade was also tightly controlled by the government. Since the peasants of ancient Egypt grew more food than the country needed, Egyptians traded the extra food with other peoples. As trade developed it offered new opportunities to the growing merchant class. Merchants riding donkeys and later camels formed caravans—groups of people traveling together for safety over long distances. Caravans traveled from Egypt to western Asia and deep into Africa. Egyptians also traded by sea. They were among the first people to build seagoing ships. Egyptian ships sailed the Mediterranean and Red Seas and traveled the African coast.