Personal Narrative: Sumerian Civilization

Mesopotamian society was nestled in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates river, with freshwater access and fertile lands, it was the earliest hub of human population. Mesoamerica was settled after the first wave of migration from Siberia to Alaska around 13,000 BCE, making them in reality more than a few thousand years behind the Mesopotamian formation of early society. Mesopotamian and Mesoamerican society were similar in regards to order of development, but developed at different rates. Agricultural villages were common in Mesopotamia and Southwest Asia around 6000 BCE, and in Mesoamerica by 2000 BCE. In Mesopotamia monotheism was accepted along with worshiping deities and in Mesoamerica agricultural gods were worshiped through sacrifice. Mesopotamian, city-state government was also well organized sooner than Mesoamericans where government was formed around the need for gods to be constantly worshiped for the good of the society.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

Mesopotamia has changed so much through each king/leader of their time. Later Mesopotamia during Hammurabi was changed significantly in many ways. The economic activity was good causing trade to grow and benefit the people in Babylon, and social status was restored. Hammurapi, or Hammurabi, centralized state authority using diplomatic and military skills to become one of the strongest kings in Mesopotamia (textbook pg 94). During this time, culture was very important to the people because they valued the oral tales and written records of earlier Sumerians and Akkadians. Therefore, scribes would copy the ancient texts and preserve their traditions for generations to come (textbook pg 95). Also, during Hammurabi’s time, there was a rise in the economy because people were able to pay taxes in form of commodities such as grains, vegetables, and wool, which the entrepreneurs exchanged for silver through trades (textbook pg 95). This was a great idea because the people were able to pay with their agricultural products, and the entrepreneurs can sell or trade it for silver. This had significantly create more revenues for the state causing trade to flourish during Hammurabi’s time. The

Mesopotamia, “the Land between Rivers,” was one of the greatest and the oldest ancient civilizations of the world. This civilization flourished around 3000 B.C. on the piece of fertile land, now known as Iraq, between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Before 1792 B.C., the city-states of ancient Mesopotamia were not united and constantly clashed in turmoil and warfare. In 1792 B.C., King Hammurabi conquered and merged the neighboring city states of ancient Mesopotamia, creating a Babylonian empire and becoming the sixth king of its capitol city, Babylon. During his reign, Hammurabi established law and order and funded irrigation, defense, and religious projects. He personally took care of and governed the administration. In

The Mesopotamian people were the first stable civilization. The Mesopotamian people were polytheistic. Polytheistic means they believe in many gods. “The god can affect the fate of humans and they controlled the natural world” (Tuner, 2016). The Mesopotamian people would be afraid of the god since they had more control over them than what they had on themselves. The Mesopotamian people also followed the law very closely. The Code of Hammurabi which was named after a prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers…(King, 2008). The Mesopotamian people also looked up to their kings like Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh talked them about friendships and life. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were best of friends and equals. It was the death of Enkidu when Gilgamesh felt his heart breaking and was willing to do anything to bring his dear friend back to life. When Gilgamesh visits Shiduri she basically tells him to enjoy his life because no one knows when they are going to die. It better living your life being happy and being around the

Mast focused his book on a similar scandal that occurred in Washington called the Watergate scandal with Richard Nixon that displayed similar endeavors that occur in American politics. “The Performative Presidency” is a clearly written and compact book on an important topic too often ignored by social scientists; the performative dimension of politics. Most scholars accept at an abstract level that politics is not fully captured by survey data and analysis of formal political processes. Politics is practiced, it is a lived, social endeavor, and a meaningful or sometimes meaningless experience. It creates fallacies that are fragile to human endeavors, but how one integrates these factors into the study of politics is much less clear. Especially

When you look back in history to the development and the contributions of both the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, you see that there was a lot accomplished, as well as a lot created. The earliest forms of writing developed in Mesopotamia, while Egypt was referred to the “Gift of the Nile” by traveler Herodotus (McKay,42). Development of cities was another major marker, especially in the “old world”, of how people eventually determined civilizations and what they represented. According to McKay, civilizations were determined by people who considered themselves more “civilized”, urban people mostly. Made up of cities, written rules of law, and social justice codes, Mesopotamia and Egypt would develop into two of the largest civilizations in history.

Mesopotamia and Egypt are known as the “place of the first civilization” followed by the Hebrews. These three societies traded extensively, but there was a difference in economic area. Mesopotamia was more productive of technological improvements, because their environment was more difficult to manage than the Nile valley. Trade contacts were more extensive, and the Mesopotamians gave attention to a merchant class and commercial law. Priests were part of the trades because they possessed surplus produce collected as rents from the farmers using temple land. Before merchants gained power as independent entrepreneurs; they used to serve the king and the temple priest.

Egypt and Mesopotamia were two civilizations existing during the time period of 2000-1200 BCE. These civilizations were shaped by their environment, involved with trade, and faced changes in government after the 100 year drought; however, they differed in that Egypt was shaped by the Nile, traded goods for goods and changed their outlook on the pharaoh who was ruler of all; whereas, Mesopotamia was shaped by the Tigris and Euphrates, traded money for goods, and had a ruler over rulers. It is undeniable that the natural environment of ancient Mesopotamia had a profound effect on the earliest civilizations known to the world. Humankind’s ability

The Epic of Gilgamesh is generally regarded as the greatest literature about tales of a great king. The Epic of Gilgamesh served to show us a lot of things. The time period of BCE is very blurry, and this story attempts to describe many different things in not only Sumerian beliefs, but also Sumerian's culture as a whole. Like many stories from BCE the truth itself is questionable, even though a lot of the information is fact. The factual information that Gilgamesh teaches us about Sumerian Civilization is that had had many craftsman and artistic skills, and also a strong belief in Gods.

There is also an abundance of texts in the archives referring to Kish, Mari, and Emar, in particular, which indicates that there was contact between scribal circles in Northern Syria and Mesopotamia and that this contact was continuous (Matthiae 1980a, 159). The discovery of objects made in Ebla but found in places like Sumer, Ur, Mari and Kish such as composite statues and cylinder seals (Matthiae 1980a, 151) highlights once more that trade and contact between cities was an essential part of the Syrian and Mesopotamian culture and that Ebla itself was a booming economic centre.

Mesopotamia was the foundation of western civilization. This was around 3500 BC when cities started evolving in world history. It was also known as the “land between the rivers.” The first city-states developed in southern Mesopotamia by the Sumerian citizens around 4000 BC. The history begins at Sumer; this society brings many things to the table for a starting civilization. In 3500 BC the Sumerian people learned their own writing system. They would write on cuneiforms, clay blocks which were easy to be transported but they were very fragile. The Sumerian people had an independent government which was ruled by a king, Sargon. The cities as well as

Mesopotamians developed specialized crafts and supported private entrepreneurship. They also were involved in foreign and domestic trade.

Ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt are two of the earliest and greatest civilizations to ever exist. They both show the transition from a Paleolithic society into a settled civilization. Nevertheless, Mesopotamia has been a worldwide centre of awe and amazement . The first written language created by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia became the first means of of written communication for humankind.The spread of agriculture created a new way of life and evolved man from nomadic hunters into civilized people . Most important of all, the creation of the wheel opened up a new way for transportation to be carried out. Between both civilizations, it ancient Mesopotamia left the greatest impact on posterity.

It is undeniable that the natural environment of ancient Mesopotamia had a profound effect on the earliest civilizations known to the world. Humankind’s ability to control irrigation waters directly correlates with the rise of mass agriculture. With this mastery of their river environment, early farmers were capable of supporting large urban populations. However, in Mesopotamia the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were both a source of life as well as destruction for early societies. In many ways, the geography of ancient Mesopotamia fostered a sense of catastrophic determinism within the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians. The scarcity of resources as well as the untamable nature of their deluge environment led these early people to