Sumer, The World's First Civilization And Historical Region In Mesopotamia?

There were many civilizations that inhabited Mesopotamia, but the first, and most important civilization were the Sumerians. The Sumerians were the base of civilization. They set the foundation for future civilizations to come, and had great influence over all other civilizations, whether culturally or technologically. Although there were many important ancient civilizations, the most significant were the Sumerians due to the fact that they created important mathematical concepts that we still use today, invented technology important to almost all civilizations and is still used today, and developed the first writing system in history.

Beginning with Mesopotamia, according to McKay Mesopotamia was part of the Fertile Crescent, which was where the first agriculture developed (McKay, 35). Moving from Mesopotamia to the city-state Sumer, many farmers brought with them their farming tools and trade abilities so that they could successfully farm in warmer, more arid climates (McKay, 35). Irrigation was a major part of the process and was needed for them to succeed. As the civilization grew, people built temples in Mesopotamia, where farmers would use them to store food items and animals. To the Mesopotamian people, the belief of Polytheism, which is that of many Gods controlling the earth and world, brought a distinct outlook on life (McKay, 36). Sumerian

Ancient civilizations such as Sumeria, Egypt, and Babylon have all contributed to humankind and some way through their major achievements. the achievements of these civilizations have all helped later civilizations develop due to the examples of these past groups. some ancient civilizations developed techniques of farming and others comma some of the first written languages. All of these achievements are equally important for later developing civilizations. The Sumerians were a civilization that helped to contribute to humankind with their achievements involving architecture, weapons, and writing.

When analyzing the biological, cultural, and social, aspects of the ancient Sumerians and modern day humans we see a profuse amount of distinctions and contrasts. Modern humans live in advanced and culturally diverse societies which in comparison makes ancient Sumer’s way of life seem very plain. The two groups evidently share many differences , but the author, Samuel Kramer, argues that in the face of oblivious contrasts, the roots of these two societies are still very fundamentally analogous. Kramer then expands his point to say modern humans and ancient Sumerians are similar and comparable on the content of their character, their reactions to war and conflict, and with the similarity of their social class system.

The Samarra culture developed into the Sumerians, from 4800 to 1750BC, with 19 dynasties and 103 kings that developed into one of the earliest civilizations on earth. Their existence as a civilization was not even discovered until the middle of 1800AD. As a result of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians who wrote about the Babylonians most people did not realize that the Sumerians preceded the Babylonians. Furthermore, it was the Sumerians that developed writing, a religion and numerous agricultural methods, which continued on with the following civilizations.

Civilizations are radical states of human society that include a high level of culture, morals, knowledge, manufacturing, and government. Mesopotamia was one of the most astounding civilizations that anyone discovered. The location of this nation fell right in between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where modern day Iraq is located. It was positioned right along “the fertile crescent”. Because of this, the soil was very rich which caused great agriculture. It was one of the first cultivations to roam the earth. Mesopotamia had many phases, which included the Ubaid, Uruk, Jemdat Nasr, Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian period. Every stage had their own unique trait. Something new and exciting happened for each era. During 4300 BCE, the late Ubaid period in Mesopotamia began. Many events and actions took place during this time. Mesopotamia was an outstanding region and contained many treasures, including pottery, inventions, architecture, and Ziggurats.

The Sumerians created a civilization located in the Fertile Crescent, or Mesopotamia, which is located in the Middle East. The legendary ruler of the Sumerians, Hammurabi, was famous for his set

Mesopotamia is a rich flat plain created by deposits from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. At the southern end of this plain developed the first recognizable civilization, in the area known as Sumer. In 3000 B.C. Sumer contained a dozen or more city-states, each ruled by its own king and worshiped its own patron deity. The citizens of these city-states were classified into three classes: nobles and priests, commoners, and slaves. In the center of a

Did you know that the sumerians made several advancements that impacted their society such as writing.the wheel, and the plow. All of these things had different uses to the Sumerians.

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

This “land between two rivers” held a crucial fragment of countless civilizations that came to fruit after its downfall equivalent to Egypt, Greece and the empire of all empires, Rome. Prominent from 3,500 BCE and 2,300 BCE Sumerian culture flourished in endeavors. According to historical text, this civilization of Mesopotamia became the first to institute and organized religion with temples, priests, and creation stories of “the great flood.” Along with religion, a system of government became instituted to hold each city-state or region under a form of law. The government in these times consisted of a kingship of sorts, where a supreme ruler took control of law creation, enforcement, and punishment—which is similar to the monarch system in modern society. In addition to religion and government, inventions of mathematics, education tactics, and trade networks also came to fruit in Ancient Sumerian society (Cole 7-10).

It is believed that one of the civilizations were Sumer were filled with hunter-gathers who recently evolved from Cro-Magnons to Homo sapiens. The southern part of Mesopotamia lacked resources. But, how would they acquire natural resources. Sumerian ships would travel far distances to collect: lapis lazuli, gold, or copper! But what would they trade? They would usually trade crops. Around 3500 B.C the Sumerians invented the wheel. Making travel by foot much easier… In fact replacing it, with a wagon! But, what else than crops would they trade? The Sumerians invented bronze by combining molten copper, and tin to make bronze. Ushering them into a new era or age. Calling it the “Bronze Age.” Now with this metal, they can produce more durable weapons, jewelry and armor. Increasing their trade!

Through the archeological discoveries, we can infer some details into the lives of the people who originated in the cities of Mesopotamia. The root word of Mesopotamia refers to ‘between rivers’, this infers to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, figure 1. Because the environment influenced people to settle, we can see a change in their political, social, and economic structure as they begin to form a complex society. This is the period where we see a complex engineering system as people started to develop canals and other technologies for a more efficient agricultural development. An early culture to settle in the lowlands of Mesopotamia were the Hassuna culture, their civilization were characterized by “small settlements with a few hundred inhabitants, who lived in rectangular houses with several rooms” (Feuerbach, 2015). Another culture to settle in this area were the Samarran culture; even

Although, we widely attribute the ancient stories of the Sumerians to pure mythology, they went to great lengths to understand and create a way to record their history, society structure, and development; just as we do for historical events today. The most accepted view on what makes a culture civilized or having obtained civilization “is a culture which has attained a degree of complexity, usually characterized by urban life” (Guisepi). As far as the Sumerian culture is concerned, they created our foundation for what we consider today, as the standards for civilization. Even though human exploration and discoveries continue to uncover previously unknown chapters of our story here on earth, the extensive amount of archeological evidence we have for the Sumerians and time frame, allow us to accredit them for over 100 ‘firsts’ for the human civilization from their ingenuities, accomplishments, and inventions. Many of which we can still see in use, in some form, in our modern society today. According to Samuel Kramer, “For those not familiar with this remarkable, resourceful and intelligent people, who not only invented writing but also established the true mythological foundations of all main religions of the world, simply put, they taught us almost everything”.

Mesopotamia and Harappan societies have long been compared throughout the history of archaeology. Mesopotamia, also known as, 'the land between the rivers,' was named for the triangular area between the Tigris and the Euphrates river, (Nov. 7 lecture). In recent use, it covers a broader area referring to most of what is now Iraq. This adds ancient Assyria and Babylonia to the scope of Mesopotamia (Schultz and Lavenda 1995:310). Parts of Mesopotamia were not inhabited at all until approximately 8000 BC when plants and animals were domesticated, bringing about an agricultural revolution. This allowed nomads and cave dwellers to become farmers and herders.(Whitehouse 1977:129).)