The Presence-Absence Of Opium In Sumerian Cuneiform

Bullae were clay envelopes with inscriptions made on its sealed outer surfaces. Their appearances were consequently quite distinct despite all shaping like balls, with some even being found opened or broken upon excavation. According to the reading selection, they served a multitude of purposes such as guaranteeing the authenticity of contents within and serving as a bill of lading for the transport of goods. It was originally suggested that the various unique embeddings on bullae reflected the exact number and shape of the tokens, but the correlation was in fact discovered to be shaky. Additionally contrary to popular belief, the author strongly supported the fact that these clay objects supplemented writing (possibly as tallies) instead

Throughout history men and women have been consuming psychotrophic substances for various purposes, including for relaxation, to achieve a state of euphoria, or to alter consciousness in order to find spiritual enlightenment. References to the opium poppy, which has been a major source of these psychotrophic substances, have been discovered in writings as far back as that of the Sumerians in 3300BC (Fernandez 1998:3). Opium has been used in various forms over the centuries for medicinal in addition to recreational purposes.

Sumerians made life easier because they made several advancements. Some of them help them with writing, building, and planting. Writing would help them because it developed language. The wheel helped because they helped make carts and wagons. The plow helped because it broke through hard clay for soil planting.

References to opium as “the herb of joy” appear described in ancient Samarian Tablets excavated in what is now Iraq, dating from about 5000 BCE.(2006, Lee) It went from Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians back to the island of Cyprus. Approximately 460 BC Hyppocrates “Father of Medicine”, used opium to treat disease and epidemics. Opium is definitely the oldest drug in the world.

In this introduction, There are three major achievements and advancements that impacted the Sumerian society. The Sumerians invented three advancements and achievements that impacted their society which was the plow, the wheel, and the invention of writing and how these ways it impacted the their society and help the Sumerians.

Whenever the phrase Western Civilization is used, I keep thinking that the term is possibly a misnomer. Considering that most if not all of western civilization sits on the pillars of thought that arose from the East. Hammurabi's code of laws could be considered the founding of western civilization. I would argue that every aspect of western civilization is based or at least influenced based on the laws of the land. These ideas did not stop in ancient Babylon. They spread to the Greek islands and mainland, and from there the Romans took from the Greeks. From the Romans, the Christian Kings took their ideas and spun them into their own version. The Christian Kings then gave way to the Renaissance, and from the Renaissance to the Age of Exploration

There are three major cultures that arose in Mesopotamia form 3000-1600 B.C. The Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian Kingdoms are the cultures that arose in Mesopotamia. Each culture wanted to succeed, do great things, and become powerhouses that no one wanted to mess with.

An important technological advancement in the history of mankind was the invention of writing language. Known as cuneiform at the time, its origination hailed from a place in southern Mesopotamia called Sumer in 3500-3000 BCE. The process during its invention involved making markings in wet clay with a reed-like instrument. The reason for its invention was for the flourishment of commerce. The Sumerians needed a way to communicate with merchants and customers from between large expanses of land and sea. They used pictographs in order to scale the quantity of resources required in the trade and represent different objects. To communicate ideas more complex than financial transactions or lists and quantities, a more elaborate writing system was

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 believe their futures veered on a harsh predetermined course. This essay will demonstrate that many prominent sources in ancient literature, law codes, and archaic Sumerian religion reflect the rigorous geographic and natural conditions which caused this deterministic mindset.

Most historians consider Sumerians the first civilization because the Sumerians had a stable food supply, a social structure, a system of government, a religious system, a religious system, a highly developed way of life, some type of technology, and a highly developed written language. To keep up a stable food supply the Sumerians invented two things that could help them. One of those two things was that the Sumerians built network of canals, dams, and reservoirs to allow crops act the sufficient and regularly supply of water. The second invention was the plow. A plow is forming tool that helps prepare the soil for planting. This invention increased the farming for the Sumerians. The first plows were made of wood and

The civilization of ancient Mesopotamia rose in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The rivers were good for fishing and a good source of water. Some say that this fertile crescent was the real garden of Eden. The natural barriers it had was the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. King Nebuchadazzar was the one who developed the civilization. Herodotus was quoted as saying the following: “ in addition to its size baby ion surpasses in splendor any city in the known world. The walls they made was fifty six miles in length eighty feet thick and three hundred twenty feet high. The doors were able to let four house carriages to turn though at the same time. The Sumerians invented a number system from one to sixty and writing called Cuneiform. Even though their writing was hard to understand

contact with the gods when statues of the gods were carried through the streets to be

Tr (of beliefs): both the egyptians and mesopotamians had empires with strong bases formed from their beliefs and polytheism, but the egyptians would take it to a new level. “In mesopotamia, kings were considered to be representatives of the gods. To the egyptians, kings were gods. The egyptian god-kings, pharaohs, were thought to be almost as splendid and powerful as the gods of the heavens.” (37) thus, creating a theocracy.

Relationships with traders grew to where they would exchange for spices from Punt, stones from Bacteria, and wood

Although, the ancient stories of the Sumerians are widely attributed to pure mythology, they went to great lengths to understand and create a way to record their history, discoveries, and development. The most accepted view on what makes a culture civilized, “is a culture which has attained a degree of complexity, usually characterized by urban life” (Guisepi). Even though human exploration continues to discover previously unknown chapters of the Sumerian story, the extensive amount of archeological evidence found and the time frame; allows us to accredit them for the foundation of what is considered today, as the standards for human civilization. Everything from their mythological creation,