Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (from Greek, meaning between two rivers - the Tigris and the Euphrates) was an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean (corresponding to today’s Iraq, mostly, but also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey). The ancient ruins of Sumer were discovered in the 19th century. We know a lot about Sumer through the study of artifacts and monuments found onsite. Dated anywhere from 4000-6000 BC, Sumer is the oldest known culture on Earth and Sumerians were the first to build cities in this part of the world. Some great cities of Sumer were Ur and Uruk. Through studying the 6 primary sources given, I developed 3 main ideas about what life in Ancient Sumer was like and I will discuss these below.
Ancient Sumerians were governed …show more content…
They invented the wheel, plow irrigation and writing to name a few. They invented cuneiform so they could communicate to others across the land and to create rules that stay as rules for a long time. Primary source 4 (c. 2400 BC, found in Telloh) is an example of this. It is a letter sent by the high-priest Lu’enna to the king of Lagash, informing him of his son's death in combat. Source 3 is an image of a Ziggurat which is a temple tower made of bricks. They are believed to be dwelling places for the gods. Only priests were permitted inside.
There were defining classes within Sumerian culture, this is shown through the clear distinction in the laws outlined in Source 2 and through the many famous stone carvings from the sumerians of their ancient gods, like source 5 which is a stone carving of all the gods. These stone carvings were placed in the Mesopotamian temples by the worshippers to stand in perpetual prayer to thank them for what they have done.
In conclusion, from analysing and researching my primary sources, I can see that life in Ancient Sumer was a highly developed, religious and class structured civilization. I can see this from the example of cuneiform, (source 4) an early system of communication, the list of laws believed to be orders from the gods (source 2) which clearly outlined how you would be treated/punished in Sumer according to your
Ancient Sumerians were governed …show more content…
They invented the wheel, plow irrigation and writing to name a few. They invented cuneiform so they could communicate to others across the land and to create rules that stay as rules for a long time. Primary source 4 (c. 2400 BC, found in Telloh) is an example of this. It is a letter sent by the high-priest Lu’enna to the king of Lagash, informing him of his son's death in combat. Source 3 is an image of a Ziggurat which is a temple tower made of bricks. They are believed to be dwelling places for the gods. Only priests were permitted inside.
There were defining classes within Sumerian culture, this is shown through the clear distinction in the laws outlined in Source 2 and through the many famous stone carvings from the sumerians of their ancient gods, like source 5 which is a stone carving of all the gods. These stone carvings were placed in the Mesopotamian temples by the worshippers to stand in perpetual prayer to thank them for what they have done.
In conclusion, from analysing and researching my primary sources, I can see that life in Ancient Sumer was a highly developed, religious and class structured civilization. I can see this from the example of cuneiform, (source 4) an early system of communication, the list of laws believed to be orders from the gods (source 2) which clearly outlined how you would be treated/punished in Sumer according to your