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Sumer
The ancient civilization of Sumer gave the world one of the most valuable advances to society. Founded between 4,500 and 4,000 B.C., Sumer had a major impact on future civilizations. The Sumerian government was powerful. Their economy flourished due to advances in farming. Socially though, they had the greatest influence on future societies. The Sumerians introduced to the world the first writing system. “… The most important aspect of Sumerian culture, and the one that has had the most lasting impact on the modern world and history, was the innovation of the Sumerian system of writing ” (petoskeyschools.org).
Sumer had a strong political government made up of twelve city-states. Each city-state had an enormous wall built around it for protection. The city-states traded with each other, but also fought to conquer more land. Each city-state was governed by a priest king who was held responsible for making the laws. Taxes were enforced to hire scribes. Traders developed extensive commerce using Sumer’s irrigations systems along land and sea. Also, every city-state was set up with identical class systems. The highest class included scholars and priests. The farmers made up the middle class, and lastly, the slaves were of the lowest rank. All of these factors contributed to Sumer’s strong political government.
The Sumerian’s economy largely consisted of farming and producing food. Each farm had private ownership. The Sumerians had many farms and produced an excess amount of food which made it possible for the development of the city-states. This was a major part in the Sumer civilization, as the Sumerians didn’t have to move from place to place to gather enough food. Instead, the Sumerians could focus more on making arts and crafts to trade, which helped increase jobs. As trade with their partners increased rapidly, the Sumerians developed the first monetary system, using special sea-shells for coins. These are some of the reasons why

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