Civilization: Case Study of Ur in Sumer

Chapter 1 Section 3

I Villages Grow into Cities• Agriculture allowed nomadic people to make

permanent settlements & organize agricultural communities– Farming & invention of tools made daily work

easier allowed communities to support more peoplecaused populations to rise

• From these villages emerges cities together with more complex social relationships

A. Economic Changes• Ancient people built

irrigation systems to produce extra crops– Extra food freed up people

to pursue other jobs and develop other skills

• Craftspeople began making products like pottery, woven cloth, & metal objects

• Traders profited from exchanging these products, grain, and raw materials

These most important inventions allowed for transportation of goods across long distances

B. Social Changes• Large irrigation systems require cooperation &

labor of many in the village– Groups of workers formed social classes with

different wealth, power, & influence emerged– As cities grow, social classes would be clearly

defined

• Religion becomes more organized– Old Stone Age religioin

centers around nature, animal spirits, & afterlife

– New Stone Age saw people worshiping gods & goddesses who had power over forces of nature

– City dwellers develop rituals around these beliefs

II What is Civilization?• Civilization= complex culture with 5

Characteristics:1. Advanced cities2. Specialized workers3. Complex institutions4. Record keeping5. Advanced technology

A. Advanced CitiesUr • City is not

determines by a large population but by the fact that it is the center of trade for a larger area– Like todays city

residents, they depended on trade and developed goods of their own

B. Specialized Workers• As cities grow, so does the need for specialized

workers– Food surplus allowed opportunity for cultivating

skills and specialization of work– Specialization= development of skills in specific

kind of work• Artisans= skilled workers who made goods by

hand– Made jewelry, tools, weapons, etc. which helped

make cities the center of trade

C. Complex Institutions• Growing population made institutions like gov’t

necessary– Government= a system of ruling– Institution= a long lasting pattern of organization in

a community• Religion became a formal institution with

building of large temples– Sumerians believed every city belonged to a god

that lived in the temple and governed the cities activities

• Temples became city’ economic center

D. Record Keeping• As institutions became

complex people needed to keep records– Tex collections, laws, grain

storage• Most civilizations

developed system of writing– Sumerian scribes, or

professional record keepers, invented a form of writing called cuneiform

• Cuneiform means “wedge shaped”

• Ealier wumerian writing consisted of pictographs– Pictographs= symbols of the

objects or things they represented

• Scribe used stylus to press into wet clay tablets– Tablets dried in sun to

preserve writing

• Eventually used writing to keep accounts of wars, natural disasters, kings

• The beginning of civilization in Sumer also signaled the beginning of written history

E. Advanced Technology• Farmers began to use

power of animals and nature– Ox drawn plows to turn soil– Created irrigation system

• Artisans used technology such as the 1st potter’s wheel

• Sumerian workers also discovered that melting copper & tin made a stronger metal called bronze

• Bronze Age= the time when people began using bronze rather than copper and stone to make tools and weapons

III Civilizations Emerge in Ur• Ur, one of the earliest cities in Sumer, is locate

din modern day Iraq• Ur was flourishing city in which people lived in

well defined social classes

A. An Agricultural Economy• Ox driven plows cultivate fieldirrigation

ditches carry water into fields from resovoir miles away

B. UR’s Thriving Trade

• People in Ur do not use coines because they were not yet invented

• People barter– Barter=the way of tradeing goods and services

without money

The Temple: Center of City Life• Ziggurat= massive

pyramid shaped monument within the temple gates– Temple houses storage

areas for grains, fabrics, & gems

D. A Religious Ritual Recorded

• Cuneiform tablets reveal Sumerian burial rituals and beliefs in afterlife– Foods mentioned in rituals suggest they grew

wide range of crops• Ur is model of first early cities– Others were prospering in other civilizations in

Egypt, China, & other countries