SUMERIANS
The Sumerians were one of the earliest urban societies to emerge in the world. The society developed in Southern Mesopotamia more than 5000 years ago, around 4000 BC. The original homeland of the Sumerians is unknown. It is believed that they came from the east, but whether by sea or from the highlands is unknown. Their language is not related to those major language families that later appear in the Near East - Semites and Indo-Europeans.
Their location in Mesopotamia, also known as "the Fertile crescent," was a major part of their lives. Mesopotamia is a region in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The river waters and regular floods made the soil rich. The physical environment there has remained relatively the same since about 8000 B.C.E. The landscape is flat and marshy.
They developed a writing system which influenced most of the alphabets and languages of that area. Eventually, all of these diverse writing systems, became known as cuneiform. Cuneiform is the earliest known systems of writing, successful by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets or clay tokens, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus, the main writing tool. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets, using a reed pen called a stylus. Once dried, these tablets became hard and, fortunately for today's researchers, endured for millennia, a period of thousands of years, in the hot, dry climate.
Sumerian religion has its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water. The ancient sages of Sumer found it necessary to bring order to that which they did not understand and to this end they came to the natural conclusion that a stronger force was at work. The forces of nature were originally worshipped as themselves. However, over time the human form became associated with those forces. Gods in human form were now seen to have take over nature. Each city of the Sumerians had a temple housed, that was a seat of a major god pantheon; all gods of people or religion. Located here, the gods had controlled the powerful forces, which often was said to dictate a humans fate.
Sumerian civilization had many wars and slaves. A female slave was called a mountain girl, and males, mountain men. The sumerians used their slaves for domestics, or concubines, a person who is paid to do tasks. Sumerians had claimed that their gods had given them victory over an inferior people. As cities populated and grew, the more income of swamps ,(water), decreased, causing war between their gods. Sumerian gods made slaves participate in these wars.
Their location in Mesopotamia, also known as "the Fertile crescent," was a major part of their lives. Mesopotamia is a region in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The river waters and regular floods made the soil rich. The physical environment there has remained relatively the same since about 8000 B.C.E. The landscape is flat and marshy.
They developed a writing system which influenced most of the alphabets and languages of that area. Eventually, all of these diverse writing systems, became known as cuneiform. Cuneiform is the earliest known systems of writing, successful by its wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets or clay tokens, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus, the main writing tool. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets, using a reed pen called a stylus. Once dried, these tablets became hard and, fortunately for today's researchers, endured for millennia, a period of thousands of years, in the hot, dry climate.
Sumerian religion has its roots in the worship of nature, such as the wind and water. The ancient sages of Sumer found it necessary to bring order to that which they did not understand and to this end they came to the natural conclusion that a stronger force was at work. The forces of nature were originally worshipped as themselves. However, over time the human form became associated with those forces. Gods in human form were now seen to have take over nature. Each city of the Sumerians had a temple housed, that was a seat of a major god pantheon; all gods of people or religion. Located here, the gods had controlled the powerful forces, which often was said to dictate a humans fate.
Sumerian civilization had many wars and slaves. A female slave was called a mountain girl, and males, mountain men. The sumerians used their slaves for domestics, or concubines, a person who is paid to do tasks. Sumerians had claimed that their gods had given them victory over an inferior people. As cities populated and grew, the more income of swamps ,(water), decreased, causing war between their gods. Sumerian gods made slaves participate in these wars.