Sumer Brandon Mark, Chris Charran, Keara Pagniello, Sarah Ahmed and Sybil Tong

The term "Sumerian" is the common name given to the ancient non-Semitic inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia, Sumer, by the Semitic Akkadians.

The Sumerians referred to themselves as "the black-headed people".

SumerReligionKeara Pagniello

There was no organized set of gods

Each city-state had its own patrons, temples and priest-kings.

But since the Sumerians were the first ones to write down their beliefs, it was the inspiration for the much later Mesopotamian mythology, religion and astrology.

Who did Sumerians worship?

Tell Asmar votive sculpture 2750-2600 BC

Anu;as a full time god, equivalent to “heaven” – indeed, the word “an” in Sumerian means “Sky” and his consort Ki means “earth”

Ur III (Middle Bronze Age) form of the cuneiform character DINGIR (AN) (dingir), meaning "heavens" or "deity" 

Enki;in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god on beneficence, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industiries and manners of civilization; The first law book was considered his creation

Enki

Enlil;was the lord of ghost-land, in the north at the temple of Nippur. His gifts to mankind were said to be spells and incantations that the spirits of good or evil were compelled to obey,

Enlil with his wife, Ninlil

Inanna;the deification of venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk.

This is Inanna on the Ishtar Vase in the French museum Louvre.

One version of the star symbol of Inanna/Ishtar

Nanna;

was the sun god at Ur

Utu;

was the moon god at Sipper

These deities were probably the original matrix: there were hundreds of minor

deities.

The Sumerian gods related with different cities and their religious importance often grew and advised with those cities political power.

Sumerians believed that the universe consisted of a flat disk enclosed by a tin dome. The Sumer afterlife involved a descendant into a gloomy netherworld to spend eternity in a worthless existence as a ghost.

ZigguratSumerian temples had a central nave with aisles along either side. Next to the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one end there would be a podium and a mudbrick table for sacrifices. Granaries and storehouses were located near the temples. After a time the Sumerians began to build the temples on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of rising terraces.

Sumer

Intellectual and Writing

Sarah Ahmed

Writing

Sumerians have the oldest known text to humans. This form of writing is called cuneiform.

They Even Had Developed Their Own Alphabet

There’s Nothing Like It!

The Sumerian language is a language isolate in linguistics. It belongs to no known language family!!!

They Even Developed Their Own Style of Counting…

The Sumerian continued to be the language of religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic speakers had become the ruling race.

Spoken in Southern Mesopotamia from at least the 4th millennium BC.

Replaced by Akkadian as a spoken language around 2000 BC, but continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial and scientific language in Mesopotamia until about 1 AD.

That’s 4001 years of existence!

Architecture The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the ziggurats, large layered platforms which supported temples. Some scholars have theorized that these structures might have been the basis of the Tower of Babel described in Genesis.

The Arch

The Sumerians also developed the arch, which enabled them to develop a strong type of roof called a dome. They built this by constructing several arches.

SumerScience & Technology

Sybil Tong

Sumerian Inventions

The wheel (c. 3700 BC)

The potter’s wheel

Boats and ships (wood, reeds, skins, etc.)

Beer

Tools and Weapons (ex. saws, chisels, hammers, nails etc.)

Bronze metal

Science and Math

Math system based on the numeral 60

Algebra and Geometry

System of weights and measures

Irrigation systems

Sewer system

Mapped constellations

Agriculture

Barter/trade system

Importance

Geographical conditions in Mesopotamia were poor

Without Sumerian technology, there would not have been a successful civilization

Without Sumer, there would not have been any other of the Mesopotamian city states

SumerGovernment and LawChris Charran

The King

The king was responsible for constructing buildings and temples, maintaining the city borders and irrigation systems, and enforcing the laws. Even though the king had power, he was not allowed to act as a dictator.

King Followers/Enforcers

The king had people known as Scribes, which were like the public secretaries. Their duty was to collect taxes and keep records for the government.

The king also had Advisors who assisted him in decisions; also helped him ruled and ensured that people obeyed his laws.

Sumerian people also had to pay taxes (land, crops, etc.) to the government.

King Hammurabi

The Akkadian Dynasty only lasted 200 years in Mesopotamia, and a new king was crowned his name was King Hammurabi.

King Hammurabi devised a plan to rule over such a large area but with structure and justice.

The King Hammurabi created what is known as the “Code of Hummaurabi”. The code was written by Hammurabi himself. Its goal was to maintain a society of strict and justice and that the strong may not opress the weak

The Code

The Code was above everyone, even the king was not exempted from the law. There were very severe punishments for whoever broke the code; sometimes it might even lead to death depending on what law was broken.

The code was openly displayed to all of the citizens of Sumerian, in doing so nobody could say they did not know the law, and use that as an excuse.

The Code

The code was carved in stone, and as a result it was binding and it could not change no matter who was being punished by the code.

Hammurabi code provided a clear separation of religious authority and non-religious authority.

SumerMilitaryBrandon Mark

The Sumerian military were the first to invent many weapons and defenses

making them far beyond other nations or empires at

the time.

Some of the inventions consisted of; Helmets, Socket axes, Sickle swords, chariots, and full plated body armor.

The first uses of helmets were extremely important at this time

for one reason; it protected them from one of the deadliest

weapons at the time (the mace).

Socket axes were also crucial during this time period because

of their potential to pierce armor and replacing the mace.

Sickle swords and chariots became some of the most used

tools later in history for their military purposes. The fact that

the Sumerians invented the chariot suggests that they also

invented the wheel.

The first use of plated body armor was also from the

Sumerians along with their fighting style called Phalanxes.

Phalanxes are organized six files deep, with an eight-man front all bearing shields and spears.

The use of Phalanxes was extremely difficult and

suggested that the Sumerians were the first civilization in human history to have a

standing professional army.