Religion
Like many people in the Fertile Crescent, Sumerians believed in many different Gods.
- Enlil was the God of storms and air. He was among the most powerful Gods. Sumerians feared him as "the raging flood that has no rival". Demons known as Ugallu protected humans from evil demons. Sumerians describe their gods as very human like. Sumerians built impressive Ziggurats for them and offered rich sacrifices. Sumerians worked hard to earn the gods' protection in life. They expected little help from the gods after death. They believed that the souls went to the land of no return, a dismal, gloomy place between earths crust, and the ancient sea. No joy awaited them there
- The middle class worked with their hands in fields and workshops. At the lowest level of Sumerian society, were the slaves. Some slaves were foreigners that had been captured in war, while some where slaves because of debt. Debt slaves could hope to eventually buy their freedom. Women could hold many jobs, but there were very few Sumerian female scribes
Inventions
- The wheel
- The plow
- The sail
- They were the first to use bronze
- Arithmetic and Geometry
- Architectural innovations
- Cuneiform
The First Empire Builders
- Sargon of Akkad- Sargon defeated the city-states of Sumer, and had then adopted parts of Sumerian culture. His conquest helped to spread the culture even farther then the Tigris and Euphrates valley. Built the first empire which brings several people, nations, or previously independent states under the control of one ruler.
- Babylonian Empire- Nomadic rulers known as Amorites invaded Mesopotamia and gradually overwhelmed the Sumerians, and established their capitol at Babylon. The best ruler was Hammurabi, who created Hammurabi's code.
- Hammurabi's code- single uniform code of laws would help to unify diverse groups within his empire. He collected existing rules, judgements, and laws into the code. It was engraved in stone and copies were placed all over the empire.
No comments:
Post a Comment