Chapter 3 Section 2The Rise of Sumer

An Advanced Society

• What is rural? It means countryside. Most people of Sumer lived in these areas and were called Sumerians.

• What is urban? This means a city area. Some of Sumer’s cities had over 100,000 inhabitants.

AncientUR

AncientUr

today

City-States of Sumer

• What is a city-state?• A city-state consisted

of a city and all the countryside around it.

• The amount of countryside depended on the military strength, fighting each other for more farmland.

AncientBabylon

Babylontoday

Who was Gilgamesh?• Gilgamesh was one of

Uruk’s kings around 2700 BC Uruk was a city-state of Sumer.

• To many, he was a mythological demigod, 2/3’s god 1/3 man.

• He had the famous walls of Uruk built.

• He became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature.

StoryAbout

GilgameshOn

Clay tablet

Stonecarving

of Gilgamesh

The Rise of the Akkadian Empire

• Who were the Akkadians? They were a group of people who lived north of Sumer and were not Sumerians.

• They had a different language and lived in peace with the Sumerians for many years.

Who was Sargon?

• Sargon was an Akkadian king who ruled from 2334-2279 BC. He was a king who like to go to war to capture neighboring kingdoms. It was said that his army defeated Gilgamesh and tore the walls of Uruk down.

Soldiers werefirst to usebows and

arrows

What is an Empire?

• An empire is land with different territories and peoples under a single rule.

• Sargon was said to be the first king to create a multi-cultural, centrally ruled empire that lasted for 56 years. Babylonian

ruins

Religion Shapes SocietySumerian Religion

• What is polytheism? It is the worship of many gods.

• Sumerians worshipped many gods.• Each city-state worshipped one god as its

protector.

Ziggurat is a place

of worship Sumeriangod

Sumerian Social Order

• Who are priests? Priests are people who performed religious ceremonies. They had high social status in Sumer. People relied on them to help gain god’s favor. They also interpreted the wishes of the gods.

Sumerianpriest

Ziggurat

What is social hierarchy?

• Social hierarchy is the division of society by rank or class.

• Kings• Priests/Priestesses• Skilled craftspeople,

merchants, traders• Farmers and laborers• Peasants/Slaves• Traders, farmers and

laborers made up the large working class.

Laborersand

slaves

Kingand

priest

Men and Women in Sumeria

• Men and women had different roles.

• Men held political power and made laws.

• Women took care of children and the home.

• Some upper class women were educated and were priestesses in the temples and helped shape Sumerian culture.

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The Sumerian city of Ur

• Ur was not discovered until the 1800’s. Until that time, people thought Ur was a legend. Excavations in the 1920’s indicated that the city was established around 4000 BC. In the 1950’s archaeologists found the oldest known written laws at Ur They date back to 2050BC.

Summary

• Sumerian city-states were formed early in Mesopotamian history and were very successful. Religion and society were very important in Sumerian’s lives.

Hanging Gardensof ancientBabylon

Ishtar’sGate