Notes 2.1

City-States of Ancient Sumer

Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

The people of Mesopotamia had to work together to harness the power of the river and floods

Cities, made from earth and water, developed in Sumer around 3,200 B.C.

Sumer gained riches from trade with other regions. Even regions as far away as Egypt and India

Each city-state had a ruler who organized public works and protected its citizens

The hierarchy- system of ranks- contained 1. Ruling family, officials, priests2. Lesser priests, scribes,

merchants, and artisans3. Peasants and slaves

Sumerian religion was polytheistic with a chief god later being named Marduk

They built ziggurat-pyramid temples- to worship their gods

The Sumerians developed cuneiform- a wedge shaped writing style- which they wrote on clay tablets

These tablets were durable, but not economical because of size and difficulty in writing

These city-states fought for dominance of one another for over a thousand years

Finally a city from north of Sumer gained power and conquered the Sumerian civilization