Two rivers flow from the mountains of what is now called Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, and finally to the Persian Gulf. Over six thousand years ago, the waters of these rivers provided the lifeblood that allowed the formation of farming settlements. These grew into villages and then cities.
The region's curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the Fertile Crescent. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain that became known as Mesopotamia.
Meso= In between
Potam= River
Mesopotamia means the land between the twin rivers.
Potam= River
Mesopotamia means the land between the twin rivers.
The rivers farming Mesopotamia are the Tigris and Euphrates.
These rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year.
These rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year.
Over a long period of time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with these problems.
- To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to their fields.
- For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks.
- Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the peoples of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they received raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal.
These five key characteristics set Sumer apart from other earlier human societies:
1. Advanced cities
2. Specialized Workers
3. Complex Institutions
4. Record Keeping
5. Improved Technology
1. Advanced cities
2. Specialized Workers
3. Complex Institutions
4. Record Keeping
5. Improved Technology
Dust is their fare and clay their food.
This was in a Sumerian poem which describes the fate of the dead souls.