| Sumerians were people who inhabited southern | | | | houses clustered together on narrow lanes. Some |
| Mesopotamia from around 3500 BC to 1800 BC. | | | | houses were two to three stories high and the |
| They had formed twelve city states, the most | | | | Sumerians had learnt very early how to make |
| famous being Ur and Sumer. A common language | | | | bricks and dry them in the sun or a kiln. The cities |
| called Sumerian was followed throughout these | | | | were protected by a wall all around it and the |
| cities. Though there are no modern day | | | | poor people's settlements were outside these |
| descendants of Sumerians, Sumerian culture lives | | | | walls with houses made of reeds plastered in clay. |
| on mainly due to their inventions. No other ancient | | | | Like every other ancient society, the Sumerian |
| culture has contributed so much to today's world | | | | culture was centered on gods. The cities were |
| as the Sumerian culture. We know so much about | | | | built around the shrine of a local god. Any city's |
| the Sumerian culture due to tone of their | | | | wealth was reflected in the elaborate structures |
| inventions too - writing. | | | | of its temples. Ramps and staircases led to the |
| The Sumerians formed the first human | | | | temples which stood on raised platforms. Temples |
| settlement bringing to an end the nomadic ways | | | | were not only religious shrines but the entire |
| of ancient man. They were an agricultural culture | | | | Sumerian culture and its people depended on |
| and raised crops in three areas. Inside the cities | | | | them for daily life. The temple complex had |
| they kept highly cultivated gardens, while the | | | | quarters for the priest, officials, accountants, |
| cultivation of crops and other food sources came | | | | singers and musicians. It also served as a treasure |
| from agricultural fields outside the city. The third | | | | house for the city and a storehouse for grains, |
| region was away from water resources mainly | | | | tools and weapons. Workshops for professions |
| for grazing of the domesticated animals, hunting | | | | which were the mainstream of Sumerian culture |
| and for collection of fuel. The salty and stagnant | | | | were in the temple complex as well. These |
| water from the canals were used for growing the | | | | included bakers, pottery makers, jewelers, |
| highly nutritious date-palms. In order for | | | | leatherworkers and spinners and weavers. Sheep |
| agriculture, the Sumerians needed irrigation. This | | | | and goat meant for sacrifice to the temple gods |
| paved way to the development of canals and | | | | were also kept within the complex. |
| embankments to control flood waters from the | | | | Sheep, goat, oxen, donkeys and dogs had been |
| Euphrates River. Large scale cooperation was | | | | domesticated though horses and camels were still |
| needed to keep the irrigational canal building | | | | unknown. The Sumerian culture has been |
| continuing, repairing them and finally to address | | | | responsible for several inventions as they |
| concerns and allot water shares. This gave rise to | | | | progressed as a race. The plow for agriculture, |
| monarchy, government and laws. The Sumerian | | | | the wheel for trading carts, sail boats for moving |
| culture continuously invented and reinvented to | | | | bulky goods up the river and above all writing was |
| perfection. | | | | invented to make easier the job of remembering |
| Sumerian villages were built on mounds with | | | | details of trade. |