Sumerian City-States

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Definition A city is a political unit in with the city and the surronding area.

Click on the following button and watch the video to learn how the city-State of Ur was organised. Stop the video at 5'50. You can watch it several times.

Key vocabulary : rampart : protection walls ziggurat : temple canal : something built to bring the water into the city port fields .

Agriculture or farming was very important in Mesopotamia because it helped early societies grow a surplus of food that could feed everyone and to practice trade. This also let to an increased division of labor, which is an arrangement in which workers specialize on a particular task. Not everyone had to be farmers, so some could work other jobs that helped their community.

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Click on this button to watch the video and learn more about social hierarchy in the Ancient societiesStart the video at 5'52 and stop at 8'48

Religion played a large role in Mesopotamian society. Sumerians practiced polytheism (=belief in more than one god). They believed that gods had the power to bring a good harvest or flood, depending on the actions of the Sumerians.

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A scribe was someone who knew how to write and often recorded important information and kept records. Instead of paper, they used clay tablets, and instead of pens or pencils, they used a reed stylus.