What are the 5 key characteristics of Sumerian civilization?

Terms in this set (7)
  • social structure. Upper class-preists, landowners, and government officials. …
  • Stable food supply. Inventions- complex irrigation system and the plow. …
  • government. to make life orderly in a large group of people. …
  • Religion. affected everyday life. …
  • the arts. craftspeople- Ex. …
  • technology. …
  • Writing.

What was the main characteristics of Sumerian religion?

The Sumerians originally practiced a polytheistic religion, with anthropomorphic deities representing cosmic and terrestrial forces in their world. The earliest Sumerian literature of the third millennium BC identifies four primary deities: An, Enlil, Ninhursag, and Enki.

What are the 5 characteristics of the Mesopotamian civilization?

The cultures of Mesopotamia are considered civilizations because their people: had writing, had settled communities in the form of villages, planted their own food, had domesticated animals, and had different orders of workers.

What are some characteristics of the Sumerian religion and society?

In many ways, religion was the basis for all of Sumerian society. The Sumerians practiced polytheism, the worship of many gods. Among the gods they worshipped were Enlil, the lord of the air; Enki, god of wisdom; and Inanna, god- dess of love and war. The sun and moon were represented by the gods Utu and Nanna.

What did the ancient Sumerians invent?

The wheel, plow, and writing (a system which we call cuneiform) are examples of their achievements. The farmers in Sumer created levees to hold back the floods from their fields and cut canals to channel river water to the fields. The use of levees and canals is called irrigation, another Sumerian invention.

What are the Sumerians best known for?

Known for their innovations in language, governance, architecture and more, Sumerians are considered the creators of civilization as modern humans understand it. Their control of the region lasted for short of 2,000 years before the Babylonians took charge in 2004 B.C.

What was the Sumerians greatest contribution to civilization?

One of the great contributions the Sumerians made to civilization was their many inventions. They invented the first form of writing, a number system, the first wheeled vehicles, sun-dried bricks, and irrigation for farming. All of these things were important for the development of human civilization.

What are the main characteristics of Sumerian society?

Sumerian civilization featured a social class/hierarchical system with a ruling class, upper class, middle class, working-class, and enslaved class. The ruling class of Sumer included the king and the high priests. The largest social class was the working class, which mainly comprised farmers.

Which word describes the religion of the Sumerians?

anthropomorphic polytheism
Sumerians believed in anthropomorphic polytheism, or of many gods in human form, which were specific to each city-state.

Why was Sumerian religion important?

Mesopotamian religion was central to Mesopotamians as they believed the divine affected every aspect of human life.

What type of religion did the Sumerians practice?

The Sumerians were polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods. Each city-state has one god as its protector, however, the Sumerians believed in and respected all the gods. They believed their gods had enormous powers.

What was the most important Sumerian invention?

The two Mesopotamian inventions considered most important are writing and the wheel. Although some scholars contend that the wheel originated in Central Asia (because the oldest wheel in the world was found there), it is generally accepted that the concept originated in Sumer because of the production of ceramics.

What did the Sumerians call god?

Functions. The god Ea (whose Sumerian equivalent was Enki) is one of the three most powerful gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon, along with Anu and Enlil.

What did the Sumerians call themselves?

The Sumerians called themselves “the black headed people” and their land, in cuneiform script, was simply “the land” or “the land of the black headed people”and, in the biblical Book of Genesis, Sumer is known as Shinar.

What did the Sumerians contribute to the world?

Sumerians invented or improved a wide range of technology, including the wheel, cuneiform script, arithmetic, geometry, irrigation, saws and other tools, sandals, chariots, harpoons, and beer.