The Ancient Sumerians' Daily Life

The ancient Sumerians Daily life FAQ-

What did the Sumerians eat?
The Sumerians ate what was available to them. They had apples, pears, grapes, figs, quinces, plums, apricots, mulberries, melons, and pomegranates.
Bread was a large part of their meals, and they drank large amounts of beer. They ate fish as their source of protein.
They did drink cows’ milk, but it turned sour very quickly.
Also see- What types of food did the Sumerians harvest?

What types of food did the Sumerians harvest?
The Sumerians grew barley, chickpeas, lentils, wheat, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks and mustard.

What importance did animals have in Sumerian daily life?
Cattle, sheep, goats and oxen were raised by the Sumerians. Oxen were their primary beasts of burden and donkeys were their primary transport animal. Sumerians fished and hunted.

What did the Sumerians wear?
The Sumerians wore clothes made mainly of wool or flax.
Men were bare-chested and wore skirt-like pieces of clothing that they tied at the waist. Women wore gowns that covered them from shoulder to ankle.
Their left their right arm and their right shoulder uncovered.
During special occasions, they would wear bright, precious stones such as the lapis lazuli and the carnelian.

In what types of homes did the Sumerians live?
The Sumerians lived in homes built of sun-dried clay bricks. The reason they did not use wood or any other types of materials was that they had no other type of building material.

How did the Sumerians trade?
They could use the two rivers that outlined Sumer – the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Also see- What importance did animals have in Sumerian daily life?

What were some of the crafts that the Sumerians did?
The Sumerians were famed for their mosaics made of little painted pieces of clay. They also painted and sculpted, and they used a lot of clay.
The Sumerians invented the cylinder seal, which is a form of printing. They would have a cylinder with a message or design engraved in reverse. They would roll the seal on wet clay and make a ‘positive’ impression on the clay.

What type of government did the Sumerians have?
Sumer had many independent city- states that were governed by powerful war leaders.
The ruler collected taxes and kept records. They led armies and organized ceremonies to please their gods.

What was the class structure of Sumer?
The ruling family, leading officials and high priest had the highest rank in the city-state’s hierarchy.
Merchants, artisans, lesser priests and scribes were second-class.
Next was peasant farmer. But the lowest rank was slave.

What type of religion did the Sumerians have?
The Sumerians had an association with a different god for every city, but they worshipped An as their primary god.
The Sumerians thought that their god was angry when there was an earthquake or storm.

What were some of the scientific achievements of Sumer?
The Sumerians invented the wheel, had the oldest known writing system, figured out how to brew beer, had a form of arithmetic, made footwear and invented many tools that we use today, such as the hammer.

Composed by Kate yoon