The Sumerians' Religion

The Sumerians did not have a direct religion, but like the Egyptians, had many gods and goddesses.
There were gods and goddesses of elements, such as the god of water, there were gods and goddesses of objects, and patron gods and goddesses of a certain city.
Each city-state had a god or goddess. They worshipped mainly that one, but also other gods of important things.
One thing that shows definitely how important religion was is the ranking of people—the high priest was, along with the ruler, the highest ranking man in the city

Sumerian Buildings

The Sumerians made their homes with bundles of reed at first but then turned to sun-dried clay bricks.
The homes were very close together and they had no proper ventilation. There was a garden in the center of the U-shaped home and that is where the Sumerians stayed most of the day, because the inside of the home was damp and dark. Stone buildings were not erected due to a lack of that resource in the area.
Excavations suggest that the interior of these homes were white-washed.
Other types of buildings that the Sumerians had to build were the Ziggurats, the Sumerians’ temples. They were made of bricks also. They were large triangular buildings.

The Sumerians' Government and Class Structure

There were four classes of people in Sumer.
The highest was to be the ruler, high priest or official.
The next was to be a lesser priest, a scribe, merchant or artist.
Peasant farmers were third class, but slaves were the lowest rank.

The Sumerians lived in city-states, governed by powerful war leaders that eventually became rulers.The ruler collected taxes and kept records. They led armies and organized ceremonies to please their gods.
The rulers, along with the high priest and leading officials, had the most responsibility of the city.

The Story of Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was a ruler of Uruk (in Mesopotamia). He was 1/3 human and 2/3 god. Although he was strong and mighty, he was cruel to his people.
The people cried to their god, Anu, and he decides to create another strong person named Enkidu.Enkidu lives in the forest until he is taken to meet Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh, meanwhile, has some dreams, and wonders what they mean, and so he asks his mother. His mother tells him that it means a strong person like Gilgamesh will come to Uruk and Gilgamesh will befriend him.
And so it happens. At first when they meet they have a big fight, but it turns to friendship. Gilgamesh asks Enkidu to come and have a great adventure, to chop down all the trees in the forest, and kill the demon guarding the forest. At first the others say no but then give in.
He prays to Shamash (another Sumerian god) during his trip and gets dreams that Enkidu interprets for him. Then they come and they are lucky, because the demon is only wearing one coat of armour at this time, instead of his usual 7.
They fight with Humbaba, the demon, and Shamash comes and helps the two. Then they proceed, and chop down tall trees to make a gate for Uruk. They use a wood raft to sail down the Euphrates River and go back to his city.
There are more challenges that await him, such as the bull of heaven that a goddess had released on Uruk. Enkidu and Gilgamesh manage to defeat it.
Then the gods decide that someone should pay for the death of the bull of the heaven and Humbaba’s death. They choose Enkidu, and after being sick for a while, he dies.
Gilgamesh is very sad because of Enkidu’s death, and after that he realizes he will die, too. So he goes on a quest for eternal life.
Utnapishtim says to Gilgamesh that he will give Gilgamesh eternal life if he can stay awake for six days and seven nights.
Gilgamesh tries but cannot, but Utnapishtim offers to let him have eternal life if he can get the plant from the bottom of the ocean. Gilgamesh gets it, and he stops to rest for a while, but when he sleeps, a snake comes and eats the plant (this is how snakes became to shed their skin).
Gilgamesh ends up not gaining anything. The tablet on which this account is written ends here.

Sumerian Food

The Sumerians ate what they could. They ate apples, pears, grapes, figs, quinces, plums, apricots, mulberries, melons and pomegranates.
Bread was a large part of the Sumerians' meals. They drank beer, cows mailk and of course water. Fish provided for them a source of protein.
They also ate food from what they grew - they grew barley, chickpeas, lentils, wheat, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks and mustard.

Ziggurats

So we come upon a whole different subject- Ziggurats.
What are they? Well, they're structures of worship for the Sumerians. They would go to worship their gods and goddesses in a pyramid- shaped building. There would be one in every city, and you would go to worship Anu, the primary god and the city's representative god/goddess.

Sumerian Schooling and Education

Cuneiform was hard to learn. To learn it, children went to the temple school and practiced on a clay tablet, probably using a stick to write on it. When the student became better at writing he was told to copy out a book. This helped us rediscover some of the Sumerian texts.
If they ever made a mistake, then it could be smoothed out.
The students also learned a type of math, in a form of numbers that the Sumerians created.
Only a few boys had the chance to go to a school—usually the sons of rich men were picked.

The Sumerians' Art

The Sumerians were wonderful artists. They made jewelry out of precious gold and lapis, fancy chairs, and unglazed vases that kept water cool. They were not very good at sculptures because their artists didn’t have stone to work with. But they made beautiful things with the materials on hand. One of the things they was to create colorful mosaics in intricate patterns using pieces of painted clay. Archaeologists have found remains of their mosaics, helmets, harps, jewelry, pottery, decorated tablets and cylinder seals.

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