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- sumer's cities were surrounded by mudflats and patches of scorching dessert.
- sumerians became very independent.
- the population of the city states ranged from 5,000-20,000 people.
- they used mud from rivers as their main building material.

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- the sumerians built the first cities in southwest asia.

- the cities became the center of civilization that controlled the lower parts of the tigris and Euphrates valleys.

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Early mesopotamian farmers used water from the tigris and euphrates Rivers to water their field
- farmers could not rely on rivers all the time
-mountains cause rivers to overflow
-people learned how build dams

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kings, priests, warriors, and government officials belonged to the upper class. Merchants, farmers, fishers, and artisans belonged to the middle class. the lowest class consisted of enslaved people, criminals, and poor people.

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Sumerians made cuneiform, a writing system with around 1,200 different characters. They wrote on clay because they didn't have access to paper.
Some people were scribes. These people's job was to write things down. Some were even judges or other officials!

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-Farmer raised goats, sheeps, and pigs.
-Sumerians where very good metalworkers
-Sumerians traded wheat, barely, and tools for timber, minerals, and metals.

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-most people in Sumer were farmers
-wheat, barley, and dates were major crops in the area
-the sumerians didn't have all the materials so they traded to obtain metals
-sumerian merchants traveled to places like egypt.

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-The Sumerians worshiped many gods
-Their belief is Polytheism, by worshiping many gods like the ones that influence what you do.
-They honored all the gods, each city state had its own god they claimed as their own
-They liked plowing and Brick-Making
-They had city-states
-They had a large temple called Ziggurat
-The first kings thought over time the son could take over
-the wives had no power

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Technology and Mathematics
-Made many useful inventions
-The Sumerians studied mathematics and astronomy
-The Sumerians were the first people to use the wheel

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The first civilization developed around 3000 BC in river valleys in:
-Mesopotamia
-Egypt
-India
-China
What civilizations had in common:
-social classes
-government
-better technology
-religion

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-The Mesopotamia is the earliest known civilization
-the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers are nearly parallel to each other
-Mesopotamia itself was located in the eastern part

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-Sumerians were also the first to make bronze out of copper and tin

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4000 years ago and still studies today this called the epic of gilgamesh a long poem that tells the story of a hero.

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-Thousands of years, clues to Mesopotamia's history lay buried
-Historians believe that people first settled about 7000 BC
-The first settlers were hunters and herders
-They built farming villages along the two rivers