Frances Bailey:Technology by

Technology

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 15:30:21 UTC

The characteristic that had the most influence on Mesopotamian society is technology. Because without technology daily life in civilization would be much more difficult. Without technology it would be way harder to function farming, carving art and writing. Because without tools you couldn't have any of those things that contribute to a civilization because technology is the foundation for all of those things. For example how are the sumerians going to write and carve art without the carving tools to do it?

Evidence 1: (Elements of Civilization: Technology, 6)

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 15:47:44 UTC

1: One piece of evidence that can support my claim is, "As Mesopotamia’s technological advances had a long-lasting impact on future civilizations. Many of the tools they developed, such as irrigation systems, sailboats, written language, and brick molds, are still in use today.”

Reasoning 1

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 15:51:58 UTC

1:This can explain how Technology has been the most influential to Mesopotamian society because it shows that technology came first. What I mean by that is Technology helped develop all of the things that made up Mesopotamian society. For example brick molds to build houses and ziggurats and ziggurats are really important to Mesopotamian religion. Irrigation systems for farming are important to stable food supply. WIthout the tools that sumerians made farming would be very hard and irrigation systems make that much easier. As well as the fact If they haven't discovered these things then our life today would look very different because we use a lot of these systems today. Imagine if we had to farm with our hands? We wouldn't have enough food for everyone. Or our houses were not made out of brick. The technology the Sumerians came up with is critical in developing their civilization. It also helped shape things we need today. Like brick, all of our houses are made out of brick. Or like the boats we use to travel. Things we use in everyday life would not exist without the Mesopotamians technology.

Evidence 2: (Elements of Civilization: Technology, 4)

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 15:58:55 UTC

2: The second piece of evidence that can support this claim is, "“The invention of the sailboat enabled Mesopotamians to travel along the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers to trade with other cities. As trade flourished, people needed a way to keep records. This led to the creation of a writing system we now call cuneiform,”

Reasoning 2

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 23:51:04 UTC

2: This can show why technology was the most influential because it can also develop the first known writing system! When they invented the sailboat. They used it for trades and they needed to keep records of what they traded. It slowly turned into the first written language. But it originated from the Sumerians' inventions and technology. We can see that without the development of technology none of the other elements of civilization would have been discovered yet without technology. Imagine if we didn't have writing. Our lives would be so different. So we can see that without the Mesopotamians technology we wouldn't have one of the biggest aspects we use today so wouldn't that classify as the most important for the mesopotamiens? I think so because writing is so important for us today and it connected from the very beginning of Civilization.

(Elements of Civilization: Technology, 3)

818253_1 — 2024-10-07 23:55:45 UTC

3: A third piece of evidence that can support the claim technology was the most influential characteristic for the Mesopotamians is, "People also learned how to make clay pottery quickly and easily, using a slow-turning wheel. This meant they could make many pots at once. Clay pots were used to store food, or trade commodities such as grain and oil with other people."

Reasoning 3

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 00:03:04 UTC

3: This is another piece of evidence that can support this claim because it can explain how technology connected to food supply. They made clay pots to keep their grains and other commodities fresh and ready to eat whenever a time is given. Without these clay pots people wouldn't be able to store food for winter when people couldn't farm. Food goes bad quickly unless you store it or freeze it. So what are they going to use to store food in the winter. They obviously didn't have freezers so this is the best that they could do. And what can you do without food. Nothing, but I can strongly argue that you can have a stable food supply without technology.

Counter Claim

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 00:05:18 UTC

However some people may think that Written Language is more influential. I can disagree because what did the Sumerians write their written language with? Tools aka Technology. And it was because they needed to log trading from their new technology (sail boats). This still proves that technology is the most influential because cuneiform originates from the sumerians technology. This shows why technology was the most influential to the Mesopotamian civilization.

Mesopotamian Trade Routes

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 16:03:36 UTC

Mesopotamian Trade Logs

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 16:04:06 UTC

Mesopotamian Sail Boat

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 16:08:08 UTC

Mesopotamian Clay Pots

818253_1 — 2024-10-08 16:10:25 UTC