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... were able to have rights after being married. They were able to own a business, own property, or even testify in court. Punishment was common because husbands were allowed to have more than one wife if their first wife had no children.
Children could be adopted. The women were able to have rights after being married. They were able to own a business, own property, or even testify in court. The Sumerians had a polytheistic religion. The gods were considered to be anthropomorphic by the people.
The gods were thought to have powers, some of which were related to astronomical bodies. These gods also had characteristics like that of a human. They felt lust, love, anger, etc. The Sumerians did believe in life after death. They had realistic expectations of what their future had in store. They also understood that their gods were not always nice or polite.
They did try to understand what the gods had in store for them as well as how they could please the gods. A large number of gods were worshiped with prayers and sacrifices. People would pray to them in both times of praise and misfortune. The most important god was known as Nanna Sin. His son was the son god, Utu, and his daughter was the goddess Inanna. Sacrifices of both oxen and sheep were made for important people.
Temples were the center of religious activity within a city. Every temple contained a shrine that was placed in an enclosed room. The gods were also the subjects of many legends and myths. "Enlil and Ninlil: the Birth of the Moon-god"The Creation of the Pickax. " Enki: the organization of the earth. " The Sumerians were an agricultural group that depended on their surrounding environmental features. They grew many crops such as peas, corn, wheat, turnips, and they also fished. The Sumerians however had a problem feeding their entire population. They sold their extra grain and other rations for wood so that they could build furniture and ships.
The ships were then used for trade with such places as India and Africa. When the ships would return, they would be loaded with various types of wool, exotic foods, unusual fabrics, and precious metals. The craftspeople were also essential to their economy. The metal workers would use copper, bronze, and tin to make industrial and household materials. They also created the weapons. The people would use their animals in various ways to increase their way of life.
Donkeys would be used to pull wagons and pigs would be used in many Sumerian dishes. Sumerian astronomers studied the stars and other scientist perfected the calendar. Music was also important to the people and could be heard in various towns. The music was used in various rituals and was also a form of entertainment. The Sumerians had a unique way of writing and recording events. They used stone tablets with numbers to record their history and everyday events.
The people would use a wide variety of pictures and numbers. The writing style was called cuneiform script. There were many scribes throughout the summer region. Young Sumerians would learn cuneiform script during school. This was usually limited to the wealthier families.
The process of learning the way of writing was long and hard. Each individual was required to learn large numbers of symbols and words so that they could be scribes when they grew up. Eventually, scribes enhanced the writing style making it more efficient by creating a shorthand form using wedged lines. The main character in the epic was Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk. Who is very strong, he bosses people so they complain about him to the gods. Gods will send Enkidu, stronger man to fight Gilgamesh.
They will become friends and they search for fame so they decide to fight the giant Humbaba. Finally they were able to kill this giant and returned to Uruk. Ishtar the goddess of love asks Gilgamesh to be her friend but he refuses so she sends the bull of heaven to fight Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh will be able to kill the bull with the help of Enkidu but he losses his friend Enkidu after that.
The death of his friend frightened him and he started to look for immortality facing the difficulties but at the last he fails to be immortal and he returns home for waiting death to come. Uruk was one of summer cities that Gilgamesh rolled. The land had two rivers and it was a rich area and it had a few stones and rocks. Priest-king ruled each city-state. He was in charge of leading the military, administering trade, and helping with religious ceremonies. Bureaucrats who surveyed the land aided him.
Sumerian believed that law should be followed. Some common laws were about marriage and punishment. They had polysynthetic religions. They grew many crops such as peas, corn, wheat, turnips, and they also fished. They were agricultural. They used stone tablets with numbers to record their history and everyday events.
The people would use a wide variety of pictures and numbers. The writing style was called cuneiform script. Theme of the story Many themes are incorporated into the story line of Gilgamesh. These include three very important concepts: death is inevitable, immortality is unachievable, and friendship is a necessity. One of the main themes in the epic is that death is inevitable, which is shown through Enkidu's death. When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh becomes very worried, because he realizes for the first time that everyone is going to die at some point in time.
The fact that Enkidu is a close friend makes it even more visible to Gilgamesh that everyone is mortal. Then, along with this realization, comes the theme of denial. Gilgamesh does not want to accept the fact that he will die. He denies the truth, because he does not want to think about the truth or cope with the tragedy that has struck him. "And he-he does not lift his head. 'I touched his heart, it does not beat'" (Tablet VIII, Column II, 15 - 16). "'Me! Will I too not die like Enkidu? Sorrow was come into my belly.
I fear death; I roam over the hills. I will seize the road; quickly I will go to the house of Utnapishtim, offspring of Ubaratutu. I approach the entrance of the mountain at night. Lions I see, and I am terrified. I lift my head to pray to the mood god Sin: For... a dream I go to the gods in prayer: ...
preserve me!' " (Tablet IX, Column I, 3 - 12). The theme of death being inevitable leads to another theme, similar to the first. This is that immortality is unachievable, shown through similar examples as the first theme. Gilgamesh realizes that immortality is not obtainable after his quest for it. He discovers that the quest was pointless, because he will die regardless of the steps to prevent his death in the future. "'Never has a mortal man done that, Gilgamesh'" (Tablet IX, Column III, 8). "'The fate of mankind overtook him... In fear of death I roam the wilderness...
Me, shall I not lie down like him, never again to move?' " (Tablet X, Column II, 3, 8, 13 - 14). "'From the beginning, there is no permanence'" (Tablet X, Column VI, 32). The last main concept in the epic is that friendship is a necessity, shown through the bond of Enkidu and Gilgamesh. Both men are supportive of each other, always looking out for and encouraging one another. For example when Enkidu and Gilgamesh are fighting the Bull of Heaven and Humbaba, they work together. "'Hurry up, step up to him, do not let him go. Climb to the woods, [do not be afraid]'" (Tablet IV, Column V, 43 - 44). "They cut off the head of Humbaba" (Tablet V, Column VI, 47). Dani, Daniel. "Assyrian Page." 1996. < web (6.
Dec. 1998) Landau, Elaine. The Babylonians. Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook Press, 1997. Landau, Elaine. The Sumerians.
Brookfield, Conn. : Millbrook Press, 1997. Manson, Herbert. Gilgamesh. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1970. Odijk, Pamela. The Sumerians.
Englewood Cliffs, N. J. : Siver Burdett Press, 1989. Payne, J. "Backgrounds." 1998. < web (5. Dec. 1998) Payne, J. "Graphics." 1998. < web (5.
Dec. 1998) Rivera, Larry J. "Four Bees Backgrounds." 1996. < web > (5. Dec. 1998) The Epic of Gilgamesh. 17 th rev. ed. Translated by N. K. Sanders.
New York: Penguin Books Ltd, 1979 Thom, David. "Free Web Art Animated Lines 2 ." 1997. < http: // web t / find 2. htm> (29. Nov. 1998) Thom, David. "Free Web Art Backgrounds." 1997. < web t / back 1. htm> (29 Nov. 1998) Woolley, Leonard. The Sumerians.
New York: Norton & Company, 1965.
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