The Sumerians civilization was based heavily on agriculture, and to make their crops grow they needed water. This is why Sumerian cities were found along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where there is plenty of water. They not only used the water for their crops but also to fish, drink, and also to trade their products with others. With rivers being so close to their cities they knew flooding would be evident. They were very advanced for their time in the structures they built to prevent flooding. Which were reservoirs, dams, dikes, and canals. They used other natural recourses the river provided such as reeds and clay. Reeds were used for making basket to carry things in and for writing implements. The Sumerians used Clay as their main building material, to make pottery, and to imprint tokens on the clay. Pottery introduced the potter’s wheel which led to the creation of wheeled vehicles in the fourth millennium B.C.E(McKay et al, Western Society,14). …show more content…
Their gods and goddesses represented things like the sun, moon, water and, storms. Each Sumerian city commonly had a chief god or goddess with massive elaborate temples built for them. The people believed they had been put on Earth to serve the gods and goddesses. If they had done wrong they would be punished and if they’d done right by the gods they would be treated well. It is not known for certain how kings first emerged in Sumerian civilization, but it is believed that high ranking officials such as a priest or military leader took permit kingship in their city. Then in 2450 B.C.E. kings began handing off powers to their sons which was the start of many dynasties (McKay et al, Western Society, 17). Around this point written records began to be kept of kingship. Kings would work together with priest and other officials to keep order through force, persuasion, and taxation. This system kept the Sumerians doing their