1. S O C I A L S T U D I E S F O R 8 T H E . G . B .
T E A C H E R : M A U R I C I O T O R R E S
Sumerian Achievements

2. Background
 Sumerians were not just advanced in government
and religion issues; they also developed many other
things, that are part of our daily life today.

3. Writing
 Maybe the most
important development
in human History.
 They developed
cuneiform, the world’s
first writing system.
 They used sharp tools
called styluses to make
symbols on clay tablets.

4. Elements of Writing
 Pictographs used to be the way
humans kept “written” records. They
were picture symbols.
 In cuneiform, they added
representations of syllables, in that
way, it enriched writing.
 Scribes, were specialized people that
were hired to write.
 The first stories were written, they
were called Epics.
 Long poems that tell stories of heroes: The
Epic of Gilgamesh

5. Technical Advances
 The Wheel.
 They were the first to build
wheeled vehicles.
 They also created a device that
spins clay, so that a craftsperson
can shape it: potter’s wheel.
 The Plow
 Pulled by oxen, the plows broke
through the soil to prepare it for
farming.
 Water Clock

6. Technical Advances
 Sewers
 Makeup
 Jewelry
 Bronze tools

7. Math & Sciences
 Math system based on the number 60
 That is why we divide the circle into 360º
 Dividing the year into 12 months.
 Geometry
 Studied the natural world
 Inventories of names of thousands of plants, animals and
minerals.
 Medicine
 Ingredients from plants, animals and minerals to produce
healing drugs.
 They even catalogued treatments and symptoms!

8. Architechture
 Architecture
 The science of building.
 People lived in small one story houses, made of mud bricks.
 Rulers lived in large palaces.
 Temples were the largest and most impressive buildings: they were
called, ziggurats.
 They were pyramid shaped temple towers.

9. Arts
 Sumerian sculptors produced many
statues of gods.
 They used wood, ivory and pottery.
 Their pottery was really bad!
 Jewelry
 They used gold, silver and gems.
 Cylinder Seals
 They were small stone cylinder engraved
with works of art.
 Music
 Reed pipes, drums, tambourines and
lyres.

10. Ask Yourself
 Recall:
 What was the center of most Sumerian cities?
 What was one of the most important technical development of
Sumer?
 Summarize:
 What different types of art did the Sumerians create?
 Describe:
 What Sumerian advance in mathematics do we use everyday when
we look at the calendar?
 How did Sumerians write?
 Draw Conclusions:
 How was cuneiform used to express complex ideas?

11. Extra Task #1
 Find out the meaning of all the
words in this slide show, that
are in this color.
 Search for their meaning, in
order to be better prepared for
your test!

12. Extra Task #2
 Get some clay!
 Use a stick or something
similar as a stylus.
 Draw some pictographs and
try to write a sentence!
 Bring it to school and show it
to your friends, and have
them try to guess what it
means.
 Involve your parents and ask
them to help you out!

13. Bibliography
 Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History
(Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal,
Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt Publishing Company.
 Images taken from Google and “Ancient
Mesopotamia for Kids”
http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/.