Sumerians

            There are several aspects of the Sumerian culture that are still mainstays of life in the twenty-first systems. From what scientists have learned about the first established civilizations, they have come to find that the examples set by the first peoples are still followed today. Towns were built around urban centers. Humans learned how to work with metals for architecture, the art of writing, how to organize bureaucracies, and setup an organized class system to guarantee the survival of the group, for protection, and for control of the environment. The Sumerian culture was one of the first villages that developed into a city. Their culture began the transformation into a city around 6000 B.C.E. The Sumerians lived in communities organized around several religious centers which turned quickly into cities. The Code of Hammurabi, an extensive judicial code, was used as a way of maintaining order of the Babylonian Empire. The laws are composed of 282 articles which addressed the legal questions of the time. We may see today that some of our laws come from the laws of this time so long ago. Some of the articles in the Code of Hammurabi are the concept of "an eye for an eye", the rights and places of women, wages, divorce, fees for medical services, family matters, commerce, and land and property, which included slaves. The Sumerians worshiped several gods, each with its own responsibilities. They also had places of worship and sacrifice throughout the land. Sumerian religion was troubled with life and saw the afterlife in a depressing light. Their writing began the onset of using pictures to show the syllabic sounds appear in different words rather than symbolize the objects themselves. Sumerian writing consisted of two types of symbols, one for syllables and one for words. Their writing utensils were an unbaked clay tablet and a reed stylus. The Sumerians form of writing became known as cuneiform.