User:UndetectedMonky/sandbox

What was Mesopotamian Culture Like? Many people wonder what ancient culture was like. Well in this paper you will find out all about Mesopotamian culture. Which includes their writing religion and government. You will also discover there are similarities and differences between these civilizations and the modern world. Like any other successful Mesopotamian civilization sumer needed a written language so around 2400 B.C.E they came up with cuneiform, which means “Wedge” In Latin. They chose this name because they used a wedge to carve the writing into stones. Cuneiform is comprised of different signs and symbols which represent different words and ideas. At first, they used around 2,000 syllables! But later they were able to narrow it down to about 700 but that's still a lot to learn. People who could write were called scribes. They used these symbols for prescriptions songs and stories. They also taught wedge in schools. Another key concept of a civilization is religion, and make no mistake the Mesopotamians had religion. They were polytheistic meaning they believed in multiple gods. For example, the Mesopotamians believed that the God of Sun the God of Moon God of Air and the God of Darkness were the most important. There was also less significant The Gods of Objects such as tools. They worshiped said gods in a temple-like structure called a Ziggurat. These temples could be compared to a Church or a Synagogue. Ziggurats had two parts or “shrines” a sacred shrine where the gods and goddesses live and a lower shrine were the gods and goddesses descended from the sky to accompany worshipers. The final most important thing to have a civilization is a government. Ancient Mesopotamia had things called “City States” which were basically cities. Like any other city, they had to have a government. These city-states were lead by a king. Mesopotamians believed that their kings were chosen by the gods. Which in turn gave them a lot of power, they had many responsibilities. An example of these responsibilities is that they had to enforce the laws. They also lead their city-states army. The city-states needed those armys because they couldn't seem to stop fighting over land. You might be thinking “That's a lot of work for one king”. Yes, it is which is why they had governors to help them. Which leads us to the next part of their government classes and no not the kind where you learn math. There were three of these classes the class, middle/common class, and slaves. The upper class consisted of priests, wealthy landowners, and government officials. The middle or common the was for merchants, craftspeople, farmers, and fishermen. The Finale class was slaves. In conclusion, ancient Mesopotamia had a form of writing. A government, and a religious system. Which makes it a full-blown civilization.