9 inventions of the Sumerians that became the basis of modern innovations

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

The ancient Sumerian state flourished many thousands of years ago in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Later the Greeks would call it Mesopotamia. Many new technologies were invented there and the use of existing ones was perfected. Scientists still do not know where this mysterious people, the Sumerians, came from, and what language they spoke. This mysterious ancient civilization has made a very significant contribution to the development of all spheres of human life. They can be called the Silicon Valley of antiquity. It is thanks to the Sumerians that the modern world has become so technologically advanced.

The ancient equivalent of Silicon Valley was in what is now southern Iraq. As the late historian Samuel Noah Kramer wrote: "The people of Sumer had an extraordinary flair for technological inventions." Experts argue that the creativity of the Sumerians to a certain extent was due to the fact that there was an acute shortage of natural resources on their territory. “There were very few trees, almost no stone or metal,” explains Kramer. This made Schmer very creative in using such materials at their disposal as clay. Clay is called the plastic of the ancient world. The Sumerians used it to make everything in the world. From bricks to utensils and writing plates.

The genius of the Sumerians was manifested in their amazing ability to organize work. When they took other people's inventions, they not only brought them to perfection, but applied them on a simply grandiose scale. Sumer was the first to start mass production of many consumer goods. They very successfully traded them with other peoples.

There was something absolutely unique about the Sumerian national identity that made them so different from others. Something that made them dream big and think brilliantly. These people attached great importance to ambition and success, superiority and prestige, honor and public recognition.

In the course of their development, the Sumerians radically changed their approach to all areas of human life. People have learned in a new way to get food for themselves, build houses and temples, communicate with each other, disseminate information, and keep track of time. The innovative technologies of the Sumerians gradually spread over the face of the Earth. They led to the development of the modern technologically advanced world. Here are some important areas that the ancient innovators have made invaluable contributions to.

1. Ceramics of mass production

Other ancient peoples made pottery by hand. The Sumerians were the first to invent the wheel and from it developed the potter's wheel. This device allowed them to mass-produce ceramics.

2. Letter

Scientists believe that the Sumerians invented writing. Their writing system was the first known to science. In any case, it is known for certain that this people used written communication as early as the third millennium BC. The Sumerians did not leave behind them great literary works and historical documents. The surviving records relate mainly to the accounting of the turnover of this civilization with other peoples.

The first texts of Sumer were trade reporting. A set of numbers and lists of goods. In writing these texts, the Sumerians used pictograms. These were drawings depicting various objects. Over time, the Sumerians began to combine these drawings in different ways. Thus, denoting certain actions and expressing ideas. Over time, pictograms transformed into symbols that denote sounds.

Scribes carved symbols on wet clay using sharpened reeds. These clay tablets have come down to us. This writing system became known as cuneiform. It was borrowed by subsequent civilizations. Such writing was widely used throughout the Middle East for the next two millennia.

3. Hydraulic engineering

The Sumerians figured out how to collect and direct the flows of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as the silt they contain, for irrigation. They used all this to irrigate and fertilize their agricultural lands. This civilization designed incredibly complex canal systems with dams. They were built from reeds, palm trunks and clay. The dams could be opened or closed to regulate the flow of water.

4. Chariot

The Sumerians did not invent wheeled vehicles, but they probably invented the first animal-drawn carriage. Historians say there is evidence that the Sumerians had such means of transportation in 3000 BC. They were most likely used by the military and for religious ceremonies. It was very difficult to use them as transport because of the rough terrain.

5. Plow

The Sumerians invented such a vital technology in agriculture as the plow. They even wrote a special manual in which farmers were given very detailed instructions on how to use various types of these, innovative for the time, devices. The instruction even contained a prayer. It was to be read to please Ninkilim, the goddess of field rodents. After all, it was necessary to protect your grain from these little gluttonous pests.

6. Textile factories

Many peoples of the Middle East knew how to weave, using wool to make clothing. The Sumerians went much further. They were the first to do this on a real industrial scale. Sumer built huge textile factories. This people has formed not just a workers' artel of the closest relatives. These organizations can be considered the forerunners of modern manufacturing corporations.

7. Mass production bricks

Sumer experienced an acute shortage of building materials such as stone and timber. Civilization developed rapidly, it was necessary to build more and more cities. The Sumerian people invented a mold for making clay bricks. Of course, they were not the first to use clay as a building material. The main thing was that they began to produce bricks on an incredibly huge scale. This allowed them to build more houses and temples, and do it faster.

8. Metallurgy

The Sumerians did not graze the hind ones in this area either. They were at the forefront of those who began to use copper for the manufacture of various necessary items. They made everything from this material: from spearheads to cutters and razors. The Sumerians also produced copper jewelry and artwork. The Sumerian pioneers of metallurgy used special furnaces that were heated with reeds. They controlled the temperature in them using a bellows. It could be controlled by hands or feet.

9. Mathematics

Mathematical counting in the primitive world was carried out using very simple methods, such as, for example, notches on bones. But it was the Sumerians who developed the formal number system. Their sixties system became the basis on which the mathematical calculations of all subsequent civilizations were developed.

If you are interested in the history of the Ancient World, read our article on because of what collapsed 6 of the most highly developed ancient civilizations: secrets discovered by recently found artifacts.