Sumer is one of the most ancient civilizations on earth. It is well known that the Sumerians began to build cities and roads 7,000 years ago. They are among the first in the history of mankind to give up tribal housing and start building real homes. Today we have some artifacts from their ancient culture, but that's part of what scientists have discovered today.
Did Women Have Their Own Language?
The men and women in Sumer were not equal. Even the rich families who sent their children to study only studied their boys and the girls stayed at home. Thus women began to speak in their own language, called "emzal". Men spoke to the official - "emigrate."
The Sumerians paid levies before the money came in
The Sumerians paid taxes to their rulers, even before the first coins and silver shekels appeared in Mesopotamia. Instead of money, they gave a percentage of the produced goods - mainly agricultural products or meat. There is a very curious feature here - rich people pay a much higher levy than the poor - not just because of the percentage on the larger quantity of commodity, but also over that. Participation in different public affairs was also considered to be a levy. Every month, for example, men, heads of households, are obliged to work on a farm, dig up irrigation canals, or fight - all obligations related to the common good. Of such charge, only very wealthy people could be redeemed because of illness or other legitimate reason.
Life was spinning around ... beer
There is a theory that civilization has left ... beer! It was an important part of Sumer's life. But it doesn’t look like a modern beer. Consistency resembled more mess, with a large sediment at the bottom, a large layer of foam at the top, and floating grains. You will be surprised that this "thing" was even considered a ... nutritious breakfast. Often it happened to pay men with a beer.
The Sumerians used opium
Beer wasn’t the only thing for "relaxation". The Sumerians used opium made from the poppy seed. There has been evidence of this since 3000 BC. Opium was called the "plant of joy". In fact, it is not about drug addiction because the Sumerians knew the qualities of opium as painkillers and used it in medicine.
The manager changed his wife every year
Each year the leader married a new woman. He had to choose among the priestesses-that’s how they called the virgin girls. They had to have a perfect body, "prepared for love". The governor and the bride chosen by him, according to the Sumerians, should "rejoice the gods." On the wedding day the preparation of the bride included bathing, massage with sweet oils and dressing in beautiful robes. The leader and his retinue went solemnly to the temple where they left the girl waiting for him. The temple was full of priests and priestesses who sang songs praising love. The leader offered presents to his future bride, and they headed to a room with a ceremonial bed, where the two of them immediately took up their love affairs. The crowd outside joyfully screamed to announce the event in a loud voice. All this is repeated every year as a great universal holiday.
Priests were not just "harem," but doctors and dentists
The priests were considered to be the most useful people in Sumerian society. Besides the leader's potential brides, they were trained to provide medical care. Among the male priests, they are the first doctors in history, many poets, scribes, and other clever people. Sumerian cities have always been built around a temple. In the center were the Great Hall, and the buildings around it were intended for priests and priestesses. Their space consisted of 1 / 3th of the whole area of the city and was not meant only for ceremonies. For example, the sick people came there to get help from the priestesses - their homes were something like modern hospitals. Literacy was considered wealth. In Sumer, traders and farmers were considered "inferior caste". If one of them became rich and wanted to be a priest or a leader, the condition was not only to be rich but also literate! Only the children of the rich went to school. There they studied mathematics, history, and literacy, whatever that meant.
The poor lived behind the city
The majority of Sumerians were poor and lived in farms behind the city. While the rich had clay houses with windows and lamps, the poor were satisfied with reed tents. Spend straw directly on the ground. All their lives went to work - mostly in agriculture, and it was considered to be a gain when somebody could buy more land.
The Sumerian Tablets
The Sumerians had a strong army. There was an option to redeem the freedom, but few went there. Interesting is the fact that the Sumerians turned into slaves and their own when one of them couldn’t go back or commit a crime. They did ritual funerals. The Sumerians accepted death as a sacrament. They called the Hereafter "land without return," and believed that it was in that world that they would receive all the goods that fate had not given them in life. The dead were honored with golden ornaments, food and other gifts, among which some strange – like - favorite dogs. They did this with the thought that the dead wouldn’t be alone and hungry in that world. The rulers were often buried with all their servants and courtiers, and sometimes with their whole family. So the life of the ruler was kind to his companions, no less than their own lives.