ife which is why they possessed a strong polytheistic faith. They assumed that there were gods with humanlike emotions for virtually every occurrence in nature. The sun was a god, as well as the moon and the stars; also, the crops grew every season because a male god was mating with his goddess wife. The Sumerian society was divided into four categories based on wealth and power. These were nobles, free clients of the nobility, commoners, and slaves. Obviously, the nobility controlled the most land and was the dominating force empowering the other members. The commoners were free citizens who remained literate and without power, but were independent of the nobles. Slaves may have been foreigners or prisoners of war who were subject to unfair treatment by their owners, but were allowed to borrow money and engage in trade. Slaves often bought their freedom. Since the Sumerians were among the first civilizations to show evidence of writing, this era became known as the Protoliterate period. Their basic form of writing was referred to as Cuneiform and consisted of pictograms that were formed by wedges pressed into wet clay. These pictograms later grew into ideograms that depicted thoughts and ideas. For example, "the sign for star could also be used to indicate heaven, sky, or even god." This system of writing grew to be so complex that it could only be mastered by professional scribes. One such scribe had few fond memories of the joy of learning this language in school:My headmaster read my tablet, said: "There is something missing," caned me. The fellow in charge of silence said: "Why did you talk without permission," caned me. The fellow in charge of the assembly said: "Why did you stand at ease without permission," caned me. This schooling technique set standards for education in Mesopotamia and was later adopted by other civilizations. The scribes that attended these schools often assumed administrative positions in the...
