thin cities (49). an entire workforce was busy with the affairs of civilization (49). Field workers would farm temple lands to provide for the massive amounts of food that was distributed. In Lagash for example, food was prepared for 1200 people on a daily basis (49). Though the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon in Teotihuacan were not as elaborate as Sumerian Ziggurats, each civilization shared a “Cosmo- magical” characteristic. In Sumer, royal burial sites were so elaborate, that only specialized artisans could possibly have constructed them. According to the text, arches, vaults and domes were new levels of architecture found in burial tombs of the elite. In addition, elaborate funeral objects of gold and silver were also found with the dead. Sumerian arts and inventions flourished. The wheel itself, which led to the potters wheel and wagon wheels, were apparently invented in Sumer. (49). This lent sophistication to pottery and increased efficiency to farming. The Bronze Age found its origins in Sumerian civilization, which put metal tips on hoes, axes, arrowheads, daggers and many other tools. In Teotihuacan however, the economy “ thrived on agriculture, craftwork, and trade in ceramics and quarried obsidian. “ (98) There was no evidence in the text or lecture notes that they had achieved the amenities of the Bronze age.However, the most significant invention of the Sumerian civilization was the development of a written language. Using a system of wedge-like forms, Sumerian writing began as a means to keep track of ownership and business transactions. By 3000 B.C.E. , “ some scribes were already thinking in terms of teaching and learning,” and with this one tool, Sumerians “enriched their lives” ( 52.).Writing allowed Sumer to correspond with neighbors, develop written legal codes, write literature and communicate with neighbors. Half a world away and a couple thousand years later ano...
