الحضارة السومرية اسرار غيرت حياة البشرية وثائقي تاريخي

In the ancient distant times man lived on this earth for nearly two million years ago But the human history, as historians see, during those distant periods of time did not exist As it was not simply recorded during that times And because man did not know how to write during those millions of years the time preceding the advent of writing was known as (Prehistoric) We welcome your suggestions and recommendations for topics, which we can present, that agree with the policy of our channel The Mesopotamian Sumerian civilization is the oldest civilization known to mankind as its roots extend to the year 5000 B.C. It contained many secrets and had great impact on the development of life and humanity of the civilizations that came after that date And we will review with you Sumerian inventions and discoveries that changed human life after knowing it to this day We will start with you from The Writing: The Sumerians lived in urban, walled, and independent states They were known to be extremely rich and creative They also had diverse culture that included "agriculture, trade, and music" The writing is one of the important inventions of the Sumerians and they are credited for using the first alphabet known in history which was discovered written on clay tablets As they created form of communication called (Pictograms on rocks) which soon developed into writing system called (Cuneiform) The Sumerian writing system had "top-down pattern" which later changed to "left to right pattern" The cuneiform text is not only ancient but also it is the oldest form of writing in the world It was first used by the Sumerians in 3400 B.C. The stylus (a pen with fine tip) was pressed into soft clay and resulted in wedge-shaped writing style These impressions represent the markers of the words that they used to keep record of everything They began with cuneiform images and later changed into sound recordings or word concepts The cuneiform text was used for more than 3,000 years until the Roman period introduced alphabetic forms The use and manufacture of copper: Archaeological evidence indicates that the Sumerians possessed the skill to extract and work with copper after it was manufactured since about 5,000 to 6,000 years ago The development of copper manufacturing skills led to the prosperity and growth of Mesopotamia in large way such as in the cities of (Ur -Sumer -Al-Ubaid) and other Sumerian cities The Sumerians used copper to make arrowheads, razors, spears and many other small things Later the Sumerians used copper in the manufacture of vessels, chisels, and copper jugs The found artifacts revealed the excellent craftsmanship of the Sumerians in the copper industry Time Management: The Sumerians were the first people on earth that cared about time They succeeded in calculating the year through the sun They tracked the movement of the sun from its rise on the first day to its rise on the next day and accordingly they divided the year into 12 months The Sumerians did the astronomical calculation in its 60-base system (Sexagesimal system) and their work was accepted and appreciated throughout "Eurasia" Counting system: The "Sexagesimal Counting System" is another important invention for the Sumerians This system was originated in the 3rd millennium B.C. and was transmitted to the ancient Babylonians along with the other nations The reason behind this invention was the urgent need to keep records of the commercial harvest gradually they began to use small clay cones to indicate (number 1) Similarly, the ball indicated (number 10) and the large clay cone indicated (number 60) The Sumerians also came up with an initial abacus model and developed numerical system based on the number 60 The numbers were counted on 5 fingers on one hand and 12 knuckles on the other hand And to clarify this the number 60 can be analyzed into 12 numbers which are (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60) among them, the numbers (2, 3, and 5) are prime numbers This system is still used in measuring time, geometric angles and geographic coordinate system Lunar calendar: The Sumerians are believed to be the first who established the lunar calendar This calendar is entirely based on the repetition of lunar phases means that the phases of the moon were used to calculate 12 months The calendar was invented in the era of the third dynasty of "Ur" during the reign of its king "Shulgi" and it was also called the "Uma calendar" The Sumerians observed two seasons they are (Summer and Winter) and the sacred marriage rituals were held on New Year's Day And they used the phases of the moon to count 12 lunar months and considered it one year To make up for the difference between this year and the year of the seasons They added an extra month to each year after 4 years The best part is that this lunar calendar is still used among some religious groups today Code of "Ur-Nammu": "Ur-Nammu" is the founder of the third dynasty of "Ur" (the era of the Sumerian revival) This king's reign lasted 17 years in the period between (2112 to 2095 B.C.) "Ur-Nammu" was able to rule the third dynasty of "Ur" after the elimination of (Otto Hikal) and he was able to subjugate many of the Sumerian and Akkadian cities So, they called themselves (the king of Sumer and Akkad) and (the king of the four sides) "Ur-Nammu's law" is the oldest discovered law so far And it preceded the "Hammurabi law" by 3 centuries when part of tablets, that included this law, was found in the city of (Nefer) and the other part of it was found in the city of (Ur) and it was written in the Sumerian language This law gives an overview of how justice prevailed in the ancient Sumerian society Some of the rules followed according to "Ur-Nammu Law": • man is killed if he commits murder • man is killed if he commits robbery • The man must be imprisoned and required to pay 15 shekels of silver if he commits kidnapping • If male slave marries female slave, and if the male slave is released he does not have to leave the house • If male slave marries female citizen he must give his first son to his owner Pottery produced in large quantities: The Sumerians were the first to develop spinning wheel for making pottery so the recycling processes allowed them to produce large quantities such as workers' quota containers Engineering: The departed historian "Samuel Noah Kramer" wrote that the people of (Sumer) had an unusual tendency for technological invention especially since the ancient Sumerians built their civilization and flourished thousands of years ago between the "Tigris" and "Euphrates" rivers in what is known today as "Southern Iraq" "Philip Jones", the assistant coordinator and administrator of the Babylonian Department at the "Penn" Museum in Philadelphia, said: “The Sumerians' true geniality came from the organizational processes" "as they had the ability to take the inventions that had been developed elsewhere" "and apply them on larger scale" "And in this way, they can produce huge commodities" "such as (textiles and pottery)" "and then they can trade them with other people” In the field of engineering, for example the Sumerians discovered how to collect and direct the surplus from the "Tigris" and "Euphrates" rivers and the rich mud that it contains and then use it to water and fertilize their agricultural fields They designed complex systems of canals with the construction of dams from canes, palm trunks and mud that could open or close their gates to regulate the flow of water The plow: The Sumerians invented the plow which is vital technique in agriculture And they even issued guide that gave farmers detailed instructions on how to use different types of plows And they specified the prayers that should be recited to honor "Ninkelim" (field rodent goddess) in order to protect the grains from being eaten The Vehicle: The Sumerians did not invent wheeled vehicles but they may have developed the first two-wheeled vehicle pulled by group of animals There were evidences that the Sumerians had carriages for transportation in the 3rd century B.C. but they may have been used in celebrations or by the army rather than as vehicle for touring in the countryside where rough terrain made wheel-travel difficult So, the world truly owes countless discoveries to an ancient civilization that has changed the course of human history in the ancient world The impact of their contributions extended to all the civilizations that came after them to this day as their contributions changed the world for the better All Rights reserved to Atlas Channel