Mesopotamian Culture & Society Research

The Economy

AGRICULTURE

Sumerians were first people to harness oxen.

Sumerians were first people to add seed drill to plow.

Most important invention was system of dams and canals to control floodwater
and irrigate fields.

Irrigation was SO important that gov’t hired irrigators and made each farmer
responsible for taking care of his canals and cleaning them.

Fertile areas of the north (Assyrian territory) did not need as much irrigation.

Farming limited to along rivers.

Sumerian land was controlled by priests because people believed that the land
around a city belonged to the god of that city state.

1/3 of crop to king; 1/3 of crop to church; 1/3 for farmers themselves (but this last
third was still taxed by goverment)

INDUSTRY

Because there was an abundance of food not everyone had to farm so some people
could become craftspeople or artisans.  Such jobs as tanners, potters, carpenters,
weavers, and metalworkers.

These jobs were done near ziggurats and were supervised for quality.  Scribes
kept records to make sure the trade was run efficiently.

TRADE
Small boats traded up and down the Tigris and Euphrates from one city to
another.  Big boats traded to Africa, Cyprus, Egypt and Lebanon.  Donkey
caravans traded to the Taurus mountains.

Trade helped exchange culture and ideas that moved civilization further.

Babylonians one of the greatest trading nations.

Assyrians also traded a lot

Ref: N/A. (-, - -). Mesoptomia: Society & Culture. Retrieved from Blackville: http://blackville.nbed.nb.ca/sites/blackville.nbed.nb.ca/files/doc/teacher/656/chapter_3_notes.pdf