Editing Sumer (section)

==Culture==
===Social and family life===
[[File:Reconstructed sumerian headgear necklaces british museum.JPG|thumb|upright=.6|A reconstruction in the British Museum of headgear and necklaces worn by the women at the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]].]]
In the early Sumerian period, the primitive pictograms suggest<ref name="Sayce"/> that
* "Pottery was very plentiful, and the forms of the vases, bowls and dishes were manifold; there were special jars for honey, butter, oil and wine, which was probably made from dates. Some of the vases had pointed feet, and stood on stands with crossed legs; others were flat-bottomed, and were set on square or rectangular frames of wood. The oil-jars, and probably others also, were sealed with clay, precisely as in early [[Egypt]]. Vases and dishes of stone were made in imitation of those of clay."
* "A feathered head-dress was worn. Beds, stools and chairs were used, with carved legs resembling those of an ox. There were fire-places and fire-altars."
* "Knives, drills, wedges and an instrument that looks like a saw were all known. While spears, bows, arrows, and daggers (but not swords) were employed in war."
* "Tablets were used for writing purposes. Daggers with metal blades and wooden handles were worn, and copper was hammered into plates, while necklaces or collars were made of gold."
* "Time was reckoned in lunar months."

There is considerable evidence concerning [[Sumerian music]]. [[Lyres]] and flutes were played, among the best-known examples being the [[Lyres of Ur]].<ref name="Goss_2017_mesopotamian_flutes">{{cite web |last=Goss |first=Clint |title=Flutes of Gilgamesh and Ancient Mesopotamia |url=http://www.Flutopedia.com/mesopotamian_flutes.htm |date=15 April 2017 |website=Flutopedia |access-date=14 June 2017 }}</ref>

Sumerian culture was male-dominated and stratified. The [[Code of Ur-Nammu]], the oldest such codification yet discovered, dating to the Ur III, reveals a glimpse at societal structure in late Sumerian law. Beneath the ''lu-gal'' ("great man" or king), all members of society belonged to one of two basic strata: The "''lu''" or free person, and the slave (male, ''arad''; female ''geme''). The son of a ''lu'' was called a ''dumu-nita'' until he married. A woman (''munus'') went from being a daughter (''dumu-mi''), to a wife (''dam''), then if she outlived her husband, a widow (''numasu'') and she could then remarry another man who was from the same tribe.{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

In early Sumer women played an important public rule as priestesses. They could also own property, transact business and had their rights protected by the courts. Sons and daughters inherited property on equal terms. The status of women deteriorated in the centuries after 2300 BC. Their right to dispose of their property was limited, and the female deities also lost their former importance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baring |first1=Anne |last2=Cashford |first2=Jules |title=The Myth of the Goddess Evolution of an Image |date=1993 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=9780141941400 |page=159}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Glassman |first1=Ronald M. |title=The Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation-States |date=2017 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783319516950 |page=344}}</ref>

Inscriptions describing the reforms of king [[Urukagina]] of Lagash ({{circa|2350 BC}}) say that he abolished the former custom of [[polyandry]] in his country, prescribing that a woman who took multiple husbands be stoned with rocks upon which her crime had been written.<ref>Cinthia Gannett (1992). [https://books.google.com/books?id=mpjk74blFDgC&dq=urukagina+%22two+men%22&pg=PA62 ''Gender and the Journal: Diaries and Academic Discourse,'' p. 62].</ref>
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| caption1 = A Sumerian princess of the time of Gudea {{circa|2150 BC}}.
| image2   = Sumerian princess of the time of Gudea 2150 BCE. Louvre Museum AO 295.jpg
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Marriages were usually arranged by the parents of the bride and groom;<ref name=Kramer1963>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Samuel Noah|title=The Sumerians: Their History, Culture, and Character|date=1963|publisher=The Univ. of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-45238-8|url=https://archive.org/details/sumerianstheirhi00samu|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|78}} engagements were usually completed through the approval of contracts recorded on clay tablets.<ref name=Kramer1963/>{{rp|78}} These marriages became legal as soon as the groom delivered a bridal gift to his bride's father.<ref name=Kramer1963/>{{rp|78}} One Sumerian proverb describes the ideal, happy marriage, through the mouth of a husband, who boasts that his wife has borne him eight sons and is still eager to have sex.<ref name="NemetNejat">{{citation |last=Nemet-Nejat |first=Karen Rhea |title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia |date=1998 |page=[https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/132 132] |url=https://archive.org/details/dailylifeinancie00neme/page/132 |publisher=Greenwood |isbn=978-0-313-29497-6 |author-link=Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat}}.</ref>

The Sumerians considered it desirable for women to still be [[virgin]]s at the time of marriage,<ref name="Cooper"/>{{rp|100–101}} but did not expect the same of men,<ref name="Cooper"/>{{rp|102–103}} although one author considers [[premarital sex]] in general to have been discouraged.<ref>Dale Launderville. ''Celibacy in the Ancient World: Its Ideal and Practice in Pre-Hellenistic Israel, Mesopotamia, and Greece,'' p. 28.</ref> Neither Sumerian nor Akkadian had a word exactly corresponding to the English word '[[virginity]]', and the concept was expressed descriptively, for example as ''a/é-nu-gi<sub>4</sub>-a'' (Sum.)/''la naqbat'' (Akk.) 'un-deflowered', or ''giš nunzua'', 'never having known a penis'.<ref name="Cooper">{{cite book|last1=Cooper|first1=Jerrold S.|article=Virginity in Ancient Mesopotamia|title=Sex and Gender in the Ancient Near East: Proceedings of the 47th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Helsinki|year=2001|location=Baltimore, Maryland|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|url=http://krieger2.jhu.edu/neareast/pdf/jcooper/jc%20Virginity.pdf|isbn=978-951-45-9054-2}}</ref>{{rp|91–93}} It is unclear whether terms such as ''šišitu'' in Akkadian medical texts indicate the hymen, but it appears that the intactness of the hymen was much less relevant to assessing a woman's virginity than in later cultures of the Near East. Most assessments of virginity depended on the woman's own account.<ref name="Cooper"/>{{rp|91–92}}

From the earliest records, the Sumerians had very relaxed attitudes toward sex.<ref name="Dening1996">{{cite book |last=Dening |first=Sarah |url=https://archive.org/details/mythologyofsexan0000deni |title=The Mythology of Sex |date=1996 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-02-861207-2 |location=London, England |chapter=Chapter 3: Sex in Ancient Civilizations |chapter-url=http://www.ishtartemple.org/myth.htm |url-access=registration}}</ref> Their [[Sexual ethics|sexual mores]] were determined not by whether a sexual act was deemed immoral, but rather by whether or not it made a person ritually unclean.<ref name="Dening1996"/> The Sumerians widely believed that [[masturbation]] enhanced sexual potency, both for men and for women,<ref name="Dening1996"/> and they frequently engaged in it, both alone and [[Mutual masturbation|with their partners]].<ref name="Dening1996"/> The Sumerians did not regard [[anal sex]] as taboo either.<ref name="Dening1996"/> ''Entu'' priestesses were forbidden from producing offspring<ref name="Leick2013">{{citation |last=Leick |first=Gwendolyn |title=Sex and Eroticism in Mesopotamian Literature |page=219 |year=2013 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WKoWblE4pd0C&pg=PA64 |location=New York |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-92074-7 |orig-year=1994}}.</ref><ref name="NemetNejat"/> and frequently engaged in anal sex as a method of [[birth control]].<ref name="Leick2013"/>{{request quotation|date=May 2024}}<ref name="Dening1996"/>{{unreliable source?|date=May 2024}}<!--The author appeats to be a psychotherapist best known for having written 'The Everyday I-Ching'. Not an Assyriologist, not a historian or anything of the sort. The topic is the mythology of sex, not its practice. It seems dubious the book is a reliable source for this claim.--><ref name="NemetNejat"/>{{failed verification|date=May 2024}}

Prostitution existed, but it is not clear if [[sacred prostitution]] did.<ref name=Black/>{{rp|151}}

===Language and writing===
{{Main|Sumerian language|Cuneiform}}
{{further|History of writing}}
[[File:P1150884_Louvre_Uruk_III_tablette_écriture_précunéiforme_AO19936_rwk.jpg|thumb|A tablet with pictographic pre-cuneiform writing. Late 4th millennium BC, limestone. Height: 4.5 cm, width: 4.3 cm, depth: 2.4 cm. The [[Louvre]]]]
The most important archaeological discoveries in Sumer are a large number of [[clay tablet]]s written in [[cuneiform script]]. Sumerian writing is considered to be a great milestone in the development of humanity's ability to not only create historical records but also in creating pieces of literature, both in the form of poetic epics and stories as well as prayers and laws.

Although the writing system was first [[hieroglyphic]] using [[ideogram]]s, [[logogram|logosyllabic]] cuneiform soon followed.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Triangular or wedge-shaped reeds were used to write on moist clay. A large body of hundreds of thousands of texts in the Sumerian language have survived, including personal and business letters, receipts, [[lexical lists]], laws, hymns, prayers, stories, and daily records. Full libraries of clay tablets have been found. Monumental inscriptions and texts on different objects, like statues or bricks, are also very common. Many texts survive in multiple copies because they were repeatedly transcribed by scribes in training. Sumerian continued to be the language of religion and law in Mesopotamia long after Semitic speakers had become dominant.

A prime example of cuneiform writing is a lengthy poem that was discovered in the ruins of Uruk. The ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' was written in the standard Sumerian cuneiform. It tells of a king from the early Dynastic II period named Gilgamesh or "Bilgamesh" in Sumerian. The story relates the fictional adventures of Gilgamesh and his companion, [[Enkidu]]. It was laid out on several clay tablets and is thought to be the earliest known surviving example of fictional literature.

The Sumerian language is generally regarded as a [[language isolate]] in [[linguistics]], because it belongs to no known language family. Akkadian, by contrast, belongs to the Semitic branch of the [[Afroasiatic languages]]. There have been many failed attempts to connect Sumerian to other [[language family|language families]]. It is an [[agglutinative language]]. In other words, [[morpheme]]s ("units of meaning") are added together to create words, unlike [[analytic languages]] where morphemes are purely added together to create sentences. Some authors have proposed that there may be evidence of a [[Substratum (linguistics)|substratum]] or adstratum language for geographic features and various crafts and agricultural activities, called variously [[Proto-Euphratean]] or Proto Tigrean, but this is disputed by others.

Understanding Sumerian texts today can be problematic. Most difficult are the earliest texts, which in many cases do not give the full grammatical structure of the language and seem to have been used as an "[[aide-mémoire]]" for knowledgeable scribes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Oxford Handbook of the History of Linguistics|last=Allan|first=Keith|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-19-164343-9|location=Oxford|pages=56–57}}</ref>

Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC.<ref name="woods">Woods, C. 2006. [http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/OIS2.pdf "Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130429121058/http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/OIS2.pdf|date=2013-04-29}}. In S. L. Sanders (ed), ''Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture'': 91–120 Chicago.</ref> Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Babylonia and Assyria until the 1st century AD.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell |first1=Lyle |url=https://archive.org/details/glossaryhistoric00camp_191 |title=A glossary of historical linguistics |last2=Mixco |first2=Mauricio J. |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7486-2379-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/glossaryhistoric00camp_191/page/n202 196] |url-access=limited}}</ref>
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
File:Early writing tablet recording the allocation of beer.jpg|An early writing tablet for recording the allocation of beer, 3100–3000 BC, from Iraq. [[British Museum]], London
Cuneiform tablet- administrative account with entries concerning malt and barley groats MET DP293245.jpg|A cuneiform tablet about an administrative account, with entries concerning malt and barley groats, 3100–2900 BC. Clay, 6.8 x 4.5 x 1.6&nbsp;cm, the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York City
Bill of sale Louvre AO3766.jpg|A bill of sale of a field and a house, from [[Shuruppak]], c. 2600 BC. Height: 8.5&nbsp;cm, width: 8.5&nbsp;cm, depth: 2&nbsp;cm. The Louvre
Stele of Vultures detail 02.jpg|''[[Stele of the Vultures]]'', c. 2450 BC, limestone, Found in 1881 by Édouard de Sarzec in [[Girsu]], now Tell Telloh, Iraq. The Louvre
</gallery>

===Religion===
{{Main|Sumerian religion}}
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| caption1 = Wall plaque showing libations to a seated god and a temple. [[Ur]], 2500 BC
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The Sumerians credited their divinities for all matters pertaining to them and exhibited humility in the face of cosmic forces, such as [[death]] and [[divine wrath]].<ref name=Kramer1963/>{{rp|3–4}}

Sumerian religion seems to have been founded upon two separate [[Cosmogeny|cosmogenic]] myths. The first saw creation as the result of a series of ''[[hieros gamos|hieroi gamoi]]'' or sacred marriages, involving the reconciliation of opposites, postulated as a coming together of male and female divine beings, the gods.

This pattern continued to influence regional Mesopotamian myths. Thus, in the later Akkadian [[Enuma Elish]], creation was seen as the union of fresh and salt water, between male [[Abzu]], and female [[Tiamat]]. The products of that union, [[Lahm]] and Lahmu, "the muddy ones", were titles given to the gate keepers of the E-Abzu temple of [[Enki]] in [[Eridu]], the first Sumerian city.

Mirroring the way that muddy islands emerge from the confluence of fresh and salty water at the mouth of the Euphrates, where the river deposits its load of silt, a second hieros gamos supposedly resulted in the creation of Anshar and Kishar, the "sky-pivot" (or axle), and the "earth pivot", parents in turn of [[Anu]] (the sky) and [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]] (the earth).

Another important Sumerian hieros gamos was that between Ki, here known as [[Ninhursag]] or "Lady of the Mountains", and Enki of Eridu, the god of fresh water which brought forth greenery and pasture.

At an early stage, following the dawn of recorded history, [[Nippur]], in central Mesopotamia, replaced Eridu in the south as the primary temple city, whose priests exercised political [[hegemony]] on the other city-states. Nippur retained this status throughout the Sumerian period.

====Deities====
[[File:Ea (Babilonian) - EnKi (Sumerian).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Akkadian cylinder seal from sometime around 2300 BC or thereabouts depicting the deities [[Inanna]], [[Utu]], [[Enki]], and [[Isimud]]]]
Sumerians believed in an anthropomorphic polytheism, or the belief in many gods in human form. There was no common set of gods; each city-state had its own patrons, temples, and priest-kings. Nonetheless, these were not exclusive; the gods of one city were often acknowledged elsewhere. Sumerian speakers were among the earliest people to record their beliefs in writing, and were a major inspiration in later [[Mesopotamian mythology]], [[religion]], and [[astrology]].

The Sumerians worshiped:
* [[Anu|An]] as the full-time god equivalent to heaven; indeed, the word ''an'' in Sumerian means sky and his consort [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]], means earth.
* [[Enki]] in the south at the temple in Eridu. Enki was the god of beneficence and of wisdom, ruler of the freshwater depths beneath the earth, a healer and friend to humanity who in Sumerian myth was thought to have given humans the arts and sciences, the industries and manners of civilization; the first law book was considered his creation.
* [[Enlil]] was the god of storm, wind, and rain.<ref name="ColemanDavidson2015">{{citation |last1=Coleman |first1=J. A. |title=The Dictionary of Mythology: An A–Z of Themes, Legends, and Heroes |date=2015 |location=London, England |publisher=Arcturus Publishing Limited |isbn=978-1-78404-478-7 |last2=Davidson |first2=George}}.</ref>{{rp|108}} He was the chief god of the Sumerian pantheon<ref name=ColemanDavidson2015 />{{rp|108}}<ref>{{citation |last=Kramer |first=Samuel Noah |title=The Sumerian Deluge Myth: Reviewed and Revised |date=1983 |journal=Anatolian Studies |volume=33 |pages=115–121 |doi=10.2307/3642699 |jstor=3642699 |s2cid=163489322}}.</ref>{{rp|115–121}} and the patron god of Nippur.<ref>{{citation|last=Hallo|first=William W.|article=Review: Enki and the Theology of Eridu|title=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=116|issue=2|date=1996}}</ref>{{rp|231–234}} His consort was [[Ninlil]], the goddess of the south wind.<ref>{{citation|last1=Black|first1=Jeremy A.|last2=Cunningham|first2=Graham|last3=Robson|first3=Eleanor|title=The Literature of Ancient Sumer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1W2mTtGVV4C&pg=PA106|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929633-0}}</ref>{{rp|106}}
* [[Inanna]] was the goddess of love, sexuality, and war;<ref name="Black">Black, Jeremy; Green, Anthony (1992), ''[[iarchive:gods-demons-and-symbols-of-ancient-mesopotamia-an-illustrated-dictionary 202012|Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary]]'', University of Texas Press, {{ISBN|0-292-70794-0}}.</ref>{{rp|109}} the deification of Venus, the morning (eastern) and evening (western) star, at the temple (shared with An) at Uruk. Deified kings may have re-enacted the marriage of Inanna and [[Dumuzid the Shepherd|Dumuzid]] with priestesses.<ref name=Black/>{{rp|151, 157–158}}
* The sun-god [[Utu]] at [[Larsa]] in the south and [[Sippar]] in the north,
* The moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Sin]] at Ur.

[[File:Genealogy of Sumero-Akkadian Gods.jpg|thumb|upright=2.05|Sumero-early Akkadian [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]]]]

These [[deity|deities]] formed the main pantheon, and in addition to this there were hundreds of other minor gods. Sumerian gods were often associated with different cities, and their religious importance often waxed and waned with those cities' political power. The gods were said to have created human beings from clay for the purpose of serving them. The temples organized the mass labour projects needed for irrigation agriculture. Citizens had a labor duty to the temple, though they could avoid it by a payment of silver.

====Cosmology====
Sumerians envisioned Earth to be a rectangular field with four corners.<ref name=":0" /> The Sumerian [[afterlife]] involved a descent into a gloomy [[Sumerian nether-world|netherworld]] to spend eternity in a wretched [[existence]] as a [[Gidim]] (ghost).<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |author-link1=Jeremy Black (assyriologist) |last2=Green | first2=Anthony |title= Gods, Demons, and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |date=1992 |publisher=University of Texas Press |isbn=978-0-292-70794-8}}</ref>

The universe was divided into four quarters:
* To the north were the hill-dwelling [[Subartu]], who were periodically raided for slaves, timber, and other raw materials.<ref>Whatever the assertions of cosmography here, when modern-day archaeologists carve out areas of exploration based on physical-remains and other data, there is an emphasis on three, ''vide'' Marcella Frangipane, "Different Trajectories in State Formation in Greater Mesopotamia: A View from Arslantepe (Turkey)", ''Journal of Archaeological Research'' 26 (2018): 3–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-017-9106-2. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123080651/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10814-017-9106-2|date=2022-11-23}}: "southern Mesopotamia, northern Mesopotamia, and [to the west] Upper Euphrates valley" (3), with no reference to any of these proper-names.</ref>
* To the west were the tent-dwelling [[Amorite|Martu]], ancient Semitic-speaking peoples living as pastoral nomads tending herds of sheep and goats.
* To the south was the land of [[Dilmun]], a trading state associated with the land of the dead and the place of creation.<ref name="Carl Phillips 2013">Geoffrey Bibby and Carl Phillips, ''Looking for Dilmun'' (London, England: Stacey International, 1996; reprinted London, England: Knopf, 2013). {{ISBN|978-0-905743-90-5}}.</ref>
* To the east were the [[Elamites]], a rival people with whom the Sumerians were frequently at war.

Their known world extended from ''The Upper Sea'' or Mediterranean coastline, to ''The Lower Sea'', the [[Persian Gulf]] and the land of [[Meluhha]] (probably the [[Indus Valley]]) and [[Majan (civilization)|Magan]] ([[Oman]]), famed for its copper ores.

====Temple and temple organisation====
[[Ziggurat]]s (Sumerian temples) each had an individual name and consisted of a forecourt, with a central pond for purification.<ref>Leick, Gwendolyn (2003), Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City' (Penguin).</ref> The temple itself had a central [[nave]] with aisles along either side. Flanking the aisles would be rooms for the priests. At one end would stand the [[podium]] and a [[mudbrick]] table for animal and vegetable [[sacrifice]]s. [[Granary|Granaries]] and [[Warehouse|storehouses]] were usually located near the temples. After a time the Sumerians began to place the temples on top of multi-layered square constructions built as a series of rising terraces, giving rise to the Ziggurat style.<ref>Mark M. Jarzombek and Vikramaditya Prakash, ''A Global History of Architecture'' (London, England: Wiley, 2011), pp. 33–39. {{ISBN|978-0-470-90248-6}}.</ref>

====Funerary practices====
It was believed that when people died, they would be confined to a gloomy world of [[Ereshkigal]], whose realm was guarded by gateways with various monsters designed to prevent people entering or leaving. The dead were buried outside the city walls in graveyards where a small mound covered the corpse, along with offerings to monsters and a small amount of food. Those who could afford it sought burial at Dilmun.<ref name="Carl Phillips 2013"/> [[Human sacrifice]] was found in the death pits at the Ur royal cemetery where Queen [[Puabi]] was accompanied in death by her servants.

===Agriculture and hunting===
{{further|Agriculture in Mesopotamia}}
The Sumerians adopted an agricultural lifestyle perhaps as early as {{Circa|5000}}–4500 BC. The region demonstrated a number of core agricultural techniques, including organized [[irrigation]], large-scale intensive cultivation of land, [[monocropping]] involving the use of [[plough]] agriculture, and the use of an agricultural [[Division of labour|specialized labour force]] under bureaucratic control. The necessity to manage temple accounts with this organization led to the development of [[history of writing|writing]] (c. 3500 BC).

[[File:Ur mosaic.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|From the royal tombs of [[Ur]], made of [[lapis lazuli]] and shell, shows peacetime]]

In the early Sumerian Uruk period, the primitive pictograms suggest that [[sheep]], [[goat]]s, [[cattle]], and [[pig]]s were domesticated. They used [[ox]]en as their primary beasts of burden and [[donkey]]s or [[equids]] as their primary transport animal and "woollen clothing as well as rugs were made from the wool or hair of the animals. ... By the side of the house was an enclosed garden planted with trees and other plants; wheat and probably other [[cereal]]s were sown in the fields, and the ''[[shaduf]]'' was already employed for the purpose of irrigation. Plants were also grown in pots or vases."<ref name="Sayce"/>

[[File:Issue of barley rations.JPG|thumb|An account of barley rations issued monthly to adults and children written in [[cuneiform script]] on a clay tablet, written in year 4 of King [[Urukagina]], {{circa|2350 BC}}]]

The Sumerians were one of the first known [[beer]]-drinking societies. Cereals were plentiful and were the key ingredient in their early brew. They brewed multiple kinds of beer consisting of wheat, barley, and mixed grain beers. Beer brewing was very important to the Sumerians. It was referenced in the Epic of Gilgamesh when Enkidu was introduced to the food and beer of Gilgamesh's people: "Drink the beer, as is the custom of the land... He drank the beer-seven jugs! and became expansive and sang with joy!"<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gately|first1=Iain|title=Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol|publisher=Gotham Books|isbn=978-1-59240-303-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/drinkculturalhis00gate_0/page/5 5]|year=2008|url=https://archive.org/details/drinkculturalhis00gate_0/page/5}}</ref>

The Sumerians practiced similar irrigation techniques as those used in Egypt.<ref>{{cite book| last = Mackenzie| first = Donald Alexander| year = 1927 | title = Footprints of Early Man| publisher = Blackie & Son Limited}}</ref> American anthropologist [[Robert McCormick Adams]] says that irrigation development was associated with urbanization,<ref>{{cite book| last = Adams| first = R. McC.| year = 1981 | title = Heartland of Cities| publisher = University of Chicago Press}}</ref> and that 89% of the population lived in the cities.

They grew barley, [[chickpea]]s, [[lentil]]s, wheat, [[Date (fruit)|dates]], [[onion]]s, [[garlic]], [[lettuce]], [[leek]]s and [[Mustard plant|mustard]]. Sumerians caught many fish and hunted [[fowl]] and [[gazelle]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The fine art of food | first=Reay |last=Tannahill | publisher=Folio Society| year=1968|location=London|isbn=0850670063}}{{Page needed|date=March 2012}}</ref>

Sumerian agriculture depended heavily on [[irrigation]]. The irrigation was accomplished by the use of ''[[shaduf]]'', [[canal]]s, [[Channel (geography)|channels]], [[dyke (construction)|dykes]], [[weir]]s, and [[reservoirs]]. The frequent violent floods of the [[Tigris]], and less so, of the [[Euphrates]], meant that canals required frequent repair and continual removal of [[silt]], and survey markers and boundary stones needed to be continually replaced. The government required individuals to work on the canals in a [[corvée]], although the rich were able to exempt themselves.

As is known from the "''[[Sumerian Farmer's Almanac]]''", after the flood season and after the [[Spring equinox (northern hemisphere)|Spring equinox]] and the ''[[Akitu]]'' or New Year Festival, using the canals, farmers would flood their fields and then drain the water. Next they made oxen stomp the ground and kill weeds. They then dragged the fields with [[pickaxe]]s. After drying, they plowed, [[harrow (tool)|harrowed]], and [[rake (tool)|raked]] the ground three times, and pulverized it with a [[mattock]], before planting seed. Unfortunately, the high evaporation rate resulted in a gradual increase in the salinity of the fields. By the Ur III period, farmers had switched from wheat to the more salt-tolerant barley as their principal crop.

Sumerians harvested during the [[spring (season)|spring]] in three-person teams consisting of a [[reaper]], a [[Reaper-binder|binder]], and a sheaf handler.<ref>Melvin Kranzberg, Joseph Gies. By the sweat of thy brow: Work in the Western world. Putnam, 1975.</ref> The farmers would use [[threshing]] wagons, driven by oxen, to separate the cereal heads from the [[stalk (botany)|stalks]] and then use threshing sleds to disengage the grain. They then [[winnowing|winnowed]] the grain/chaff mixture.

===Art===
{{see also|Stele of the Vultures|Royal Cemetery at Ur}}
[[File:Royal Tombs of Ur Objects from tomb PG 580.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Gold dagger from Sumerian tomb PG 580, [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]].]]
The Sumerians were great artists. Sumerian artefacts show great detail and ornamentation, with fine semi-precious stones imported from other lands, such as [[lapis lazuli]], [[marble]], and [[diorite]], and precious metals like hammered gold, incorporated into the design. Since stone was rare it was reserved for sculpture. The most widespread material in Sumer was clay, as a result many Sumerian objects are made of clay. Metals such as gold, silver, copper, and bronze, along with shells and gemstones, were used for the finest sculptures and inlays. Small stones of all kinds, including more precious stones such as lapis lazuli, alabaster, and serpentine, were used for [[cylinder seal]]s.

Some of the most famous masterpieces are the Lyres of Ur, which are considered to be the world's oldest surviving [[stringed instrument]]s. They were discovered by [[Leonard Woolley]] when the [[Royal Cemetery of Ur]] was excavated between 1922 and 1934.
<gallery widths="170px" heights="170px">
Cylinder seal and modern impression- ritual scene before a temple facade MET DP270679.jpg|Cylinder seal and impression in which appears a ritual scene before a temple façade; 3500–3100 BC; bituminous limestone; height: 4.5&nbsp;cm; [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
Raminathicket2.jpg|''[[Ram in a Thicket]]''; 2600–2400 BC; gold, copper, shell, lapis lazuli and limestone; height: 45.7&nbsp;cm; from the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]] ([[Dhi Qar Governorate]], Iraq); [[British Museum]] (London)
Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8747049029) (2).jpg|''[[Standard of Ur]]''; 2600–2400 BC; shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli on wood; length: 49.5&nbsp;cm; from the Royal Cemetery at Ur; British Museum
Bull's head ornament for a lyre MET DP260070.jpg|Bull's head ornament from a lyre; 2600–2350 BC; bronze inlaid with shell and [[lapis lazuli]]; height: 13.3&nbsp;cm, width: 10.5&nbsp;cm; Metropolitan Museum of Art
</gallery>

===Architecture===
{{Main|Sumerian architecture|Ziggurat|Mudhif}}
{{See also|Clay nail}}
[[File:Ancient ziggurat at Ali Air Base Iraq 2005.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The ''[[Great Ziggurat of Ur]]'' ([[Dhi Qar Governorate]], Iraq), built during the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] (c. 2100 BC), dedicated to the moon god [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]]]]
The Tigris-Euphrates plain lacked minerals and trees. Sumerian structures were made of plano-convex mudbrick, not fixed with [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]] or [[cement]]. Mud-brick buildings eventually deteriorate, so they were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This constant rebuilding gradually raised the level of cities, which thus came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resultant hills, known as [[Tell (archaeology)|tells]], are found throughout the ancient Near East.

According to [[Archibald Sayce]], the primitive [[pictogram]]s of the early Sumerian (i.e. Uruk) era suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals. Brick was the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double. The foundation stones—or rather bricks—of a house were consecrated by certain objects that were deposited under them."<ref name="Sayce">{{cite book |last=Sayce (Reverend) |first=A. H. |author-link=Archibald Sayce |url=https://archive.org/stream/archaeologyofcun00sayc/archaeologyofcun00sayc_djvu.txt |title=The Archaeology of the Cuneiform Inscriptions |publisher=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge |year=1908 |edition=2nd revised |location=London, England; Brighton, England; New York |pages=98–100}}</ref>

The most impressive and famous of Sumerian buildings are the ziggurats, large layered platforms that supported temples. Sumerian cylinder seals also depict houses built from reeds not unlike those built by the [[Marsh Arabs]] of Southern Iraq until as recently as 400 CE. The Sumerians also developed the [[arch]], which enabled them to develop a strong type of dome. They built this by constructing and linking several arches. Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques, such as [[buttress]]es, [[Alcove (architecture)|recesses]], half [[column]]s, and [[clay nail]]s.

===Mathematics===
{{Main|Babylonian mathematics}}

The Sumerians developed a complex system of [[metrology]] c. 4000 BC. This advanced metrology resulted in the creation of arithmetic, geometry, and algebra. From c. 2600 BC onwards, the Sumerians wrote [[multiplication table]]s on clay tablets and dealt with [[geometrical]] exercises and [[Division (mathematics)|division]] problems. The earliest traces of the [[Babylonian numerals]] also date back to this period.<ref>Duncan J. Melville (2003). [http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/3Mill/chronology.html Third Millennium Chronology]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180707213616/http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/3Mill/chronology.html|date=2018-07-07}}, ''Third Millennium Mathematics''. [[St. Lawrence University]].</ref> The period c. 2700–2300 BC saw the first appearance of the [[abacus]], and a table of successive columns which delimited the successive orders of magnitude of their [[sexagesimal]] number system.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ifrah |first=Georges |url=https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_w3q2 |title=The Universal History of Computing: From the Abacus to the Quantum Computer |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-471-39671-0 |location=New York, New York |page=11}}</ref> The Sumerians were the first to use a place value numeral system. There is also anecdotal evidence the Sumerians may have used a type of slide rule in astronomical calculations. They were the first to find the area of a triangle and the volume of a cube.<ref>{{cite book| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=BKRE5AjRM3AC&q=sherlock+holmes+in+babylon |title=Sherlock Holmes in Babylon: and other tales of mathematical history | first1=Marlow |last1=Anderson | first2=Robin J. |last2=Wilson |year= 2004 |access-date=2012-03-29| isbn= 978-0-88385-546-1}}</ref>

===Economy and trade===
{{main|Economy of Sumer}}

[[File:Bill of sale Louvre AO3765.jpg|thumb|Bill of sale of a male slave and a building in [[Shuruppak]], Sumerian tablet, c. 2600 BC]]
Discoveries of [[obsidian]] from far-away locations in [[Anatolia]] and lapis lazuli from [[Badakhshan]] in northeastern [[Afghanistan]], beads from Dilmun (modern [[Bahrain]]), and several seals inscribed with the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley]] [[Indus script|script]] suggest a remarkably wide-ranging network of ancient trade centered on the [[Persian Gulf]]. For example, [[Imports to Ur]] came from many parts of the world. In particular, the metals of all types had to be imported.

The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' refers to trade with far lands for goods, such as wood, that were scarce in Mesopotamia. In particular, [[Cedrus libani|cedar]] from [[Lebanon]] was prized. The finding of resin in the tomb of Queen [[Puabi]] at Ur, indicates it was traded from as far away as [[Mozambique]].

The Sumerians used slaves, although they were not a major part of the economy. Slave women worked as [[weaving|weavers]], pressers, [[miller]]s, and [[porter (carrying)|porters]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2019}}

Sumerian potters decorated pots with [[cedar oil]] [[paint]]s. The potters used a [[bow drill]] to produce the fire needed for baking the pottery. Sumerian [[masonry|masons]] and [[jewelry|jewelers]] knew and made use of [[alabaster]] ([[calcite]]), [[ivory]], [[iron]], [[gold]], [[silver]], [[carnelian]], and lapis lazuli.<ref>Marian H. Feldman, ''Diplomacy by design: Luxury arts and an "international style" in the ancient Near East, 1400–1200 BC'', (Chicago, Illinois: University Press, 2006), pp.&nbsp;120–121.</ref>

====Trade with the Indus valley====
{{main|Indus-Mesopotamia relations}}
[[File:British Museum Middle East 14022019 Gold and carnelian beads 2600-2300 BC Royal cemetery of Ur (composite).jpg|thumb|The [[etched carnelian beads]] with white designs in this necklace from the [[Royal Cemetery of Ur]], dating to the [[First Dynasty of Ur]], are thought to have come from the Indus Valley. [[British Museum]].<ref name="BM Carnelian">British Museum notice: "Gold and carnelians beads. The two beads etched with patterns in white were probably imported from the Indus Valley. They were made by a technique developed by the Harappan civilization". [[:File:Ur Grave gold and carnelian beads necklace.jpg|Photograph of the necklace in question]].</ref>]]
[[File:Mesopotamia-Indus.jpg|thumb|left|The trade routes between Mesopotamia and the Indus would have been significantly shorter due to lower sea levels in the 3rd millennium BC.<ref name="JR12">{{cite book |last1=Reade |first1=Julian E. |title=The Indus-Mesopotamia relationship reconsidered (Gs Elisabeth During Caspers) |date=2008 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-0312-3 |pages=12–14 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28245304 }}</ref>]]
Evidence for imports from the Indus to Ur can be found from around 2350 BC.<ref name="JR14">{{cite book |last1=Reade |first1=Julian E. |title=The Indus-Mesopotamia relationship reconsidered (Gs Elisabeth During Caspers) |date=2008 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-0312-3 |pages=14–17 |url=https://www.academia.edu/28245304 }}</ref> Various objects made with shell species that are characteristic of the Indus coast, particularly ''[[Turbinella pyrum]]'' and ''[[Pleuroploca trapezium]]'', have been found in the archaeological sites of Mesopotamia dating from around 2500–2000 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gensheimer |first1=T. R. |title=The Role of shell in Mesopotamia : evidence for trade exchange with Oman and the Indus Valley |journal=Paléorient |date=1984 |volume=10 |pages=71–72 |doi=10.3406/paleo.1984.4350 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1984_num_10_1_4350}}</ref> [[Carnelian]] beads from the Indus were found in the Sumerian tombs of Ur, the [[Royal Cemetery at Ur]], dating to 2600–2450.<ref name="JMI">{{cite book |last1=McIntosh |first1=Jane |title=The Ancient Indus Valley: New Perspectives |date=2008 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-907-2 |pages=182–190 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1AJO2A-CbccC&pg=PA189 }}</ref> In particular, carnelian beads with an etched design in white were probably imported from the Indus Valley, and made according to a technique of acid-etching developed by the [[Harappa]]ns.<ref>For the etching technique, see {{cite journal |last1=MacKay |first1=Ernest |title=Sumerian Connexions with Ancient India |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |issue=4 |date=1925 |pages=699 |jstor=25220818 }}</ref><ref name="BM Carnelian" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Guimet |first1=Musée |title=Les Cités oubliées de l'Indus: Archéologie du Pakistan |date=2016 |publisher=FeniXX réédition numérique |isbn=978-2-402-05246-7 |page=355 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-HpYDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA355 |language=fr}}</ref> Lapis lazuli was imported in great quantity by Egypt, and already used in many tombs of the [[Naqada II]] period (c. 3200 BC). Lapis lazuli probably originated in northern [[Afghanistan]], as no other sources are known, and had to be transported across the [[Iranian plateau]] to Mesopotamia, and then Egypt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Demand |first1=Nancy H. |title=The Mediterranean Context of Early Greek History |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4443-4234-5 |pages=71–72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YVSg-DOHzJMC&pg=PA71 }}</ref><ref name="CP">{{cite book |last1=Rowlands |first1=Michael J. |title=Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World |date=1987 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-25103-7 |page=37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDs9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37 }}</ref>

Several Indus seals with Harappan script have also been found in Mesopotamia, particularly in Ur, Babylon and Kish.<ref>For a full list of discoveries of Indus seals in Mesopotamia, see {{cite book |last1=Reade |first1=Julian |title=Indian Ocean In Antiquity |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-15531-4 |pages=148–152 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PtzWAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 }}</ref><ref>For another list of Mesopotamian finds of Indus seals: {{cite book |last1=Possehl |first1=Gregory L. |title=The Indus Civilization: A Contemporary Perspective |date=2002 |publisher=Rowman Altamira |isbn=978-0-7591-0172-2 |page=221 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pmAuAsi4ePIC&pg=PA221 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Indus stamp-seal found in Ur BM 122187 |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=805148&partId=1&images=true |website=British Museum}}<br />{{cite web |title=Indus stamp-seal discovered in Ur BM 123208 |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=804667&partId=1&museumno=1932.1008.178&page=2 |website=British Museum}}<br />{{cite web |title=Indus stamp-seal discovered in Ur BM 120228 |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=805338&partId=1&images=true |website=British Museum}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gadd |first1=G. J. |title=Seals of Ancient Indian style found at Ur |date=1958 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.33779/page/n11}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Brotherhood of Kings: How International Relations Shaped the Ancient Near East|page=49|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JTvRCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|first=Amanda H.|last=Podany|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-19-971829-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Aruz |first1=Joan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8l9X_3rHFdEC&pg=PA246 |title=Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus |last2=Wallenfels |first2=Ronald |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-58839-043-1 |page=246 |quote=Square-shaped Indus seals of fired steatite have been found at a few sites in Mesopotamia.}}</ref>

[[Gudea]], the ruler of the Neo-Summerian Empire at Lagash, is recorded as having imported "translucent carnelian" from [[Meluhha]], generally thought to be the Indus Valley area.<ref name="JMI"/> Various inscriptions also mention the presence of Meluhha traders and interpreters in Mesopotamia.<ref name="JMI"/> About twenty seals have been found from the Akkadian and Ur III sites, that have connections with Harappa and often use Harappan symbols or writing.<ref name="JMI"/>

The Indus Valley Civilization only flourished in its most developed form between 2400 and 1800 BC, but at the time of these exchanges, it was a much larger entity than the Mesopotamian civilization, covering an area of 1.2 million square kilometers with thousands of settlements, compared to an area of only about 65.000 square kilometers for the occupied area of Mesopotamia, while the largest cities were comparable in size at about 30–40,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cotterell |first1=Arthur |title=Asia: A Concise History |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-82959-2 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_vVTWXK5kQC&pg=PT42 }}</ref>

====Money and credit====
Large institutions kept their accounts in barley and [[silver]], often with a fixed rate between them. The obligations, loans and prices in general were usually denominated in one of them. Many transactions involved debt, for example goods consigned to merchants by temple and beer advanced by "ale women".<ref name = debt>{{cite book |title= Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East|editor=Michael Hudson and Marc Van De Mieroop|last= Hudson|first= Michael|year= 1998|publisher= CDL|location= Bethesda, Maryland|isbn= 978-1-883053-71-0|pages= 23–35}}</ref>

Commercial credit and agricultural consumer loans were the main types of loans. The trade credit was usually extended by temples in order to finance trade expeditions and was nominated in silver. The interest rate was set at 1/60 a month (one [[shekel]] per [[mina (unit)|mina]]) some time before 2000 BC and it remained at that level for about two thousand years.<ref name = debt/>
Rural loans commonly arose as a result of unpaid obligations due to an institution (such as a temple), in this case the arrears were considered to be lent to the debtor.<ref name = debt2>{{cite book |title= Debt and Economic Renewal in the Ancient Near East|editor=Michael Hudson and Marc Van De Mieroop|last= Van De Mieroop|first= Marc|year= 1998|publisher= CDL|location= Bethesda, Maryland|isbn= 978-1-883053-71-0|page= 63}}</ref> They were denominated in barley or other crops and the interest rate was typically much higher than for commercial loans and could amount to 1/3 to 1/2 of the loan principal.<ref name = debt/>

Periodically, rulers signed "clean slate" decrees that cancelled all the rural (but not commercial) debt and allowed bondservants to return to their homes. Customarily, rulers did it at the beginning of the first full year of their reign, but they could also be proclaimed at times of military conflict or crop failure. The first known ones were made by [[Enmetena]] and [[Urukagina]] of Lagash in 2400–2350 BC. According to Hudson, the purpose of these decrees was to prevent debts mounting to a degree that they threatened the fighting force, which could happen if peasants lost their subsistence land or became bondservants due to inability to repay their debt.<ref name = debt/>

===Military===
[[File:Standard of Ur chariots.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|Early chariots on the [[Standard of Ur]], c. 2600 BC]]
[[File:Stele of the vultures (phalanx).jpg|thumb|[[Phalanx]] battle formations led by Sumerian king [[Eannatum]], on a fragment of the [[Stele of the Vultures]]]]
[[File:Silver model of a boat, tomb PG 789, Royal Cemetery of UR, 2600-2500 BCE.jpg|thumb|Silver model of a [[boat]], tomb PG 789, [[Royal Cemetery of Ur]], 2600–2500 BC]]
The almost constant wars among the Sumerian city-states for 2000 years helped to develop the military technology and techniques of Sumer to a high level.<ref>Roux, Georges (1992), "Ancient Iraq" (Penguin).</ref> The first war recorded in any detail was between Lagash and Umma in c. 2450 BC on a stele called the [[Stele of the Vultures]]. It shows the king of Lagash leading a Sumerian army consisting mostly of [[infantry]]. The infantry carried [[spear]]s, wore [[copper]] [[helmet]]s, and carried rectangular [[shield]]s. The spearmen are shown arranged in what resembles the [[phalanx formation]], which requires training and discipline; this implies that the Sumerians may have used professional soldiers.<ref>Winter, Irene J. (1985). "After the Battle is Over: The 'Stele of the Vultures' and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East". In Kessler, Herbert L.; Simpson, Marianna Shreve. Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Symposium Series IV 16. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp. 11–32. {{ISSN|0091-7338}}.</ref>

The Sumerian military used carts harnessed to [[onager]]s. These early [[chariot]]s functioned less effectively in combat than did later designs, and some have suggested that these chariots served primarily as transports, though the crew carried battle-axes and [[lance]]s. The Sumerian chariot comprised a four or two-[[wheel]]ed device manned by a crew of two and harnessed to four onagers. The cart was composed of a [[basket|woven basket]] and the wheels had a solid three-piece design.

Sumerian cities were surrounded by [[defensive wall]]s. The Sumerians engaged in [[siege]] warfare between their cities, but the mudbrick walls were able to deter some foes.

===Technology===
Examples of Sumerian technology include: the wheel, cuneiform script, [[arithmetic]] and [[geometry]], [[irrigation]] systems, Sumerian boats, [[lunisolar calendar]], [[bronze]], [[leather]], [[saw]]s, [[chisel]]s, [[hammer]]s, [[brace (tool)|braces]], [[Bit (horse)|bits]], [[nail (engineering)|nails]], [[pin]]s, [[jewelry ring|rings]], [[hoe (tool)|hoes]], [[axe]]s, [[knife|knives]], [[lance]]points, [[arrow (weapon)|arrowheads]], [[sword]]s, [[adhesive|glue]], [[dagger]]s, [[waterskin]]s, bags, [[horse harness|harnesses]], [[armor]], [[quiver]]s, [[war chariot]]s, [[scabbard]]s, [[boot]]s, [[sandal (footwear)|sandals]], [[harpoon]]s and beer.
The Sumerians had three main types of boats:
* clinker-built sailboats stitched together with hair, featuring [[bitumen]] waterproofing
* skin boats constructed from animal skins and reeds
* wooden-oared ships, sometimes pulled upstream by people and animals walking along the nearby banks