Sumerian Language

Sumerians Contri entirelyion Have you ever thought of where math, composition, and governments were invented? The Sumerians invented math, science, writing, and astronomy. The Sumerians were the first civilization on earth. Around 4,000 B. C. E the people called Sumerians moved into Mesopotamia, located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East. The Sumerians built massive city walls, Ziggurats (similar to pyramids but utilize for worshipping), canals, etc. Many people dont know about how greatly the Sumerians commence contributed to our society.Looking at math, writing, and governments we will see how the Sumerians have influenced todays society. First of all, Sumerians were the first to invent math. The Sumerians used a sexagesimal system, which basically means that e genuinelything based on the number 60 (Krupp). The mathematician Duncan J. Melville from St. Lawrence University said that the system is striking for its originality and simplicity. The reasons w hy the Sumerians picked 60 as their base remains unknown however, the idea was developed from an earlier, much(prenominal) complex system known from 3200 B. C. n which the positions in a number alternated between 6 and 10 as bases. For a system that might seem even more deranged, if it werent so familiar, find this focusing of measuring length with four entirely different bases 12 little units, called inches, make a foot, 3 feet make a yard, and 1,760 yards make a mile. Over a one thousand years, the Sumerian alternating-base order was simplified into the sexagesimal system, with the same symbol standing for 1 or 60 or 3,600, depending on its place in the number, subdued as 1 in the decimal system denotes 1, 10 or 100, depending on its place (Wade).Then later on Babylonians adopt the system and used it to calculate time the 11233 on a computer clock means 1 (x 60 squared) seconds + 12 (x 60) seconds + 33 seconds, which we still use today. This is the reason why modern day civilization measures an hour in 60 minutes and 1 minute in 60 seconds. The sexagesimal system enabled the Sumerians to calculate roots, reckon into millions, and use fractions. Modern-day math still uses aspects of this system (Wade).Next, according to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, writing emerged in many an(prenominal) different cultures throughout the ancient military man, it wasnt the creation of one people however, the Sumerians are impute with inventing the earliest form of writing around 3,500 B. C. E. The Sumerians writings on stone tablets started off as just simple pictures and pictograms that fited objects or ideas (see Figure 1). Soon after the Sumerians simplified the pictograms into wedge-shaped signs which is called cuneiform writing (ancient Mesopotamia The Invention of Writing). The invention of writing was the dawn of the information revolution. This great technological progression allowed news and ideas to be carried to distant places w ithout having to rely on a messengers memory. Like all inventions, writing emerged because on that point was a need for it. In Mesopotamia, it was developed as a record-keeping vehicle for commercial transactions or administrative procedures. There are also texts that served as copy books for the education of future scribes.Eventually, cuneiform leger was used to produce some of the greatest literary works in recorded history (Ancient Mesopotamia The Invention of Writing). We got the alphabet that we used today because after the Sumerians in Mesopotamia started writing, it crack to Egypt, and by 1500 B. C. E. it spread to China, and from then on people were scribbling, sketching, and telling the world about their culture in a very permanent way (Whipps). As writing spread, people developed their own styles, forms, and way of writing.Another invention that we still use today is government. I learned from studying world history that the Sumerians needed a way to maintain order, orga nize work forces, and keep crimes from happening because Mesopotamia was a very large city with many artifacts and valuables. The Sumerians were able to build large defensive walls, roads, canals, ditches, and dikes that ran throughout Mesopotamia because of the organized labor, which was possible because they had a government. Now, government is what keeps the world from becoming a place of anarchy and chaos (government).Government affects us now because we elect officials that represent out beliefs on how the United States should be run. America would be nothing without a government. We can thank the Sumerians because with a government America is a superpower and prosperous (government). In conclusion, without the inventions of math, writing, government, and many more we would have a chaotic world. Sumerians invented arithmetic, a number system, cuneiform writing that many have adopted and changed, and a government to keep the Empire together.Without the inventions of the Sumerian s we would be set back a couple thousand years today. Citations Ancient Mesopotamia The Invention of Writing. The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. N. p.. Web. 13 Dec 2012. http//oi. uchicago. edu/OI/MUS/ED/TRC/MESO/writing. hypertext mark-up language. Government. The World History Hall of Fame. N. p.. Web. 13 Dec 2012. http//worldhistoryfame. tripod. com/id8. html. Krupp, E. C. Going Like Sixty. Sky Telescope. 2007 n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. http//web. ebscohost. com/ehost/detail? emailprotectedvid=1hid=28bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ== Wade, Nicholas. An Exhibition That Gets to the (Square) Root of Sumerian Math. New York Times. 22 2010 n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. http//www. nytimes. com/2010/11/23/science/23babylon. html? _r=0. Whipps, Heather. How Writing Changed the World. LiveScience. 10 2008 n. page. Web. 13 Dec. 2012. http//www. livescience. com/2283-writing-changed-world. html. Figure 1 Sumerian Tablets With Semi-Pictographic Writing