WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.091 [Mystical music] 00:00:35.190 --> 00:00:38.873 In Sumer, part of the ancient land of Mesopotamia, 00:00:38.873 --> 00:00:41.500 there was a famous city state called Nippur. 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:43.697 One day a teacher in Nippur 00:00:43.697 --> 00:00:47.657 asked his students to start a journal about their lives and their country. 00:00:47.977 --> 00:00:52.582 This is the story of one student, Nisaba, and her journal. 00:00:53.991 --> 00:00:58.894 Okay here we go. Nisaba's journal, entry one. 00:00:59.501 --> 00:01:01.908 Teacher wants us to write about our life. 00:01:01.908 --> 00:01:04.608 What is my life like here in Sumer? 00:01:06.106 --> 00:01:09.771 I think I'll tell the story of my people from the very beginning. 00:01:12.011 --> 00:01:14.385 My grandfather knows all about it. 00:01:14.385 --> 00:01:17.870 He says the first thing we Sumerians did 00:01:17.870 --> 00:01:20.080 was get really good at farming. 00:01:22.835 --> 00:01:26.551 My ancestors used to make their living by hunting wild animals for food. 00:01:26.551 --> 00:01:29.440 They were constantly on the move following the herds. 00:01:31.628 --> 00:01:35.665 As they travelled they would also gather wild berries, nuts and green seeds. 00:01:38.667 --> 00:01:41.477 But they often didn't know where their next meal would come from. 00:01:41.477 --> 00:01:43.437 It was a hard way to live. 00:01:46.676 --> 00:01:49.359 Then they discovered they could plant and harvest 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:52.359 the kind of wheat they found growing wild 00:01:54.774 --> 00:01:57.747 and they also found out how to tame wild goats and sheep 00:01:57.747 --> 00:01:59.572 and raise them for food. 00:02:00.030 --> 00:02:02.833 Grandfather calls that 'domestication'. 00:02:04.935 --> 00:02:07.151 It meant they didn't have to hunt for food anymore. 00:02:07.151 --> 00:02:09.351 They could grow it themselves 00:02:09.351 --> 00:02:13.157 and so my ancestors stopped wandering and stayed here. 00:02:13.157 --> 00:02:17.014 They discovered that food grows better here than almost anywhere else. 00:02:18.968 --> 00:02:24.435 That's because we're in a river valley, right between two rivers in fact. 00:02:24.435 --> 00:02:28.330 Mesopotamia actually means 'land between the rivers'. 00:02:29.131 --> 00:02:33.664 One river is the Tigris and the other is the Euphrates. 00:02:35.694 --> 00:02:41.370 My grandfather says it's easy to grow food because the soil here is so fertile 00:02:41.459 --> 00:02:44.459 and only that is because of the mountains up north. 00:02:44.459 --> 00:02:47.054 It snows alot up there in the winter. 00:02:47.054 --> 00:02:51.987 When the snow melts, all that water runs down into the valley and the rivers. 00:02:53.895 --> 00:02:57.626 Then the rivers rise over their banks and flood the valley 00:02:57.626 --> 00:03:00.865 and they dump alot of really good dirt on the land. 00:03:00.865 --> 00:03:03.254 It's great for growing food in. 00:03:05.060 --> 00:03:07.276 So now we eat really well. 00:03:07.276 --> 00:03:09.151 We grow barley and wheat, 00:03:09.151 --> 00:03:12.104 lots of beans and fresh vegetables, 00:03:12.104 --> 00:03:16.841 and fruits like melons, dates, apples, figs and grapes. 00:03:19.792 --> 00:03:22.933 Our animals give us milk, cheese and meat 00:03:22.933 --> 00:03:28.029 and there are always plenty of fish in the rivers. 00:03:28.029 --> 00:03:30.973 When my ancestors first started farming here 00:03:30.973 --> 00:03:34.494 their biggest problem was never knowing when a flood might come 00:03:34.494 --> 00:03:36.233 and wash away their crop. 00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:41.117 Even if the crop survived that, they might die in the summer 00:03:41.117 --> 00:03:43.338 when it's so hot and there's not enough water. 00:03:44.281 --> 00:03:47.086 But my people didn't give up. 00:03:47.086 --> 00:03:51.431 Instead, we actually invented a way to control the river. 00:03:51.971 --> 00:03:54.014 First we learned how to build levees. 00:03:54.014 --> 00:03:57.639 Those are big piles of earth between the fields and the river. 00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:01.434 They're too tall for the river to get over so they prevent the floods. 00:04:03.873 --> 00:04:07.181 Then we made gated ditches around the fields 00:04:07.181 --> 00:04:10.736 and when the crops needed water in the summer, we'd just open the gates 00:04:10.736 --> 00:04:13.412 and let the river water flow in. 00:04:23.065 --> 00:04:26.487 To plant our crops we use a great tool called a plough. 00:04:26.487 --> 00:04:29.025 It's a Sumerian invention! 00:04:29.025 --> 00:04:33.074 And we use an ox to pull the plough, another of our great ideas. 00:04:35.742 --> 00:04:39.925 Some of our smartest people invented a calendar based on the moon and stars. 00:04:40.462 --> 00:04:43.599 My grandfather says nobody had ever thought of a way 00:04:43.599 --> 00:04:45.727 to measure time like that before. 00:04:45.727 --> 00:04:48.870 It helps us know when the floods will come. 00:04:49.951 --> 00:04:54.619 In our calendar, each year has 12 months and each month has 30 days. 00:04:56.482 --> 00:05:00.276 Each month is represented by one of the constellations in the sky. 00:05:00.276 --> 00:05:02.293 They're called the Zodiac. 00:05:03.053 --> 00:05:06.422 Our priests watch the Zodiac to know which month it is. 00:05:07.073 --> 00:05:10.971 That way, they know when the floods from the mountains will arrive. 00:05:13.296 --> 00:05:15.995 We Sumerians also invented writing. 00:05:15.995 --> 00:05:20.478 My grandfather says that in the old days nobody knew how to write. 00:05:20.478 --> 00:05:25.221 Well, if you can't write, how do you keep track of how many animals you sold? 00:05:25.841 --> 00:05:28.353 What are you supposed to do, paint them on caved walls? 00:05:31.080 --> 00:05:33.969 No, we're much more modern here in Sumer. 00:05:33.969 --> 00:05:36.432 We figured out how to write on clay pallets. 00:05:37.975 --> 00:05:40.977 You just take a piece of reed and cut a stylus from it. 00:05:41.455 --> 00:05:43.573 That's a sort of hard, pointed tool. 00:05:44.278 --> 00:05:48.814 You press the point into some wet clay and pretty soon you're writing. 00:05:50.116 --> 00:05:52.734 Our style of writing is called Cunieform. 00:05:53.578 --> 00:05:56.536 With writing you can keep records of everything you do. 00:05:57.307 --> 00:06:00.020 It's great cause then you don't have to remember it all! 00:06:02.006 --> 00:06:05.281 You can also make things permanent when you write them down. 00:06:05.281 --> 00:06:08.893 For example we were the first people to write down our laws. 00:06:11.377 --> 00:06:14.270 But this is maybe the best thing we invented. 00:06:14.270 --> 00:06:16.270 The wheel. 00:06:16.270 --> 00:06:19.387 You think somebody back in the old days would've thought of it sooner 00:06:19.387 --> 00:06:21.426 but we were the first! 00:06:22.173 --> 00:06:25.647 Before carts and wheels we used to just drag things around. 00:06:26.551 --> 00:06:27.685 That was hard! 00:06:29.006 --> 00:06:32.467 But like I said, we're very modern here in Sumer. 00:06:37.713 --> 00:06:40.449 My grandfather says that in the old days, 00:06:40.449 --> 00:06:43.449 most everybody had to work at farming the land. 00:06:43.722 --> 00:06:48.008 But not anymore. We Sumerians got so good at growing food 00:06:48.008 --> 00:06:51.784 some people could quit farming and let others grow enough for everybody. 00:06:53.031 --> 00:06:55.651 Of course you had to be neighbours for that to work. 00:06:55.811 --> 00:06:59.149 So people settled down close to each other in villages 00:06:59.309 --> 00:07:02.553 and the villages grew into city states. 00:07:02.553 --> 00:07:08.705 Each city state has its own king and each one is sacred to one of the gods. 00:07:08.705 --> 00:07:11.362 My city state is called Nippur. 00:07:11.362 --> 00:07:16.824 It's on the banks of the Euphrates River and it's the most holy city in Sumer. 00:07:18.135 --> 00:07:22.056 Nippur is sacred to the god Enlil - our greatest god. 00:07:22.056 --> 00:07:26.233 His temple, the ziggurat, is right in the middle of the city. 00:07:27.493 --> 00:07:33.024 Our ziggurat is Eduranki, which means the house binding heaven and earth. 00:07:33.024 --> 00:07:37.305 The ziggurat is a huge, square building, sort of like a pyramid. 00:07:37.305 --> 00:07:40.171 It's made of several layers, or storeys. 00:07:40.893 --> 00:07:45.154 As you go higher up, each storey is smaller than the one below. 00:07:45.841 --> 00:07:49.889 The very top storey is the temple where the god lives. 00:07:50.465 --> 00:07:53.924 Around the ziggurat are houses where the wealthy people live 00:07:53.924 --> 00:07:56.058 like priests and merchants for instance. 00:07:56.058 --> 00:07:58.868 They live in two-storey houses. 00:07:59.964 --> 00:08:02.558 Further away from the temple are one-storey houses 00:08:02.558 --> 00:08:04.541 where shopkeepers and craftspeople live 00:08:06.438 --> 00:08:09.122 and beyond them live the farmers and fishermen. 00:08:11.195 --> 00:08:13.903 All the land outside the city belongs to the city state too 00:08:13.903 --> 00:08:16.784 but most people live inside the city walls. 00:08:19.886 --> 00:08:22.484 We are very good at making bricks out of mud. 00:08:22.484 --> 00:08:25.681 That's a good thing cause there's a lot of mud here! 00:08:26.564 --> 00:08:30.410 We gather a bunch of mud, pat it into square molds, 00:08:31.434 --> 00:08:33.799 and bake the mud bricks in the sun until they're dry. 00:08:34.775 --> 00:08:37.009 We use them to make all of our buildings. 00:08:38.929 --> 00:08:40.932 Here's my house! 00:08:41.648 --> 00:08:44.962 My family live in one of the two-storey houses close to the ziggurat. 00:08:46.362 --> 00:08:48.755 That's because my dad works for the king. 00:08:49.786 --> 00:08:53.851 My mum runs the house. Our slaves do the actual work 00:08:53.851 --> 00:08:55.441 but my mum supervises them. 00:08:56.413 --> 00:09:00.623 They prepare meals, keep the house clean and do other household chores. 00:09:01.903 --> 00:09:05.733 Mother also weaves beautiful cloths to make clothing. 00:09:07.027 --> 00:09:10.277 Her cloth is made of fine wool from our own sheep. 00:09:10.277 --> 00:09:13.272 She sells alot of them to the trader's caravans. 00:09:14.711 --> 00:09:17.974 My younger sisters help my mother spin yarn and weave cloth 00:09:19.418 --> 00:09:22.499 but I begged my dad to send me to tablet school. 00:09:23.875 --> 00:09:27.018 I'm learning to write so I can be a scribe. 00:09:27.018 --> 00:09:29.296 It's a really important job. 00:09:29.296 --> 00:09:31.936 There are alot of other jobs in Sumer, 00:09:32.626 --> 00:09:35.673 like being a potter or a fisherman. 00:09:36.494 --> 00:09:39.072 Some people grind grain into flour and brew beer, 00:09:39.849 --> 00:09:42.600 some are traders and some just play music. 00:09:42.600 --> 00:09:44.915 Hey, that wouldn't be so bad! 00:09:47.540 --> 00:09:50.348 But it would be bad to be a slave. 00:09:50.348 --> 00:09:52.492 Some slaves were captured in war 00:09:52.492 --> 00:09:55.489 and others became slaves because they owed money. 00:09:56.123 --> 00:09:59.161 They have to work for three years, often in the grain fields 00:09:59.995 --> 00:10:01.553 and then they are set free. 00:10:03.210 --> 00:10:05.125 Besides the king and his family 00:10:05.125 --> 00:10:07.983 the people with the highest positions are the priests. 00:10:09.991 --> 00:10:12.907 They care for the gods and make sure they're happy. 00:10:15.770 --> 00:10:19.810 That reminds me, I should write something about our religion. 00:10:20.463 --> 00:10:22.940 It plays a big part in our life! 00:10:23.100 --> 00:10:26.092 We believe in seven great gods: 00:10:26.092 --> 00:10:27.640 of the earth, 00:10:28.414 --> 00:10:29.790 sky, 00:10:29.790 --> 00:10:30.880 sun, 00:10:31.773 --> 00:10:32.774 moon, 00:10:32.774 --> 00:10:34.808 salt water, 00:10:34.808 --> 00:10:36.390 fresh water, 00:10:36.390 --> 00:10:38.381 and wind. 00:10:38.381 --> 00:10:43.639 My city, Nippur, is protected by the god Enlil, the god of wind. 00:10:44.014 --> 00:10:47.059 We believe he lives in his temple on top of the ziggurat. 00:10:47.960 --> 00:10:51.342 We spend alot of time praying to our god. 00:10:51.342 --> 00:10:55.656 Alot of people even make a little statue of themselves praying 00:10:55.656 --> 00:10:56.976 and leave it in the temple. 00:10:56.976 --> 00:11:01.209 The statues keep on praying while the people go about their daily chores. 00:11:02.506 --> 00:11:07.344 Our priests hold ceremonies to honour the gods and offer them food twice a day. 00:11:08.368 --> 00:11:11.760 My older brother, Shulgi, is a priest in the ziggurat. 00:11:11.760 --> 00:11:13.888 Only priests are allowed inside. 00:11:13.888 --> 00:11:17.178 Shulgi reminds me of that every chance he gets! 00:11:19.698 --> 00:11:23.198 We believe the gods own the land and everything on it, 00:11:23.853 --> 00:11:26.536 so we give the gods everything we grow, 00:11:26.536 --> 00:11:29.025 then the priests share it with all the people. 00:11:29.355 --> 00:11:32.001 They make sure everyone gets enough. 00:11:35.699 --> 00:11:38.771 Each city state in Sumer has a king, called an enki. 00:11:40.425 --> 00:11:43.314 We believe he was chosen by the gods to rule us 00:11:43.314 --> 00:11:46.059 and then it was the gods who gave us our laws. 00:11:46.780 --> 00:11:49.726 Our king makes judgements when people have arguments. 00:11:50.395 --> 00:11:53.757 He's in charge of all our trade with other cities. 00:11:54.565 --> 00:11:57.985 He decides who gets to farm our fields 00:11:58.515 --> 00:12:01.964 and he makes sure that gods' temples are in good repair 00:12:01.964 --> 00:12:03.809 and that all the right offerings are made. 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:05.895 He's got a whole lot to do! 00:12:07.210 --> 00:12:10.414 So obviously he needs other people to help him do it. 00:12:10.414 --> 00:12:14.470 My dad is one of them, and of course my brother helps cause he's a priest. 00:12:15.901 --> 00:12:18.584 Maybe I'll work there too when I'm older. 00:12:18.584 --> 00:12:22.559 Scribes keep records on clay tablets of everything that happens each year. 00:12:23.986 --> 00:12:26.303 The king and the priests all work in the ziggurat. 00:12:26.303 --> 00:12:29.596 It's full of offices, work rooms and storage spaces. 00:12:31.516 --> 00:12:35.370 To support the king and the priests, our people pay taxes throughout the year. 00:12:36.520 --> 00:12:40.042 Usually it's something like a couple of sheep or bags of grain. 00:12:40.562 --> 00:12:43.397 But there are taxes on almost everything! 00:12:44.262 --> 00:12:47.858 We get taxed on the livestock we own and on the fish we catch. 00:12:48.550 --> 00:12:51.609 We even get taxed on our funerals. 00:12:53.740 --> 00:12:56.376 In our city every man who is head of a household 00:12:56.376 --> 00:12:58.534 has to pay a tax, called 'the burden'. 00:12:59.801 --> 00:13:03.457 It's not the usual kind of tax, it's time not goods. 00:13:04.880 --> 00:13:07.261 The men have to spend time working for the government 00:13:07.261 --> 00:13:09.926 doing things that help or protect the city. 00:13:10.527 --> 00:13:14.211 For example, my uncle helped to harvest the barley crops. 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:19.298 Other men have to go dig out the irrigation ditches to keep them clear. 00:13:20.584 --> 00:13:23.783 Our neighbour sent one of his slaves to do his work. 00:13:23.783 --> 00:13:28.299 My dad says you're not supposed to but people do it if they can afford it. 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:31.299 All the taxes go to the king. 00:13:31.299 --> 00:13:34.224 They pay for our army, which is pretty expensive 00:13:34.224 --> 00:13:37.495 and also for our repairs and improvements to our city. 00:13:37.495 --> 00:13:42.792 My grandfather always say, "There are priests and there are kings, 00:13:42.792 --> 00:13:46.139 bu the taxman is the one you should be afraid of." 00:13:47.143 --> 00:13:49.474 Well, that's my journal entry for today. 00:13:50.058 --> 00:13:57.932 I think it's a pretty good picture of who we Sumerians are and how we live.