Cultural Identity Facets Which Make Up Culture Facets

Cultural Identity Facets Which Make Up Culture

Facets of Culture • Religion • Food • Behaviors – Mannerisms • Apparel – Clothing – Jewelry • Government

Facets of Culture (cont. ) • • Shared History Land usage Language Arts – Music – Poetry – Stories/ myths – Visual Arts

Facets of Culture (cont. ) • • • Values Geography Technology Contacts and trade Economy

First Civilizations – Sumer • Sumerians settle in Tigris Euphrates valley around 4000 B. C. E.

Geography and Climate • Tigris Euphrates River valley – “Fertile Crescent” • River floods each spring leaving behind rich soil. • Little rainfall (led to advances in irrigation) • Such a flat area – very open to invasion

Technology • Civilization largely dependent on advances in 4 th century B. C. E. • Pottery wheel • Irrigation • Wheel • Writing (cuneiform) • Shipbuilding improvements

Technology • Bronze working (around 4000 B. C. E) – Hoes – Plows – Weapons • More technology increased specialization and artisan class • Glass • New about movement of moon and stars

Technology (cont. ) • Sumerian system of numbers based on 12, 60, 360.

Food • Came from agriculture • Increased agriculture technology created a surplus • Could focus on more than survival • Date trees, onions, garlic, etc • Oxen used for farming

Land usage • Land rights and ownership • Agriculture largely led to this concept of private land • Owning land provided incentive for improvements – Irrigation ditches, etc • Difficulty of irrigation led to greater communities

Religion • People buffeted by fate • Gods are temperamental and must be appeased • Built centers of worship and pilgrimage • Elaborately decorated temples for grim gods that ultimately controlled human destiny

Religion (cont. ) • Believed every object in nature should have a separate name to ensure place in universe. Thus, writing quickly took on religious purposes. • Priests controlled writing (mostly done on clay cylinders) • Beliefs greatly influenced later Muslim, Christian and Jewish cultures.

Behaviors • Relied on slave labor • Had vast armies to help protect land

Government • First code of laws comes and records kept – Largely an advance allowed by writing • Based on tightly organized city-states – Urban king with great authority • Ruled agricultural hinterland – Local councils to advise the king – Helped define boundaries/ land use • Kings and priests had control • Regional rule

Government Cont. • Connected to religion

Shared History • Can be seen in epic story of Gilgamesh

Arts • First book: Epic Poem Gilgamesh – Adapted from oral poem – Hero does good deeds but often bumps up against the gods. • Art often had a somber tone • Large Ziggurats were monumental architecture with religious purpose.

Values • Increased stratification of social rank

Contacts and trade • Traded food and good • Adopted silver as a means of buying and selling • Traded with lower Persian Gulf to western Mediterranean and to India

After the decline of Sumer • Sumerian culture greatly influenced later Akkadian and Babylonian cultures