The Sumerians lived in the area between the Tigris and the Euphrates in West Asia. The Sumerian civilization probably began around 4000 BC. In the beginning, the Sumerians were farmers. They grew crops, and stored food for times of need. They began big irrigation projects, digging canals and ditches to bring water from the Tigris and the Euphrates to the land between them, so people could grow food there. In this way, more people could live on the same amount of land.
As more people settled on the land, the ancient Sumerians built many cities along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Archaeologists believe that their largest city, the city of Ur, had a population of around 24,000 residents.
The ancient Sumerians were very smart. They invented, amongst other things, the wheel, the sailboat, and the first written language, frying pans, razors, cosmetic sets, shepherd’s pipes, harps, kilns to bake bricks and pottery, as well as bronze hand tools like hammers and axes, and the plough.
They invented a system of mathematics based on the number 60. Today, we divide an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. Now, don’t you agree that the Sumerians were truly amazing?
