1. Type of Art and Education
1.1. Art
1.1.1. The Sumerians were successful in pottery
1.1.2. The Sumerians made a lot of carvings on stones.
1.1.3. People began to carve fancy cylinder seals. A cylinder seal is a small piece of stone or clay, in the shape of a cylinder, that will fit in your purse or hang on a string like a necklace. People used cylinder seals the way we use signatures today, to show that they really were who they said they were. After you wrote something on a clay tablet, you pressed your cylinder into the wet clay to mark it with your sign. So it was important that your sign should be complicated and hard for someone else to fake. Many cylinder seals are works of art.
1.2. Education
1.2.1. Most education took place in a temple, associated with a priest. Education for wealthy families, studied and worked from sun up to sun down. Sumerians only focused on studying complex grammar, and practiced writing. Most, if not all sumerian students were male. The greater part of the students came from the more wealthy families; the poor could hardly afford the cost and the time which a prolonged education demanded. Until recently this was assumed a priori to be the case. Sumerians were praised if work was done well and accurate. If this did not happen, students were punished with lashes from a stick or cane.
2. Science and technology
2.1. The Sumerians developed a math system revolving around the number 60, such as 60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a circle.
2.1.1. Led to more inventions.
2.2. The Sumerians invented the wheel.
2.2.1. The wheel made pottery easier to make.
2.3. The Sumerians Invented the plow.
2.3.1. Led to better and more successful crops.
2.4. The Sumerians invented bronze.
2.4.1. They made tools.
2.4.2. They made weapons and armor.
2.5. The Sumerians discovered medical knowledge and invented surgery.
2.5.1. Led to a more successful society.
2.6. Sumerians invented the first sewer
2.6.1. Led to a healthier comunity.
3. Government and Leaders
3.1. Sumerians
3.1.1. A government that was a combination of monarchy and democracy. The kingdoms of Sumer were organized into city-states and the Kings ruled each city-states for the gods. They were assisted by priests, scribes, and nobles. But before 3500 BC priests ruled Sumer.
3.1.2. The first Sumerian ruler of historical record, Etana, king of Kish. He was described in a document written centuries later as the "man who stabilized all the lands." Shortly after his reign ended, a king named Meskiaggasher founded a rival dynasty at Erech , far to the south of Kish.
3.2. China
3.2.1. The Shang Dynasty was a monarchy in which the king was both lawmaker and judge so nobody dared to argue with him. He ruled by force, and anyone who transgressed the king's laws would be killed immediately by his soldiers.
3.2.1.1. Shang Dynasty was Originally a tribe living in the lower regions of the Yellow River during the Xia Dynasty, Shang was established by King Tang in 1675 BC after overthrowing the tyrannical rule of Jie, (Xia's last emperor). This dynasty lasted over 600 years and was led by 30 different emperors.
3.2.2. 13 different dynasties.
4. Economy and trade
4.1. Sumerians
4.1.1. Sumerians obtained many of the materials for there buildings through trade and art through trade sumer lacked many raw materials such as metal and wood to obtain these materials the sumerians traded with people across southwest asia and beyond exchanging woven textiles for metals,timber and stone.
4.2. Shang/Zhou
5. Social Structure and Family life
5.1. Sumerians
5.1.1. Social hierarchy. Sumerian society was thought to have been made up of four social classes: nobles, commoners, clients and slaves. The nobles included the ruling family, priests, warriors and families who owned large areas of land and were usually very wealthy.
5.1.2. The daily life of Sumerians is well documented, thanks to the invention of writing. The many relief carvings and statuettes put some color to the texts and help bring this vibrant culture to life. In the homes of the poor and rich alike, the husband and father is the master of the household. He has the right to divorce a barren wife and to take concubines. He is even allowed, under certain circumstances, to sell his wife and children into slavery. Such a situation could arise from getting into debt to a man wealthier than himself, who would then take the debtor’s family as slaves into his own household. In some cases, this fate may actually improve their lives.
5.2. China
5.2.1. Citizens during the Shang Dynasty were classified into four social classes: the king and aristocracy, the military, artisans and craftsmen, and peasants. The aristocracy were the most respected social class and were responsible for governing smaller areas of the dynasty.
5.2.2. They had proper burials
6. Religion
6.1. Sumerians
6.1.1. Ninhursag: Was the earth and mother goddess, one of the major deities of ancient Sumer also known as Nintu and sometimes identified with Ki, she was principally a goddess of fertility and sacred mountains
6.1.2. Enlil: An and ki's union produced enlil was the air god and leader of the pantheon from at least 2500 BC, when his temple ekur in nipur was the spiritual center of Sumeria
6.1.3. f
6.2. Shang Zhou
6.2.1. Confucianism: A system of philosophical and ethical teachings founded by Confucius and developed by Mencius.
6.2.2. Taoism: A Chinese philosophy based on the writings of Lao-tzu.
6.2.3. The Shang and Zhou dynasty are believed to be the oldest Chinese dynasty
6.2.4. The shang belived in human sacrifice