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Contributions of Ancient Mesopotamia

1. A professional army• Before the Sumerian Civilization,

professional armies did not exist

• Soldiers were farmers and workers, and armies were only formed when needed

• Their understanding and use of militarytactics, if they had any at all, were verybasic

• After a battle or war, the soldiers wentback to their normal jobs

• The Sumerian Civilization was the first to use a professional standing army

• The first professional army was createdsometime between 2600 and 2300 BCE

Advantages and disadvantages?

2. A written language• The first written language as created by

the Sumerian Civilization around the same time that it created a professionalarmy

Advantages and disadvantages?

3. The Wheel• The first wheels were created by the

Sumerian Civilization around the sametime of their professional army and written language

Advantages and Disadvantages?

4. A Circle with 360o

• Our numeric system is based on the number 10

• But the Babylonians based theirs on 60

Advantages and disadvantages?

Factors of 10

101 102 5

Factors of 60

601 602 103 4 5 6 12 15 20 30

• one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute

• 60 is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6

• that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6

• The Babylonians observed that one yearis equal to roughly 360 days

• Because they already based theirnumeric system on 60, they decided to have 360o in a circle

• 360 is a _________ of 60

• The Babylonians observed that one yearis equal to roughly 360 days

• Because they already based theirnumeric system on 60, they decided to have 360o in a circle

• 360 is a multiple of 60