Where is Sumeria?
In order to get a good understanding of Sumeria and its significance, you must have an understanding of the time and the surounding areas. Sumeria is located in Mesopotamia, in the fertile Cresent. Mesopotamia comes from Greek meaning "land between rivers". The rivers being the Tigris and Euphrates, both very infulential in the shaping of the earths oldest known civilization.
Mesopotamia is divided into two parts: upper mesopotamia and sumer. Mesopotamia as a whole had few natural boundries, and the fact that it was perfect for farming lead to more people and more conflict. Plus the climate was not very good to its people. It barely rained and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded usually at inoppurtune times like when the food is about to be harvnested.
The flip side to this is that it forced its inhabitants to either fight to the death or progress. The people in Sumeria had to make new technology and methods to coup with their enviorments. Also with an increase in people you had to develop a more stable government. In short, mesopotamia was a tempting prize if you could inovate and learn to live with it which is what made nations that could, such as the Sumerians, very powerful and impressive.
Mesopotamia is divided into two parts: upper mesopotamia and sumer. Mesopotamia as a whole had few natural boundries, and the fact that it was perfect for farming lead to more people and more conflict. Plus the climate was not very good to its people. It barely rained and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded usually at inoppurtune times like when the food is about to be harvnested.
The flip side to this is that it forced its inhabitants to either fight to the death or progress. The people in Sumeria had to make new technology and methods to coup with their enviorments. Also with an increase in people you had to develop a more stable government. In short, mesopotamia was a tempting prize if you could inovate and learn to live with it which is what made nations that could, such as the Sumerians, very powerful and impressive.
Geography of Sumer
Sumer is surounded on both sides with rivers. The rivers Euphrates and Tigris had, at one point, went into the Persian Gulf independantly, but gradually moved closer and entertered into the Persian Gulf in one river. As these rivers moved out of their positions, sediment and silt was left behind making the area very fertile. The fertality of the rich silt is what made it possible for sumerians to gather together and make farms and cities, but the rivers had their down side.
The land not by the rivers is a desert. Deserts aren't particulary fertile and don't support crops very well. This lead to people having to go towards sources of water like the rivers. The silt left from the rivers moving out of place and flooding is what caused the area of Sumer to become fertile, but it also had its negatives. The rivers flooded frequently, but not as predictably as say the Nile. You could't time the flooding of these rivers, especially the Tigris, to a specific seasonal code. As a result Sumerians had to inovate and evolve to overcome these problems or die out like the people before them.
The land not by the rivers is a desert. Deserts aren't particulary fertile and don't support crops very well. This lead to people having to go towards sources of water like the rivers. The silt left from the rivers moving out of place and flooding is what caused the area of Sumer to become fertile, but it also had its negatives. The rivers flooded frequently, but not as predictably as say the Nile. You could't time the flooding of these rivers, especially the Tigris, to a specific seasonal code. As a result Sumerians had to inovate and evolve to overcome these problems or die out like the people before them.
Climate of Sumeria
Sumeria's climate was hot. Not only did the Sumerians deal with crazy rivers, but also had a harsh climate to deal with. It didn't rain often and when it did, it usually came as a storm from the Perisan Gulf. Basically the climate was dry forcing people to move to the rivers, but the rivers flooded causing havic and chaos if your not prepared. In order for the Sumerians to survive they had to be prepared for a variety of different circumstances making them very flexible.