Their contributions to the modern world Essay Example For Students

Their contributions to the modern world Essay Its an amazing thought how the Sumerian economy was a highly developed one and had man legalities, such as contracts, deeds, wills, and promises to pay-I actually thought that such laws were very recent ones. There were many disputes over inheritance, divorce settlements, and personal injury. Legal cases were heard by king, who also set interest rates, prices, wages, and measures. Gradually, law codes were formed after many trials and cases. A simply startling fact is that being one of the first civilizations ever, that too about 6,000 years ago, the Sumerians invented the wheel, which they used both for making pottery and for vehicles. We will write a custom essay on Their contributions to the modern world specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now They had four-wheeled wagons for transporting goods and two-wheeled chariots for war6. The Sumerians also developed the concept of using mud bricks to build houses and temples because they didnt have wood and stone. I believe that such a technique was a very effective one because whenever the mud-brick walls of a temple collapsed from age or accident, the ruins served as the basis for building a new temple. It expanded and formed into something known as ziggurat, which was a sequence of one building rising on the ruins of another, which came to resemble giant steps. 7 An astonishing fact is that the ziggurat still remains in Iraq despite the Civil, Gulf, and the very recent war (2003) that just took place. Even from the inside these monuments are breathtaking with frescoes and sculptures adorning the walls of temples many rooms. It is believed that the ziggurats were artificial hills, built in honor of various deities. It was the center of daily undertakings of certain transactions and exchanges, for example, where a tablet went to the donor as a receipt, and the other was deposited in the sacred archives. 8 Through my research, I found that not only were the Sumerians, in my opinion, the fathers of invention, but they were also skilled metalworkers. Besides excelling at making jewelry, they made vessels, statues, toilet sets, axes, daggers, saws and other weapons and tools. Like weavers and potters, metalworkers were a professional class often employed by the temple. The Sumerians priests developed a simple arithmetic in the process of keeping temple accounts and invented the unit 60, 9which marvelously is still used to measure angles. Priests also believed that the gods caused illness so they devised many ointments and portions to help sufferers. However, the most important achievement of the priests was cuneiform writing, which went through several stages of development. The first stage in Sumerian writing was clearly pictorial, with picture symbols standing for concrete objects and actions. For example, a simple drawing of a round roughly spherical circle meant head and two wavy lines meant water. But very soon certain pictures were made to stand for a little more complex words. For example, the Sumerian sign for mouth also came to mean, speak. That is quite a remarkable progress considering the time period this all happened. Over the centuries, the implementation of writing changed. Literate people began to communicate in more intimate ways, setting down messages such as your loving wife who has had a child10. Cuneiform was taught to priests in school, and copybooks show that education was chiefly by memorizing and copying, a practice which is still applied today. From here on, many cultures evolved their own scripts in the following centuries. On a religious level, the Sumerians thought that the universe was a great city-state ruled by an assembly of gods and worked by men, who were created only to serve the gods. 11 This sort of thinking was something I have read many a times about earlier civilizations such as the Greek and the Roman. The gods were worshipped in elaborate ceremonies conducted in the temples by priests and kings. I find it overwhelming how each individual prayed to his own personal god to bring him luck. .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .postImageUrl , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:hover , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:visited , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:active { border:0!important; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:active , .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uac2e27dc8c004b14ec73079f75989c7f:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: You Are What You Eat EssayIm sure that individual felt very lucky to have the benefit of a personal god, whose statue was fed and dressed, and the worshipper offered devotion in return for favors. Amusingly, the Sumerians believed that although gods preferred good to evil, they, nevertheless, created such evils as old age and sickness. Keeping all these qualities of the Sumerian civilization, it however met its eventual fate. The Sumerians were constantly at war with one another and other peoples, for water was a scarce and a valuable resource. The Semitic people, as in people who spoke a related language such as Hebrew and Arabic, migrated from the Arabian Peninsula. They were known as the Akkadians. 12 They battled the Sumerians and emerged victorious, settling in Akkad, a city later came to be known as Babylon. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Sumerian civilization had come to an end, the Akkadian kingdom had adopted the Sumerian customs and culture, and furthermore, their inventions are still probably the most useful and essential ones to date. Just think, if it werent for the invention and development of cuneiform, you probably wouldnt be reading this article! 1 Extracts in Paragraphs 1, from The Merit Student Encyclopedia 2 Extracts in Paragraphs 2, from The Merit Student Encyclopedia 3 Extracts in Paragraphs 3, from The Merit Student Encyclopedia 4 Extracts in Paragraphs 4, from The Merit Student Encyclopedia 5 Extracts in Paragraphs 4, from The Merit Student Encyclopedia 6 Extracts in Paragraphs 6, from History Of The World 3000-1500BC. 7 Extracts in Paragraphs 7, from History Of The World3000-1500BC 8 Extracts in Paragraphs 7, taken from History Of The World 3000-1500BC 9 Extracts in Paragraphs 8, taken from Merit Student encyclopedia 10 Extracts in Paragraphs 10 taken from History Of The World 3000-1500BC 11 Extracts in Paragraphs 11, taken from History Of The World 3000-1500BC 12 Extracts in Paragraphs 12 taken from The Merit Student Encyclopedia.

Observations of an Apple Essay Essays

Observations of an Apple Essay Essays Observations of an Apple Essay Essay Observations of an Apple Essay Essay The assignment was to detect a fruit or veggie for at least an hr. I thought it was brainsick and pointless but non so pathetic that I would non make it and gain a bad class. Before I started. I read Samuel Scudder’s essay â€Å"Learning to See† where he talks about holding to make a similar type of assignment but with a fish. He finally became engrossed in the fish and so I became determined that I was traveling to seek to happen all I perchance could about my apple in the hr that I had. With this in head. I chose an apple from my bowl of fruit and prepared for what I thought would be a boring 60 proceedingss. I grabbed some paper and a pen. turned on some music. and began the observation procedure. I started merely by composing everything I could see on the exterior of the apple. The tegument of the apple had many different sunglassess of ruddy every bit good as a xanthous spot on one side. It was covered in dark ruddy chevrons that looked like speedy pigment shots from a bantam paintbrush. Small white and xanthous points gave it the visual aspect of a dotted egg. I so noticed the apple’s form every bit good as the balls. dents. and abrasions on its tegument. It was somewhat cold to the touch. every bit good as smooth and dry. I was tempted to travel in front and cut the apple unfastened but I wanted to do certain I had written down all the little inside informations that would usually travel wholly unnoticed. After I was certain I had noted every bit much as I could about the exterior. I sliced the apple in half horizontally to detect the interior. When it is cut horizontally. the small cavity where the seeds are kept is in the form of a star and feels like thin composition board. There were five seeds. all dark brown and shaped like a raindrop. The flesh was softer on its ain without the protection of the tegument and about mushy. When I looked even closer. it seemed that the flesh of the apple was made up of bantam crystals that glistened in the visible radiation because of the juice and its pick colouring. The interior was even colder since it was wet. The sweet odor of the apple grew stronger and I eventually gave in and took a bite. I wrote about the crunchiness. how sharp it was. how my dentitions left their feeling in the apple. how the tegument ripped when it was bitten. and how juicy it was. I decided to look into the clip at that point and was highly surprised that I had merely 15 proceedingss left to complete up my notes. So I decided to acquire a little more originative with what I did to the apple. I began dissecting pieces of it. cutting small musca volitanss in half. happening the venas and what seemed to be roots of the apple. I even noticed how it stained the paper towel it sat on when I cut it. Soon I realized I had merely a few proceedingss left and so to complete it all off. I decided to see what would go on when the apple. or what was left of it. would make when thrown hard against the paving. I rapidly ran outside and excitedly hurled the apple at the land. I was pleased to watch it interrupt apart and spill all over the pavement and even into the snow. I walked back inside and was surprised at how aroused and enthusiastic I had become by traveling through this kind of experiment. I did non anticipate that kind of reaction to come from me particularly when my first ideas had been that I would stop up detesting this assignment and giving up on it. I neer would hold believed person if they had told me that I would one twenty-four hours pass an hr detecting an apple. and in the terminal. happen that I had really enjoyed it.

The Islamic World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Islamic World - Essay Example r having a leader but he notes that it should be someone who is given divine help and majesty flowing from God since it is God who â€Å"chooses one member of the human race (Mulk, Pg. 1)† to lead others. Considering the opinion of those who claimed to be part of the kin of Muhammad, Tabari reports that Abbas said that, â€Å"the kin of God’s Messenger (Tabari, Pg. 1)† are best suited to lead Muslims. The clan of the prophet is thus supposed to give leaders to the Muslim world. On the other hand, figures such as Al-Husayn have been reported to suggest that leaders who cause strife and differences between groups of people are undesirable (Tabari [2]). Most importantly, it seems that there is a common thread between all the sources that power must be given to the person who has it, it cannot be taken by force. This gives a sort of democratic tint to the manner in which the leader of the Muslim world is supposed to be selected. The selection may come from a source which is divine or the groups of selectees may be limited to the clan of the prophet but it is not a process by which someone can usurp power. Even the first leader after Muhammad was willing to admit that he should be chastised if he were to stray from the right path. In essence, the first leader can be credited for creating a leadership position that is not unquestionable. Additionally, all sources consider the leader to have both a political and a religious role as the leader of all Muslims. Even though the followers have to give obedience to the leader, they can fight against him if they consider his actions to be against God or God’s messenger. From the sources as well as the information given about what a leader should be and where the leader should come from, it seems that the early Muslim society was certainly traumatic and in turmoil. Muhammad died without a clearly named successor and this creates a situation where every individual can give a personal criteria for what a leader should be as