6 Elements of Civilization
Civilization
a complex culture in which people share many common qualities such as cities, government, religion, social structure, art, and writing.
January 29, 2013
Jamaica
City
Sumer
- Jamaica can be divided into three main geographical regions: The Eastern Highlands, Central Highlands, and Coastal Lowlands
- The Eastern Highlands cover about twenty percent of Jamaica with mountain ranges such as John Crow and Port Royal
- The Central Highlands characterize Jamaica with many hills and sinkholes, and many rivers like the Hector River that flows into a sink hole
- The Coastal lowlands are incredible farmlands and have amazing beaches including Rafter's Nest and Negril beach
- By 3,000 B.C., the Sumerians had established a number of independent cities
- Some of these cities include Eridue, UR, and Uruk
- As these cities expanded, they gained political and economic control over the countryside
Abandoning a nomadic lifestyle, permanent settlements
City of Ur
Jamaica
Government
Sumer
- Jamaica has been an independent country since 1962 but recognizes the Queen of England as their head of state
- Jamaica is a parliamentary democracy which means it has a multiparty form of government
- The parliament consists of a House of Representatives and a Senate
People that keep the
city in order.They also
protect the people in the city.
- Sumerians form of government was Theocracy which means that it was a government by divine authority
- They also had a monarchy which means that kings and queens ruled over the people
- The kings were the people who spoke for the gods and they would do what the gods told them
- The army aided the king, kept the civilians safe, and endorsed restrictions
House of parliment
Sumer
Jamaica
Religion
- The most important building in a Sumerian city was a temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city
- This temple was often built on top of a massive stepped tower called a ziggurat
- The main religion in Jamaica is Christianity, in many various forms
- Jamaica has its own unique religion called Rastafarianism
- Rastafarianism is a quasi-Christian religion that draws inspiration from the Old Testament and the Book of Revelations.
- Rastafarians or Rastas, believe in the ubiquity and divinity of God, which they call Jah
- Because Sumerians believed that gods and goddesses owned the cities, people usually devoted much wealth to building temples and establishing ornate houses for priests
- The temples served as the center of the city physically, economically, and politically
Theories of how the world came to be
Ziggurat of Ur
Jamaican Church
Social Structure
Jamaica
Sumer
- The people who live in the urban areas, live around the capital, Kingston
- The city has many suburbs and is expanding as a residence area and industrial district
- People who live in the rural communities depend on agriculture to earn a living
- There were three main social groups in the Sumerian society
- The highest group were the Nobles which include the royal family and the priests and their families
- The middle group were the Commoners which include free people who worked for the palace and temple estates like farmers, merchants, fishers, and craftspeople
- The lowest group were the slaves who belonged to the king for building projects, temple officials for weaving cloth and grinding grain, and rich landowner for farming lands
the people in a society considered as a system
Rural House
Jamaica
Sumer
Writing
- The independence movement in the 1960's inspired a greater recognition created by Jamaican writers
- Jamaicans enjoy writing things such as poems, stories, and books about Jamaican life and the characters that make up that life
- Some well known Jamaican writers are Claude McKay, Vic Reid, Newille Dawes, Andrew Salkey and Roger Mais
- Sumerians were the inventors of writing
- They used a form of writing called cuneiform
- They used reed styluses and clay tablets that they baked in the sun
- Sumerians used this to keep record of important events, religious proclamations, laws, myths and stories
The activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing text
Jamaican Alphabet
Jamaica
Sumer
Art
- The oldest works of art in Jamaica were painted by the Taino Arawak on cave walls
- Most artwork focuses on the tropical landscapes and the flora and fauna of the island
- Some famous painters include Ralph Campbell, John Dunkley, and Mallicia Reynolds
- Sumerians invented the wagon wheel which helped to transport people and goods from place to place
- They also invented the potters wheel to shape containers and pottery, and the sundial to keep time
- Artisans built temples to worship and sacrifice and pyramids for burials of important people
The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form
"Peacock"
by Isaac Johnson