Difference between revisions of "3. How are bureaucrats, writing and the calendar connected?"
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Bureaucrats are people who help run a government and do everything according to the rules of the government[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucrat?show=0&t=1384211728]. In Sumer, bureaucrats were in charge of distributing crops after a harvest, surveying land, and assigning fields. The Bureaucrats were hired by the priest-kings. A major part of a bureaucrat's job was record keeping. The ability to write proved as an essential skill for bureaucrats all over Sumer. Writing made the bureaucrats job of record keeping way easier because instead of having to memorize every little detail, they could simply write it down on a clay tablet using cuneiform, their form of writing, and let it sit out in the sun, and their record would never disappear. | Bureaucrats are people who help run a government and do everything according to the rules of the government[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucrat?show=0&t=1384211728]. In Sumer, bureaucrats were in charge of distributing crops after a harvest, surveying land, and assigning fields. The Bureaucrats were hired by the priest-kings. A major part of a bureaucrat's job was record keeping. The ability to write proved as an essential skill for bureaucrats all over Sumer. Writing made the bureaucrats job of record keeping way easier because instead of having to memorize every little detail, they could simply write it down on a clay tablet using cuneiform, their form of writing, and let it sit out in the sun, and their record would never disappear. | ||
| − | The bureaucrats also developed a calendar to organize long periods of time. This would be useful for all of the planning that must occur in an agricultural based lifestyle. Their calendar was based on the cycles of the moon. They added a "leap month" to their calendar every three years in order to be in sync with the solar year. | + | The bureaucrats also developed a calendar to organize long periods of time. This would be useful for all of the planning that must occur in an agricultural based lifestyle. Their calendar was based on the cycles of the moon. They added a "leap month" to their calendar every three years in order to be in sync with the solar year. Their system of writing and the development of a calendar greatly contributed to the success of the bureaucrats. |
-Isabel Windham | -Isabel Windham | ||
Revision as of 18:40, 11 November 2013
Return to *History 8 Mesopotamia Notes
Bureaucrats are people who help run a government and do everything according to the rules of the government[1]. In Sumer, bureaucrats were in charge of distributing crops after a harvest, surveying land, and assigning fields. The Bureaucrats were hired by the priest-kings. A major part of a bureaucrat's job was record keeping. The ability to write proved as an essential skill for bureaucrats all over Sumer. Writing made the bureaucrats job of record keeping way easier because instead of having to memorize every little detail, they could simply write it down on a clay tablet using cuneiform, their form of writing, and let it sit out in the sun, and their record would never disappear.
The bureaucrats also developed a calendar to organize long periods of time. This would be useful for all of the planning that must occur in an agricultural based lifestyle. Their calendar was based on the cycles of the moon. They added a "leap month" to their calendar every three years in order to be in sync with the solar year. Their system of writing and the development of a calendar greatly contributed to the success of the bureaucrats.
-Isabel Windham
Sources: Mesopotamia Computer Exercise - Sumerians "Bureaucrat." Merriam-Webster Dictionary. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bureaucrat?show=0&t=1384211728]>.
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