Mesopotamia

World Prehistory: Class 11

The emergence of civilization in Mesopotamia

Jericho and Çatal Hüyük were very early, complex neolithic settlements

probably reflected a broad trend in several areas and many sites towards larger, more complex social and economic arrangements
but the trend was spotty, localized, with many variants
and cases in which societies became simpler, rather than always becoming more complex

Now let's fast-forward a little bit and look at Mesopotamia

roughly similar societies
but with some interesting differences
unlike similar cultures elsewhere, these developed into the first really complex societies in the world

The setting

Mesopotamia is literally the area between ("meso") the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

Mesopotamia is not within the "Fertile crescent"
it is in the more desert area that the "Fertile crescent" arcs around

Environment of Mesopotamia

generally flat
criss-crossed by rivers

rivers form natural levees, so the riverbed between the levees is often actually higher than the surrounding plain
makes irrigation and canal construction easy
but also makes flooding common

poorly drained: soil gradually became salty and unproductive, just as parts of the San Joaquin valley are doing now
weather like Death Valley, but not quite as dry

long, incredibly hot, dry summers (to 122° F in the shade!)
cold, wet winters (to around freezing)

not enough rain for "dry" farming

farmers must irrigate with river water

so water sources were crucial

rivers shift course fairly frequently
river flow varies widely by season
canals are needed to bring water
levees are needed to protect from flooding

Mesopotamia is resource-poor

plenty of mud and water for farming, mudbrick architecture, and pottery, but...
little to no stone for building, jewelry, tools, etc.
no ore for smelting into metals
almost no timber

yet it was in this inauspicious environment that complex societies first emerged

Terms: Tell, Tepe, and Hüyük all mean simply "mound", or "mound-shaped archaeological site"

Early neolithic settlement around the edges of Mesopotamia

by around 6000 BC, people were starting to farm in the foothills around northernmost Mesopotamia

Hassuna culture (6000 BC - 5250 BC)
where there was enough rainfall to allow for "dry" agriculture in some places
subsistence was typical of early neolithic people, in transition from foraging to farming

cultivated wheat and barley, but no evidence of irrigation
kept sheep, goats, pigs
but hunting was still very important, especially onager (wild ass), some gazelle

lived in small villages or hamlets

ranging from under 1 ha to around 3 ha (hectares)

ranging from twice the size of the bacon-and-eggs courtyard to about one and half times the size of the main quad

even the largest sites, at around 3 ha, were smaller than PPNA Jericho had been 1000 years before (4 ha)
and much smaller than Çatal Hüyük (13 ha), which was still occupied in Anatolia
probably few, if any, exceeded 500 people
so in terms of size of settlements, we are looking at some relatively ordinary early farmers here

lived in rectangular multi-roomed free-standing houses of packed mud ("tauf")

small rooms with plastered floors
plastered walls with paintings and niches for storage
indoor ovens with chimneys

but at some of these sites, some large, communal structures

the site of Tell Hassuna: in addition to houses, also larger central buildings (~5500 BC)
with rows of small, square rooms

unplastered walls
plain dirt floors
no hearths or food garbage

obviously for some special purpose

probably storage
size of the construction project and storage capacity suggest that they were used by the community as a group, not by just some one family

one room had 2,400 baked clay sling missiles and 100 large baked clay balls: a hunting arsenal?

maybe the site was a specialized hunting center, exchanging animal products for cultivated foods??

Point: a group effort to build, presumably stocked or used by the group

purpose looks economic, probably community storage of food for consumption or exchange
suggesting some kind of community institution for collecting, storing and redistributing goods

a chief?
a governing body?
a temple or priest?

they also started to make stamp seals

seals are used to press an image on clay, like you do with sealing wax
a glob of clay pressed over a knot or the edge of a lid and then marked with a seal can be used to close tied-up bundles, covers on jars, or even doorways, so that they can't be tampered with
which is useful if you are storing valuable goods that someone or some institution owns or controls access to
so, like the central storage buildings, these stamp seals suggest private property, exchange, or communal storage

both the shared storage and the stamp seals suggest an increasingly complex economy
Halaf style pottery became very widespread (5500 BC - 4700 BC)

the first really widespread cultural "horizon"
Not just isolated fancy pieces, but 80-90% of the pottery assemblage at any site is virtually identical to that from any other site
Ceramic paste studies (neutron activation) show decorated pots from a single clay source are found as much as 600 miles (about 1000 kilometers) apart

that is, some pots moved at least 300 miles...
indicates long-distance trade in ceramics
implies some sort of increased communication

probably mostly between elites in the larger towns

lots of interaction across the region is also implied because house styles and other artifacts also very uniform

Samarra culture (5500 BC- 4800 BC): first significant irrigation

Farming gradually spread south towards the "neck" of Mesopotamia

this may have been some combination of people actually moving into the area
and a possible low density population of foragers who were already there and began to adopt agriculture

subsistence was the same basic neolithic mix, but requiring irrigation
Evidence of irrigation:

the region in general is too dry for reliable farming without it
they cultivated at least one crop that would not have produced at all in this region without irrigation: flax (linseed)

for fiber used in linen cloth

sites are found in the areas where natural flooding could be most easily channeled and drained
sites are lined up along contour lines, implying that they lay along shared canals

as we saw before, irrigation suggests intensification

more investment in the land
more permanent settlement
maybe land ownership
greater vulnerability to attack and need for defense
maybe greater needs to coordinate work, set up conflict resolution institutions, etc.
but this can all still happen in pretty small-scale societies, without necessarily having strong leadership or very complex social organization

largest sites were only around 6 ha (site of Samarra)

about three times the size of the main quad
estimated about 1000 people
many villages would have had a few hundred people

the Samarra economy apparently had some complex features

stamp seals
possible maker's marks on pottery suggest craft specialization and exchange
limited amounts of copper suggest long-distance exchange

but houses were relatively uniform in size and elaboration

suggesting little variation in social status

Some Samarra sites had large, presumably shared buildings

Tell es-Sawwan:

large buildings (up to 17 rooms) that are interpreted as temples

Some Samarra sites were fortified

Tell es-Sawwan:

site was surrounded by a ditch and wall
with an "L"-shaped entrance path to make intruders vulnerable to fire from on top of the walls
many baked clay balls -- sling missiles?

Choga Mami (another Samarra style site)

walled, with an L-shaped (that is, defensible) entrance
plus a tower guarding one entrance to the site

Walls, tower, and large apparently communal buildings (?) suggest some sort of leadership, at least on a temporary basis

These societies, and especially the Samarrans, were the source of the first people who settled in the Mesopotamian alluvium

they comprise the roots of the first civilization in the world
similar to the other neolithic people of the Fertile Crescent and Anatolia, plus:
irrigation
communal storage buildings and/or ritual buildings
stamp seals used for keeping track of stored goods
long-distance exchange of fancy pottery (and presumably other things)
major town defenses

'Ubaid period (I, II, III, IV; about 5600 - 3900 BC)

the first settlers on the Mesopotamian alluvium

'Ubaid I and II were contemporary with people who made Halafian and Samarran style pottery to the north and in the hills
one site, Tell Ouilli, has Samarra-like buildings and pottery at the lowest levels

suggesting that 'Ubaid culture was a development from Samarran settlers venturing into the southern alluvium

Lack of rain in Sumer required that they use irrigated agriculture
they farmed the basic wheat, barley, and lentils, plus sheep, goats, and cattle
also hunted gazelle and horse, and fished
While people in the north continued on without developing larger towns or more complex social and economic organization, the 'Ubaid societies in the south became more complex

Maybe due to having to trade for needed resources?

more substantial trade or procurement expeditions
associated economic and organizational arrangements

Initially, all 'Ubaid settlements were small, relatively uniform, scattered along rivers over the entire alluvium
by 4500 BC (middle 'Ubaid, or 'Ubaid II-III), there were a limited number of large centers (1000-3000 or even 5000 people), surrounded by a network of many small hamlets

small towns

rectangular houses of mud brick and reeds
one such small town at the site of al 'Ubaid probably had some 750 residents

large towns

comparable in size to Jericho and Çatal Hüyük

but unlike Jericho and Çatal Hüyük, these 'Ubaid towns just kept expanding and getting more complex

and they had some distinctly different features:

densely packed rectangular houses and courtyards separated by alley-like streets
central mounds with special architecture on them
areas of larger, more elaborate residences with storage features (storerooms, storage pits, etc.)

there was only one really large town in the 'Ubaid period: Eridu

first occupied 4750 BC; big by 4500 BC
possibly up to 5000 people in 4500 BC
in addition to the standard residential areas, it had a large mud-brick temple

the same spot was used for a temple from 'Ubaid through Ur III times (say, 4500 - 2000 BC, or 2500 years!)
rebuilt 13 times (17 times, according to another source)

i.e. each successive temple was used an average of 150 to 200 years
comparable to historic government buildings in Washington DC - but 13 to 17 times in a row!

initially a modest, one-room structure

got bigger and more elaborate with each rebuilding
eventually built up to a large complex on a high platform mound

from the beginning, these buildings had distinctive features:

a central rectangular room (the first was 3.5 X 4.5 m, or about 11 X 15 feet)
with a recess at one end containing a pedestal, possibly an altar
and a second, similar pedestal standing out in the main room

with signs of burning on top

later temples (at Eridu and other sites) have

more subsidiary rooms
increasing complexity of buttresses (decorative vertical moldings on exterior walls)
built on raised platforms
but always dominated by a larger, central room ("cella") with an altar at one end

around the temple, buildings were arranged roughly in concentric zones:

elite houses closest to temple
craft workshops further away
farmers around the edges
suggests complex social organization with higher-status people somehow associated with temple

this was a new kind of settlement and society

one or a few large religious structures
that presumably served not only the inhabitants of the large town, but also the inhabitants of smaller towns nearby
the temples must have been places where labor and goods were concentrated

simply to build and maintain the architecture
also to carry out whatever rituals or other activities were done there

higher-status people were associated with the religious institution (the temple)

these would have had some control over sources of wealth not available to others, thus economic power
this is evidently so from their larger, finer residences
maybe also some power due to connection with the supernatural

the beginning of a new category of stratified society

built around the elaboration of religion
was religion a cause, or a means? Or both?

But oddly enough, there is little evidence of social ranking or differences in wealth in 'Ubaid cemeteries
by the late 'Ubaid period

the regional population had increased dramatically
'Ubaid people had expanded out of the Mesopotamian alluvium, in a pattern called the 'Ubaid expansion

north all along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, even up into modern Turkey
and to the south down the Persian Gulf shore of Saudi Arabia

good were procured from as far away as India (amazonite, a semi-precious stone) and Anatolia (obsidian)
but the 'Ubaid expansion did not last; before the end of the period, most of these outlying sites were abandoned
the 'Ubaid expansion really was an intrusion of people from the Alluvium moving into new areas, not just a gradual spread of ideas

due to simple population growth and need for land?
trade?
political or military positioning?
the 'Ubaid expansion should tell us something about the rise of social complexity in this period, but we still don't know exactly what it means

by the way, there is no reason to think that the 'Ubaid people were politically unified; they just shared a common culture

so these sites might be outposts of many different independent chiefdoms centered on the larger towns
or they might just be other settlements that "budded off" into available areas

Note: 'Ubaid developments were not a broad, uniform trend, but a series of fits and starts, larger towns growing and shrinking, very patchy and irregular

Uruk period: lots of changes (Early 3900-3600; Middle 3600-3400; Late 3400-3100 BC)

Uruk period innovations

plow
wheeled cart
fast potter's wheel (vs. the slow wheel or tournette)

allowed the mass production of ceramics
but apparently also the simplification and decline in craftsmanship of it

sophisticated copper casting (open molds, lost wax)
early writing by 3400 BC (beginning of Late Uruk period)
dramatic rise in regional population and number of settlements
development of city states
development of conflict between these city states
development of complex economy and exchange networks

importing copper, gold, silver, jewelry stones, stone for vessels and sculpture, wood, etc.
complex organization of long-distance exchange

transport by ship along the river and canals
centralized storage and control of trade goods in each city's temple
trading colonies in foreign territories

Early Uruk (3900 - 3600 BC; 300 years long)

a gradual local development from 'Ubaidian to Sumerian culture

Middle Uruk (3600 - 3400 BC; 200 years long)

they continued building and using temples
beveled-rim bowls appeared

enormous quantities of broken beveled-rim bowls were found filling rooms and banked up against walls of temple buildings

so many, and so ugly, that in many early projects they were not even counted

mass-produced

chaff-tempered
apparently made by pressing into a crude mold, maybe a hole in the ground
rim cut at an angle
so crude that they may have been intended to be disposable
suggested that they came in several more-or-less standardized sizes

for ration distribution?
for standardized offerings?
if so, suggests a managed economy

lots of cylinder seals and stamp seals

stamp seals were already around; cylinder seals seem to have been invented in the Middle Uruk period

like a large cylindrical bead, carved on the exterior, used in a rolling motion

suggest commerce, accounting, administration, etc.
Note the illustration of a temple on a seal, part of the basis for reconstructions of the upper portions that no longer exist

also notice a boat
and "serpo-felines"

Uruk culture spread across southern and northern Mesopotamia, upper Euphrates in Syria and southern Turkey
Long distance trade

Uruk pottery and other goods were widely exchanged, often by ship

"merchant colonies" with Uruk pottery
far east into Zagros mountains of Iran
and in northern Levant (Tell Habuba Kabira)
to Egypt: pottery, seals, silver, obsidian, lapis

Uruk sites got goods from distant sources

from Anatolia: timber, olive oil, silver
from Afghanistan: lapis, gold

The Uruk expansion

Similar to 'Ubaid expansion, but even more people and a faster, shorter-lived process
the locations of many of these settlements make sense for controlling key points along trade routes or access to certain natural resources

but some do not...
some of these "colonies" were fairly large towns, up to 5,000 people
inhabitants used exactly the same kinds of goods as were found in Sumer; they were classic "expatriots"
with important, sumptuous buildings, including temples
some were walled

suggesting the relations with the locals were not always good

unlike the 'Ubaid expansion, this did not last very long

none of these settlements seems to have lasted more than maybe 150 years

currently debated whether this was mostly a commercial phenomenon, or a military/political one, or maybe something else

Late Uruk (3400- 3100 BC; 300 years long)

by this time the temples had piled up high enough to form tall platforms: the first ziggurats
stone sculpture

sculpture was probably not new to this period, but some nice examples help us imagine some features of Uruk society

the elaboration of high-status life and religious ritual
the training, specialization, and support of craftspeople that must have been necessary to produce these kinds of objects
apparently most, if not all, of this production was connected to the temple and/or high-status people related to the temple

that is, specialists worked in temple shops or were otherwise supported by the temple
these things are not, apparently, results of independent entrepreneurship

Warka vase, 1 m tall, with low reliefs around it
Marble head (8" high)

originally with inlaid eyes and eyebrows, copper hair
probably from a composite wood and stone statue

back is flat, with mounting holes

invention of writing (more on this later)

clearly was related to increasingly intense economic activities

production, collection, storage, redistribution, exchange

like the workshops and other economic features, writing was associated with the temple

the city of Uruk was joined by four other competing city-states that were getting large

Ur, Nippur, Kish, and Eridu
although none was as big as Uruk

Example Uruk city: Uruk itself

the modern placename of the site of Uruk is Warka
also mentioned as Erech in the Bible (Genesis 10:10)
initially settled in 'Ubaid period, continued to be occupied long after the Uruk period
Uruk was probably the biggest, most impressive city in Mesopotamia (i.e. on Earth) for 400 years or more (3200-2800+ BC)
up to 80 ha (200 acres), population estimated around 10,000

about 90% of the entire SSU campus, from the residence halls to the stadium (~1130m x 780 m; = 87 ha)

surrounded by city walls
mostly the temple precincts have been excavated
one of the important temples was the "white temple" atop the "Anu ziggurat"

as at Eridu, they built over and over again on the same site
after 6 rebuildings over a span of 500 years, the accumulated stack of buildings and rubble stood 16 meters (over 50 feet) above the ground surface
estimated 7,500 person-years to build Anu ziggurat (i.e. monumental architecture)

the Anu ziggurat was only one of several temple complexes at Uruk
Eanna ceremonial precinct at Uruk

the ceremonial precinct alone covered 9 ha, over twice the entire site of Jericho; 2/3 the size of all of Çatal Hüyük
Limestone temple

built on foundation of dressed limestone from Arabian plateau 60 Km away
30 X 76 m (about the same width as Darwin Hall, but only 3/4 as long)

Pillar temple

contemporary with Limestone temple
freestanding round pillars, 2.6 m diameter (over 8 feet)
covered with clay cone wall mosaics in red, white, and black
Later rebuildings were as wide as Stevenson Hall and over 3/4 as long (60 X 80 m)

Temple compounds had not only the classic temple structure on a tall mound, but also major economic functions

large complexes of storage rooms, apparently for agricultural produce

apparently used to support hundreds of laborers and craft specialists associated with the temple

the earliest examples of writing (pre-cuneiform) are from the Eanna temple precinct

and they clearly have to do with accounting of goods in storage, payments, lists of workers, and so on

implications of temples, ziggurats, etc.

these are really big, elaborate, expensive buildings, suggesting

mobilization of large economic resources
organization of many laborers and craftspeople
legitimation of institutions through association with impressive monuments and ceremonies
presence of architects, specialized planner-organizers: a "knowledge" class

possibly with formal training or apprenticeship
probably with control of access to knowledge and skills
the buildings and the institutions would have lent a permanence and legitimacy to this class

in short, an institutionalized, stable hierarchy of power and roles

the storage, production, and administrative features of the temples suggest they played a major role in

the flow of agricultural produce
the direction of at least some of the labor of much of the population
the training and support of specialized craftspeople
the training and support of specialized administrators, including eventually scribes

all together, the temple seems to have been the institution around and through which a complex social hierarchy and real political and economic power finally developed
even so, settlement patterns seem to suggest that each big city only controlled the production of the small hamlets in its immediate vicinity

that is, at this point there was no larger-scale regional integration
Uruk society was organized into walled city-states (more or less)

often competing or even fighting, sometimes allied or coexisting

Origins of writing

Denise Schmandt-Besserat's token model

This model has its critics, but it is probably at least partially right
Clay "tokens" were used around SW Asia, starting early in the neolithic period (by at least 8,500 BC)

cones, disks, spheres, partial spheres, etc.
variable size, average around 2 cm (1 inch) high
up to 1,500 tokens have been found at a single modest sized site
generally found in clusters of 15 or more
generally found in storage areas in houses
i.e. counters representing stored goods, herds, etc.?

similar tokens continued in use for thousands of years, up to a bit after 2000 BC.

In the Uruk period, many new shapes were added, also more incisions, appliques, etc.
May indicate an increasing number of types of goods to record, due to imports, craft specialization, etc.

In the Uruk period, two means of keeping groups of tokens together appeared

pierced tokens

apparently to keep on strings
the knot of the string was covered with clay, which was sealed

unpierced tokens encased in a clay "envelope" ("bulla")

most have two different seal impressions, suggesting transactions or contracts

both methods presumably to record a transaction or contract

such as giving a shipment of goods to someone to transport without diverting any

bullae had a disadvantage, in that you had to break them open to verify their contents
so they began marking the contents on the outside of the bullae by pressing the tokens (or similar ones) into the clay

in some cases, the tokens inside fit the impressions outside perfectly
but usually, the bulla has representations of the tokens made with a finger or stylus

this makes the actual tokens inside superfluous
so the tokens inside were done away with, using just the impressions on clay to record the information
the symbols became more complex, recording additional things beyond just tokens, and writing emerged

This earliest "writing" appeared by 3400 BC, beginning of Late Uruk period

earliest signs were made by scratching lines on clay tablets, mostly representing tokens and objects
called "pre-cuneiform"

context and content of Uruk writing

initially found in temples
later, also in private houses, associated with seals and sealings

suggestive of storage and trade

most common signs were bread, beer, sheep, cattle, clothing

reinforcing the idea that most or all of the tablets were storage and transaction records

So: writing developed out of recordkeeping and contracts for storage, transportation, and exchange of goods

it was gradually extended to other uses like diplomacy, law, and recording myths

precuneiform was simplified to cuneiform by the Early Dynastic period (2900 BC - 2373 BC)

i.e. over 500 years later

by which time the writing system had been expanded to the point that could record virtually any spoken utterance

cuneiform is written by pressing an angular stylus into the clay, rather than dragging a pointed one across it
faster to write
signs no longer looked like pictures of something
read left to right, top to bottom, in columns
"cracked" by intense study of a tri-lingual inscription of the Persian king Darius I, carved in a stone outcrop in 516 BC

Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian

Jemdet Nasr (3100 - 2900 BC; 200 years long?)

poorly defined, short
for our purposes you can ignore this period

Early Dynastic period (I, II, IIIa, IIIb) 2900 BC - 2373 BC (473 years)

The name of the period is the "Early Dynastic Period", in contrast to later, named dynasties

It is NOT the "early" part of the "dynastic" period

the city of Uruk grew enormously

near the beginning of the Early Dynastic (2800 BC), Uruk covered 250 ha (617 acres)

almost three times the area of the whole SSU campus

by the end of the Early Dynastic, it covered 400 hectares

4.5 times the area of the entire SSU campus
entirely enclosed by a city wall
population probably 50,000
this was its peak of size and importance

One other large city (Umma) and about 6 smaller cities also by this time

but these cities were in competition, not a united system

each city surrounded by towns and a very few small agricultural hamlets
most of the small hamlets had been abandoned
as most people moved into towns and cities
this unusual arrangement has been called "hyperurbanism"

each of these cities would be called a "city-state"

in contrast to a "nation-state" that would include multiple cities

the city-states had complex, shifting diplomatic relationships, with alliances, trade, raids, wars, etc.

The temples' power increased

huge walled-in precincts at the core of each city (>3 ha at Khafaje in Diyala valley)
the precincts included not only the temple, but also workshops (sculpture in stone and cast copper), storage rooms, high-status dwellings
the temple itself was increasingly big and elaborate

at the same time, a new powerful institution appeared: the palace

the secular, military, royal residence compound of a king
palaces appeared in addition to temples in ED III at Mari, Kish, Eridu, maybe other cities (around 2500 or 2400 BC)

architecturally distinct from temples
lacked the ritual complex with a big room with two pedestals, the big courtyard, etc.
although they did have smaller ritual areas, probably for internal or personal use, rather than public participation
palaces had hundreds of rooms

storerooms
workshops
royal residence
administrative rooms
archives of cuneiform documents, as at the temples

hereditary kings first appeared

written records show kingship was passed down as many as 6 generations

kingship seems to have had different origins in different cities

based on linguistic evidence
some kings were addressed as "lugal" (king), with a word suggesting military leader appointed by a ruling council
others as "sangu" (accountant) (!), the word used for the top administrator of a temple
others by "ensi", a word apparently related to the term for the human husband of a city's goddess.
later, some by "ugula" (foreman)
suggests that in different cities, different offices or institutions gave rise to powerful secular institutions that look the same to us: palaces

presumably, the process by which this happened varied somewhat in each case

kings are recorded as building water projects
the palace organized long-distance trade
technology and production

the Early Dynastic was not notable for technological innovation, but rather for increasing scale of production and amount of goods made
large scale weaving of wool and flax (linseed - linen cloth)
copperwork became more common for tools, containers, and art

including both arsenic bronze and tin bronze

with a correspondingly increased number of specialist craftspeople

although still probably under 20% of population

specialized production went on in both the temple and the palace, and maybe in some wealthy people's private estates
overall pattern: lots of specialists attached to institutions or important people

producing goods that were controlled by those institutions

maybe some independent specialists, but probably not many

still, over 80% of the population were still farmers
by the Early Dynastic, making and administering laws was a secular (palace) matter, not religious

the palace served a role in conflict resolution and maintenance of order
such as punishing crimes, enforcing contracts, etc.

social stratification became more pronounced than ever before

"royal burials" at Ur attest to a very privileged royalty and court or nobility

over 2500 burials, mostly ED III (2500 - 2400 BC)
most famous was a deep shaft tomb with a chamber each for a king and queen

king's was partially looted
queen was still on her bed, surrounded by female attendants

queen was named Shubad or Puabi (depending on how the signs are read)

two wagons with oxen and male servants
59 bodies, mostly richly-attired females, and a few male soldiers

may have gone willingly to their deaths, maybe drugged, with their valuables and finery
based on absence of traumatic injuries or positions that would suggest struggle

gold, silver, lapis, musical instruments, wood inlay...

at the other end of the social hierarchy, written records from the Early Dynastic period include the first documentation of slaves

apparently not a large class; only a small part of the population and economy
mostly used for spinning yarn and weaving in shops run by the temple
mostly female
records show citizens becoming slaves due to falling in debt or being sold by their families (!)
it was possible to buy one's own freedom

plus many presumed intermediate social statuses

farmers, craftspeople, scribes, priests, etc.

variation in size and quality of houses also suggests a wide range of social standings

Sumer was composed of 10-15 city-states, frequently at war, power relationships constantly shifting

warfare for raiding, control of contested areas of farmland, access to water
not conquest (taking control of a group of people for the long term)

evidence is from written sources

groupings of more than one city were rare and short-lived, but were increasing near the end of the Early Dynastic

Agade Period (Akkadian State) 2373 - 2247 BC (126 years)

Sargon of Agade, the king and military leader of the city of Agade, located in northern Mesopotamia
succeeded in conquering all of northern and southern Mesopotamia, including the cities on the Sumerian plain
forging the first regional state in Mesopotamia
this was possible in part due to his well-equipped, professional army

such armies were already being established in the Early Dynastic III period

for example, a famous ED III stela from Lagash (in Sumer) shows this kind of uniform, regimented army
ranks of men in identical helmets, with shields
other ranks with lighter shields and spears, etc.
indicating specialized regiments

like the palaces of at least some Sumerian cities, the palace of Agade clearly provided standardized weapons and presumably supported professional soldiers
this would have been based on arms production by specialists employed by the palace and working in shops there
and, in turn, based on the extraction of surplus agricultural production from the people of the city its surrounding hinterland

But unlike earlier victors in inter-city warfare, Sargon not only captured spoils when a city fell, but also established a system to control the city from then on, collecting tribute from then on

Sargon awarded captured land to his supporters
He put local agents in charge of conquered cities, supported by a garrison of soldiers
this united them for the first time as tribute-paying subjects of his empire
unlike earlier "rulers", he actually controlled the conquered cities, which became parts of a larger organization with its capital at Agade

subsequent history involved military conquests, formation of empires, their breakup, etc... which is history, and which this course cannot cover...