when Was the Plow Invented by the Sumerians

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C O N T E N T S:

KEY TOPICS

• Over 5000 years ago some prehistoric farmer, perhaps in Mesopotamia, got the bright idea of hitching his ox to his digging stick -- and so the plow was invented.(More...)
  
• Mesopotamia wheat and barley were most important grown crops by the Sumerians.(More...)
  
• Beginning around 5,500 years ago, the Sumerians built cities along the rivers in Lower Mesopotamia, specialized, cooperated, and made many advances in technology.(More...)
  
• Much of what we know about the history of Mesopotamia comes from clay tablets found in Assyrian cities.(More...)
  

POSSIBLY USEFUL

• The construction of this earliest plow was probably that of a crooked tree branch, making it an easily found mechanism in the Mesopotamian environment.(More...)
  

RANKED SELECTED SOURCES

KEY TOPICS
Over 5000 years ago some prehistoric farmer, perhaps in Mesopotamia, got the bright idea of hitching his ox to his digging stick -- and so the plow was invented. ^[1] In heavier dirt, more like clay, which is common in river valleys like Mesopotamia, it may be impossible to plow without animals. ^[2]

The human race at the outset made use of the OX and created the very first plow known as ARD in Mesopotamia. ^[3] In Mesopotamia, man first harnessed the ox and developed the first plow called ARD. The earliest plow was made of wooden material and was heavy. ^[4] The invention of the "scratch plow" in Mesopotamia 6000 years ago substituted animal power for human muscle and revolutionized agriculture. ^[5] The invention of the plow in Mesopotamia helped the hunter-gatherer groups to stay in the same place and to depend on agriculture for food, rather than hunting. ^[4] Plows are thought to have been invented in Mesopotamia in approximately 3000 BC. ^[6] The innovation of the plow in Mesopotamia served the huntsmen to remain in the exact same spot and rely upon the farms for the foodstuff. ^[3] Ancient Mesopotamia The Plow and Yoke facts about the plow Ploughing the soil makes it softer and easier for the plants to grow, and turns the soil over so any vegetation leftover from an earlier crop can grow The Yoke The yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is fastened over the necks of two animals and attached to the plow or a cart that they are to pull The plow was used to cut up furrows in and turn up the soil,preparing it for planting. ^[7]

Mesopotamia wheat and barley were most important grown crops by the Sumerians. ^[1] Thought the climate in Mesopotamia was very hot, they still received enough rainfall for crops. ^[1]

In ancient times, many resources in Mesopotamia were scarce or absent, which stimulated trade within the region and beyond. ^[1] In Mesopotamia men were the farmers of the land, the kings and rulers, and government officials. ^[1]

While the earliest farmers in southwest Asia were found in the hilly upland areas of the "fertile crescent", by 6,000 BC rising population had forced farmers to move down into the flat floodplain's of the Tigris and Euphrates River, where they quickly spread south. ( Mesopotamia means "between the rivers.") ^[8] The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers that surround Mesopotamia made irrigation and farming a lot easier and more convenient. ^[4] The Euphrates and the Tigris rivers that bordered Mesopotamia made the farming and irrigation much simpler and profitable. ^[3]

It's believed that the potters wheel and the first wheels used for transportation were invented in Mesopotamia at roughly the same time, about 6000 years ago. ^[5] The first wheel was believed to exist around 3,500 BC in Mesopotamia. ^[4] The first means of transportation, like the chariot and the sailboat, were invented in Mesopotamia. ^[4] As the inventions and discoveries during the Mesopotamia Civilization are concerned, the majority of the creative ideas that we've been taking for granted nowadays had been invented and discovered then and there. ^[3] The cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, was the birthplace of indispensable inventions and discoveries. ^[4] With no further ado, let's jump right into the incredible top-ten list of the Inventions and Discoveries of Mesopotamia Civilization. ^[3] The domestication of oxen in Mesopotamia and the Indus valley civilization, perhaps as early as the 6th millennium BC, provided mankind with the draft power necessary to develop the larger, animal-drawn true ard (or scratch plough). ^[9] The chariot evidently came from Mesopotamia in 3000 BC. Typical monuments in Tutub and Ur reflect battles which include hefty vehicles with built-in strong wheels, their body formed with wood and coated with skins. ^[3] While bronze was essentially an import into Mesopotamia, the wheel may well have been a local development late in the 'Ubaid period. ^[8]

Coming from the philosophy of civilization as a way of getting hold of concealed records, Mesopotamia civilization provides details about activities in past times, present and future and from the viewpoint that is totally open to manipulation and re-interpretations. ^[3] In the time of King Sargon I, about 2350 B.C., the people of Mesopotamia began using the composite bow constructed by gluing together layers of wood from different trees with different elasticity and strength properties, using glues derived from animal bone and sinew. ^[10] The people of Mesopotamia -- the Assyrians, Babylonians and Sumerians -- created and used important and enduring tools. ^[10]

Mesopotamia emerged as one the first cities of the world built with sun-dried bricks. ^[4] The Ziggurat was the largest and most important structure in cities in Mesopotamia. ^[11] It's believed that the earliest sailing vessels were put to use more than 5 thousand years back in Mesopotamia. ^[3] Most of the innovative ideas that we take it for granted today were invented or discovered in Mesopotamia. ^[4] Even though the map was invented in Mesopotamia, Greek and Roman cartography became more advanced. ^[4] The clay map discovered in Mesopotamia illustrates the Akkadian region of Mesopotamia (present day northern Iraq). ^[4] Part 1 Part 2 Mesopotamia healers often wrote prescriptions on clay tablets. ^[11]

Mesopotamia established the very idea of time, splitting its units into 60 aspects that ultimately resulted in 60 minutes, 60 seconds and hour. ^[3] These types of Mesopotamia chariots had been positioned by both charioteer and spearman, even though it is uncertain that battling was carried out based on the vehicle itself. ^[3] Copper ores often naturally contain either arsenic or tin, but no copper ores are found in Mesopotamia. ^[8] Certainly no later than 3,500 BC, arsenical bronze was being imported into Mesopotamia. ^[8]

Despite the fact that the wheels were thought to first appear in Ancient Mesopotamia, the most ancient wheel named "Ljubljana Marshes Wheel" dated 5,150 years old was found in 2002 in Ljubljana. ^[3] Even though the wheel is believed to have first existed in Ancient Mesopotamia, the oldest wheel named " Ljubljana Marshes Wheel " was discovered in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia in 2002, and dates 5,150 years back. ^[4]

Basic things like writing, agriculture, and urban civilization are the gifts of Ancient Mesopotamia. ^[4] Herewith I will present the top 11 Inventions and discoveries of Ancient Mesopotamia. ^[4]

Both the need for irrigation and the organized communal effort it would have required, and the presence of a temple or similar center for stratified redistributive exchange, indicate that Eridu and other small cities found in southern Mesopotamia were well on their way to becoming incipient states. ^[8]

Beginning around 5,500 years ago, the Sumerians built cities along the rivers in Lower Mesopotamia, specialized, cooperated, and made many advances in technology. ^[12] The Sumerians were the first people to migrate to Mesopotamia, they created a great civilization. ^[12] Mesopotamia at first glance does not look like an ideal place for a civilization to flourish. ^[12] First great civilizations began in a region in the Fertile Crescent called Mesopotamia. ^[13] Mesopotamia is considered the cradle, or beginning, of civilization. ^[12]

Although the price of wheat was twice that of barley, the farmers preferred to plant barley, for the same reason that it is preferred nowadays in southern Iraq: barley is better adapted than wheat to a soil of low fertility and high salinity, such as is found in lower Mesopotamia. ^[14] Mesopotamia is part of the fertile crescent, an area of land in the Middle East that is rich in fertile soil and crescent-shaped. ^[12] The word Mesopotamia comes from Greek words meaning "land between the rivers." ^[12]

Farmers in Mesopotamia got water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. ^[12] Mesopotamia Study Guide - Remember, on the test, you can use your map sheet and one other sheet of paper, but not your notebooks this time. ^[15]

Ancient Civilizations of the Fertile Crescent: Ziggurat - A temple tower of ancient Mesopotamia, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories. ^[13] Sources to reconstruct everyday life in ancient Mesopotamia, however, are not scarce: thousands of economic texts15,000 of them for a period of only about eighty years during the third Ur dynasty have already been published!with concrete and meticulous information about the humblest transaction. ^[14] High crop yields in ancient Mesopotamia contributed most directly to the development of __________. ^[16] The major cities of ancient Mesopotamia were located __________. ^[16] In villages and cities of southern Mesopotamia groves of date palms were common. ^[17]

Much of what we know about the history of Mesopotamia comes from clay tablets found in Assyrian cities. ^[18] Babylonia, ancient cultural region occupying southeastern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf ). ^[19] When people say Mesopotamia they are referring to a section of land in the Middle East between and around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. ^[18] When the two rivers that bordered Mesopotamia, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, flooded, there was no way of telling how deep the flood was going to be. ^[20] Although northern Mesopotamia had adequate rainfall for successful agriculture, the remaining regions required irrigation and skilled control of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. ^[21] The plains of southern Mesopotamia have wonderfully rich soils, deposited by the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over thousands of years. ^[22] Within southern Mesopotamia itself, the archaeological record indicates that over the course of hundreds of year, the Tigris and Euphrates plain became ever more thickly studded with farming villages. ^[22]

The eighteen recorded Sumerian cities of southern Mesopotamia remained concentrated along the branches and irrigation canals of the Euphrates in a narrow strip of land extending from south of present-day Baghdad to the marches bordering the Gulf. ^[22] Rivers were so important in Mesopotamia that the word itself means 'land between the rivers.' Egyptians, as well as the Sumerians who lived in early Mesopotamia, were able to harness the power of these rivers in order to make their civilizations particularly powerful. ^[20] The lands of Egypt and Mesopotamia were home to two of the earliest civilizations, or complex societies, to develop, and much of the reason that they were able to do so was because of the rivers in each. ^[20] By this date, the ancient countries of Mesopotamia were all under threat from large-scale migrations of Aramaean tribes ; and indeed the whole history of the region now takes on a new character, as the Middle East enters a phase of barbarian invasion and the eclipse of the ancient centres of civilization. ^[22] At its cultural height (1900 BC to 1595 BC), the Babylonian civilization unified its Mesopotamia region. ^[21] The Third Dynasty of Ur came into power circa 2112 to 2004 BC. This Sumerian dynasty governed most of Mesopotamia and southwestern Iran. ^[21] Sumerian culture and cuneiform were retained, but Akkadian tongue became the dominant language in Mesopotamia. ^[21]

For the first time a new socio-political institution appears in Mesopotamia, the fief, given to soldiers and others in return for military and other service. ^[22] Hammurabi also became the first king since Sargon of Akkad to unite the entire Mesopotamia land, stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Syrian border and the Armenian foothills. ^[21] Because this is where people first began to write, Mesopotamia is often called the place where history began. ^[18] Unfortunately for the people of Mesopotamia, their rivers did not flood with the regularity of the Nile. ^[20] The heart of Mesopotamia lies between the two rivers in southern Iraq. ^[18]

This resource teaches students the geographic, political, economic, social, and religious structures of the civilizations of Mesopotamia. ^[23] This time of intense conflict was a time of great political opportunity for the most powerful men in Mesopotamia. ^[21] They also ruled much of the Middle East at different times over the history of Mesopotamia. ^[18]

Assyrians - The Assyrians came out of the northern part of Mesopotamia. ^[18] Mesopotamia is part of a larger area that archeologists call the Fertile Crescent. ^[18] For many years, Mesopotamia was disunited, with independent city-states frequently engaging in disputes and wars with its neighbors. ^[21] Mesopotamia Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. ^[24] The future of Mesopotamia is as one region amongst many others. ^[22] Mesopotamia is a general name for a number of diverse ethnic groups that contributed to the culture of the region. ^[21]

Finally the Guti, a barbarian hill people from the Zagros mountains, invaded Mesopotamia, put an end to Akkadian power once and for all, and installed themselves as the new rulers of Sumer and Akkad. ^[22] The geographical horizons of the people of southern Mesopotamia were vastly enlarged, and the influence of their civilization greatly enhanced in the surrounding regions. ^[22] Northern Mesopotamia was brought fully within the fold of Sumerian/Akkadian civilization, as were other peoples further afield such as the Hurrians, Lullubi and Elamites. ^[22] By the second half of the third millennium, the Semitic-speaking people were a significant element in northern Mesopotamia, also known as Akkad. ^[21] Southern Mesopotamia, ancient Sumer, fell under the control of the Sea-land dynasty - not before the historic centres of Ur and Uruk had been put to the torch - and northern Mesopotamia fell under the control of Assyria. ^[22] The cities strove to subdue one another, and one city-state after another - Kish, Uruk, Ur, Nipur, Lagash, Umma achieved a position of dominance over some or all of the other cities of southern Mesopotamia, and beyond. ^[22] Apart from a war in which they conquered the Sea-Land kingdom and so reunited southern Mesopotamia - which from this date is known to scholars as Babylonia - they indulged neither in foreign adventures not domestic strife for many long years. ^[22] The two thousand years between 6000 BCE and 4000 BCE saw a very large expansion of population in southern Mesopotamia. ^[22] One region where farming was not yet present, however, was southern Mesopotamia. ^[22] In southern Mesopotamia, Semites and Sumerians had become so intermingled that the region should hereafter be called "Sumer and Akkad". ^[22] Under the rule of the Amorites, which lasted until about 1600 bce, Babylon became the political and commercial centre of the Tigris-Euphrates area, and Babylonia became a great empire, encompassing all of southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria to the north. ^[19]

Ancient Mesopotamia refers to the place where humans first formed civilizations. ^[18] When Islamic control began in 651 AD, a time and a culture known as ancient Mesopotamia ended. ^[21]

In northern Mesopotamia cities appeared at places like Mari and Assur, and other cities appeared in Elam, Syria and eastern Turkey. ^[22] He subjected Elam in the east, Mari in northern Mesopotamia, Ebla and other cities in Syria, and carried his power as far as the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus mountains. ^[22]

The lands of northern Mesopotamia were turned into provinces, and beyond these lands, Elam, Mari and other states were drawn into a network of marriage alliances with the royal family of Ur. ^[22] Northern Mesopotamia, Syria and the Anatolian regions fell away from the empire. ^[22]

POSSIBLY USEFUL
The construction of this earliest plow was probably that of a crooked tree branch, making it an easily found mechanism in the Mesopotamian environment. ^[1] In the early Han Dynasty, about 200 BC, Chinese scientists also invented plows made entirely of iron, instead of just tipped with iron. ^[2] You can make the plow go a little better by hardening the wooden point in the fire, or by adding a stone, bronze, or iron point to the stick, to act as a wedge. ^[2] Such primitive stick plows still are used in some parts of the world. ^[1] The simplest kind of plow is a digging stick with a handle on it crossways - a scratch plow or ard. ^[2]

A moldboard is a wooden board that attaches to a plow, and helps the plow really turn over the dirt instead of just making a groove in it. ^[2]

In China, plows made of iron were in use in in about 300 BC, and moldboards, which turn the soil over in a furrow, were in use in the first centure BC. Moldboards were not used in Europe until the late 10th centure. ^[6] The problem that had developed was that farmers in the newly settled prairie found that their heavy soil stuck to the cast iron moldboard of their plows. ^[6] After observing European plows while ambassador to France, he developed an improved moldboard, which was designed to work with the soil found in Virginia, and to turn the earth as efficiently as possible. ^[6] John Deere made a plow with a steel moldboard, which was self polishing in the grassy soil, and to which the soil did not stick. ^[6] Plow - 6000 B.C The plow helped farmers when the sun heated up soil and it was hard to plant the crops. ^[11] The Roman plow was adequate for plowing the dry Mediterranean soils, but proved inadequate for the heavier soils of Germany and northern Europe. ^[6] These have a rear wheel which usually carries weight and side thrust when plowing and sometimes the weight of the rear end of the plow when lifted. ^[9] The fast resetting action also helps produce a better job of plowing since large areas of unplowed land are not left as when lifting a plow over a stone. ^[9] Using a bar with square shares mounted perpendicularly and a pivot point to change the bar's angle, the switch plow allows plowing in either direction. ^[9]

Some also have a gauge wheel to regulate maximum depth. 3.Semi-mounted- used principally for larger plows. ^[9] As population continued to increase, Sumerians adopted or invented three major technological improvements: bronze metallurgy, the wheel, and the bronze-tipped plow. ^[8] Ancient Mesopotamians created many tools including cutlery, cookware, plows, bowls, the potter's wheel, drills, bows, arrows and spears. ^[10] Sometimes a wheel was added to improve the functioning of the plow. ^[6]

The spring release device was used in the past almost universally on trailing type plows with one to three or four bottoms. ^[9] It is necessary to back up the tractor and plow to reset the bottom This construction is used to protect the individual bottoms. ^[9] They used stone hoes to plow the ground before the invention of the plow. ^[4] Modern mole plow may also bury a flexible perforated plastic drain pipe as they go, making a more permanent drain- or they may be used to lay pipes for water supply or other purposes. ^[9] The term plough or plow, as used today, was not common until 1700. ^[9] A major advance for this type of farming was the turnplough, also known as the mouldboard plough (UK), moldboard plow (US), or frame-plough. ^[9] Moldboard plow type is usually determined by the method in which the plow is attached to the tractor and by the way it is lifted and carried. ^[9] Pull type chisel plows are made in working widths from about 2.5 m up to 13.7 m, they are tractor mounted and working depth is hydraulically controlled. ^[9] Down suction causes the plow to penetrate to proper depth when pulled forward, while horizontal suction causes the plow to create the desired width of furrow. ^[9] This is called "suction or down suck"; it literally sucks the plow into the ground, to a regulated depth. ^[9] Basically the chisel plow is a very heavy duty field cultivator intended to operate at depths from 15cm to as much as 46cm. ^[9]

Plows in the ancient Greek culture were very simple devices, which would be improved in Roman times. ^[6] The first American plow made of cast iron was made by Charles Newbold in 1797. ^[6] This problem was solved by the plow of Jethro Wood, which had iron parts which were interchangable. ^[6] The frog (standard) is the central part of the plow bottom to which the other components of the bottom are attached. ^[9] The landside is usually made of solid medium carbon steel, and is very short except on the rear bottom of the plow. ^[9] This point is usually located some distance above the top of the plow bottom. ^[9] When an obstruction is encountered, the plow bottom hinges back and up in such a way as to pass over the obstruction, without stopping the tractor and plow. ^[9] When a hydraulic lift is used on the plow, the hydraulic hoses will also usually uncouple automatically when the plow uncouples. ^[9] The automatic reset design has only recently been introduced on American plows, but has been used extensively on European and Australian plows. ^[9]

They made use of the stone hoes to plow the land prior to the innovation of the plough. ^[3] The reversible plough (or "rollover plow") has two mouldboard ploughs mounted back-to-back, one turning to the right, the other to the left. ^[9] The mole plow allows underdrainage to be installed without trenches, or it breaks up deep impermeable soil layers which impede drainage. ^[9] The plow would break up the soil and therefore making it easier to plant. 2. ^[11]

The major problem with the plow was that the dirt would stick on the plow and needed to be removed manually. ^[4] After 3,500 BC bronze-tipped plows and bronze weapons were found throughout the eastern Mediterranean; by 2,500 BC they had spread throughout Europe. ^[8] Chisel plows are becoming more popular as a primary tillage tool in row crop farming areas. ^[9]

By 3000 BCE plows were known and in wide use - many Assyrian kings boasted to have invented a new improved type of plow. ^[17] They were also the first to use sailboats and wooden plows. ^[12]

The wheel, plow, and writing (a system which we call cuneiform) are examples of their achievements. ^[12]

They invented the wheel, the plow, and the earliest known irrigation methods, enabling an otherwise unstable agricultural environment to prosper as Sumerian settlements grew into the world's first political city-states. ^[21] When was it invented or first used ? John Deere invented the steel plow in 1837 when the Middle-West was being settled. ^[25] How was it invented or discovered ? He made his first plow out of an old blade saw. ^[25] They developed irrigation methods and invented the wheel and the plow. ^[21] Why was it invented ? Wood plows couldn't plow the rich soil of the Middle-West without breaking. ^[25] The soil was different than that of the East and wood plows kept breaking. ^[25]

Ten years after the first plow was made, Deere's company was making 1000 plows a year. ^[25] The steel plow was the first step to making farm equipment that we know today. ^[25]

He controlled the prosperity of the land and was credited with the invention of the plow. ^[26] Who invented the steel plow ? John Deere invented the steel plow. ^[25]

RANKED SELECTED SOURCES(26 source documents arranged by frequency of occurrence in the above report)

1. (24) Plough - Wikipedia

2. (19) History of Ancient Mesopotamia - TimeMaps

3. (15) Top 11 inventions and discoveries of Mesopotamia - AncientHistoryLists

4. (12) Mesopotamian Civilization - Anthropology - iResearchNet

5. (12) 10 Mesopotamian Inventions and Discoveries - Ancient Civilizations

6. (10) Patent Pending Blog - Patents and the History of Technology: History of the Plow

7. (9) Mesopotamia - 6th Grade Social Studies

8. (8) History: Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids

9. (7) Ancient Mesopotamia Plow

10. (7) The Steel Plow

11. (7) Mesopotamia

12. (5) History of plows and farming - Quatr.us Study Guides

13. (4) The Mesopotamian Advancements | Piktochart Visual Editor

14. (4) Agriculture in Ancient Egypt & Mesopotamia - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com

15. (3) Tools Made by People in Ancient Mesopotamia | Sciencing

16. (2) Waldorf ~ 5th grade ~ Ancient Mesopotamia ~ Sumerian Farmers with Plow | AGE 11: Ancient Mesopotamia Myths | Pinterest | Sumerian, Ancient mesopotamia and Civi…

17. (2) Expedition Magazine | Sumerian Harvest Time

18. (2) Mesopotamia Flashcards | Quizlet

19. (2) Agriculture in the Fertile Crescent (Article) - Ancient History Encyclopedia

20. (2) Babylonia | ancient region, Mesopotamia | Britannica.com

21. (2) Mesopotamia Cuneiform - HISTORY'S HISTORIESYou are history. We are the future.

22. (1) Ancient Mesopotamia - Richfield School District

23. (1) Mesopotamia c. 3500-1200 BC/BCE by Tullahoma | Amazon Inspire

24. (1) Mesopotamia

25. (1) Enlil - Mesopotamian God of Wind and Breath | Mythology.net

26. (1) Ancient Mesopotamia The Plow and Yoke by Maddison Keitch on Prezi

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when Was the Plow Invented by the Sumerians

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