4/27/2020Mesopotamia | Boundless Art History2/30Key Termstheocratic:A form of government in which a deity is o±ciallyrecognized as the civil ruler. O±cial policy is governed by o±cialsregarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of aparticular religion or religious group.casting:A sculptural process in which molten material (usuallymetal) is poured into a mold, allowed to cool and harden, andbecome a solid object.Cuneiform:One of the earliest known forms of written expressionthat began as a system of pictographs. It emerged in Sumer aroundthe 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4thmillennium (the Uruk IV period).Chalcolithic:Also known as the Copper Age, a phase of the BronzeAge in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze duringsmelting remained yet unknown. The Copper Age was originallyde²ned as a transition between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age.Sumer was an ancient civilization in southern Mesopotamia (modernIraq) during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages. Although thehistorical records in the region do not go back much further than ca.2900 BCE, modern historians believe that Sumer was ²rst settledbetween ca. 4500 and 4000 BCE by people who may or may not havespoken the Sumerian language. These people, now called the“Ubaidians,” were the ²rst to drain the marshes for agriculture;develop trade; and establish industries including weaving, leatherwork,metalwork , masonry, and pottery.The Sumerian city of Eridu, which at that time bordered the PersianGulf, is believed to be the world’s ²rst city. Here, three separatecultures fused—the peasant Ubaidian farmers, the nomadic Semitic-speaking pastoralists (farmers who raise livestock), and ²sher folk. Thesurplus of storable food created by this economy allowed the region’spopulation to settle in one place, instead of migrating as hunter-gatherers. It also allowed for a much greater population density, whichrequired an extensive labor force and a division of labor with many