Mesopotamia Social Structure
At the top of the pyramid was the priests landowners and government officials. They had luxurious homes that was two stories high. In the middle class were the merchants and craftspeople which included skilled metal workers who worked with gold silver tin lead copper and bronze.the common class included farmers fishermen who lived in small mud brick houses. They worked on irrigation systems, and usually forced to serve in the army. The lower class were slaves who who lived in owners homes and had no property of their own.
In the Sumerian empire Priests were very powerful and important, and they told people how to behave. In Sumer they were the local doctors. If you got sick, you sent for a priest. Also they would shave their head for identification. In the lower class was slaves. Once the Sumerians won a battle, they would take the remaining people as prisoners and slaves. The king and the priests kept most slaves, but wealthy Sumerians could buy slaves to work for them. known as the Lower class slaves wore the same garments as the upper class, but was made of different materials, they also wore jewelry that wasn’t made of gold precious stones unlike the upper class. They wore jewelry and in the winter they wore cloaks made of wool. women usually wore long dresses and men wore skirt like garment.
In the Babylonian empire Hammurabi was the rule The women in the Babylonian empire had more rights than most ancient societies, even though they had no say in who to marry, they could own land and keep money of their own. Slaves could work somewhere else and keep their money to eventually buy freedom.
At the top of the pyramid was the priests landowners and government officials. They had luxurious homes that was two stories high. In the middle class were the merchants and craftspeople which included skilled metal workers who worked with gold silver tin lead copper and bronze.the common class included farmers fishermen who lived in small mud brick houses. They worked on irrigation systems, and usually forced to serve in the army. The lower class were slaves who who lived in owners homes and had no property of their own.
In the Sumerian empire Priests were very powerful and important, and they told people how to behave. In Sumer they were the local doctors. If you got sick, you sent for a priest. Also they would shave their head for identification. In the lower class was slaves. Once the Sumerians won a battle, they would take the remaining people as prisoners and slaves. The king and the priests kept most slaves, but wealthy Sumerians could buy slaves to work for them. known as the Lower class slaves wore the same garments as the upper class, but was made of different materials, they also wore jewelry that wasn’t made of gold precious stones unlike the upper class. They wore jewelry and in the winter they wore cloaks made of wool. women usually wore long dresses and men wore skirt like garment.
In the Babylonian empire Hammurabi was the rule The women in the Babylonian empire had more rights than most ancient societies, even though they had no say in who to marry, they could own land and keep money of their own. Slaves could work somewhere else and keep their money to eventually buy freedom.