Excerpt from Term Paper:

...... The priests of ancient Sumer devoted much of their time and energy to study of natural phenomena, as they interpreted such phenomena as being direct communication from the gods. As such, they managed to come up with some of the earliest scientific inventions and discoveries. It was the Sumerians who decided that there are sixty minutes in every hour, as the number sixty served as their basic unit of calculation. The Sumerian priests were also responsible for the development of the sophisticated irrigation system that would temper the harsh tendencies of the rivers and see to it that distant Sumerian cities were able to grow food. Then, as the first cities in Sumer began to grow, technological development began to occur. Since they did not have stone, the Sumerians made do with brick, building a myriad of famous constructions during this period according to their needs
As kings of rival city-states ruled Sumer during this period, they would often go to battle. For this reason, the Sumerians also engineered many important forms of warfare technology. These include the wheeled chariot and the discovery of bronze (via the melding of copper and tin.)
The second major stage of Sumerian development

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