Class Distinction in Sumerian and Modern Civilization
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This essay compares the class differences in between Sumerian civilization and that of modern civilization, discussing the causes and reflecting on diversity in society.
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Running head:CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION Class Distinction in Sumerian and Modern Civilization Name of the student Name of the University Author note
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1CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION Social system can be called an orderly arrangement where there exist interrelationship in between the different parts. There are various parts within the society that are bound with the help of interaction. The socio-political system comprises of the social elements along with political elements and the interaction that takes place in between these elements (Lyubashits et al., 2015).The analysis of the socio-political system helps in tracing process spanning over both social system along with political system. Class distinction refers to the differences that exist in the society in between the various kinds of the social classes. This essay comparestheclassdifferencesinbetweenSumeriancivilizationandthatofmodern civilization. This essay discusses about the causes of the class differences and how it reflects on the aspect of diversity in the society. In early days of Sumer, only two class of people existed- free people along with the slaves. The expansion of the civilization paved the path for the development of a structured society. City states got established that was governed independently with the help of a king. Sumerian society was comprised of four social class: nobles, clients, commoners and the slaves. Nobles in the Sumerian civilization was inclusive of ruling family, warriors along with the priests who were wealthy and used to own large amount of the land (Diamond, 2017).The commoners used to own small amount of the land and it included fishermen, merchants along with the craftsmen. The clients made up a large portion of the Sumerian society. There existed three kind of sub-class in the class of the clients- senior administrator, dependents of nobility along with the temple personnel (Glassman, 2017).The temple personnel and that of senior administrators used to own small amount of the land however those who depended on the nobility were poor and they used to work for nobles in exchange of that of payment. There was slavery in the Sumerian society and there were two ways in which a person could become a slave. The slaves were taken either in the battles by the neighbouring states or the people were sold in terms of payment when they could not repay
2CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION the debts (Glassman, 2017).The farmers in the Sumerian civilization did not have a good social standing but they were imperative for success of civilization. The civilization was dependent on the agricultural products so that the civilization can be sustainable. Scribes formed another part of social class and they were crucial component of that of Sumerian society. The scribes had been trained for particular roles- there were some scribes who were trained so that they can serve the king whereas there were others who used to work for the temples (Adams, 2018).There were priests of various levels who performed various kinds of duties in the social structure. There existed a senior priest who used to look after the element of administration and there were other priests who looked after spirituality (Blundell, 2016). There existed the subordinate priests who used to look after the things like singing and the music. The modern society mainly has two kinds of classes- working class and the ruling class. The working class people work so that they can earn their living and they do not have any real control over their work. Working class people is inclusive of the people who are unemployed along with the pensioners. They have very little amount of wealth along with the official power. This class of the modern society consists of the “white collar” workers and the “blue collar” workers (Watson, 2018).On the other hand, the ruling class in the modern society used to control the investment decisions and determined the policy in the society. The ruling class in the present society used to set agenda for that of capital and the state. The managers of the large companies and the multinationals make up the ruling class in the society. They are the people who possess real power in economy and they control the society. It makes up 5-15 % of that of the top population. The differences exist between the Sumerian and the modern civilization on account of the fact that there were nobles, slaves and the priests in the Sumerian civilization. These classes are not present in the modern civilization that is predominantly divided into that of the
3CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION ruling and that of the working class (Farmer, Sproat & Witzel, 2016).The nobles in the Sumerian civilization were powerful people who used to control the other classes in the population. They used to wield enormous amount of influence in the society like the ruling class of present age. There was difference between Sumerian civilization and that of the modern civilization due to the fact that the modern society does not have the slaves who had to live under the subjugation of the people in the top hierarchy of the society.There also existed certain similarities in between Sumerian civilization and the modern civilization. The similarity existed due to the fact that the upper classes in the society in both the civilization were the ones who were powerful and who controlled the other segments in the societal structure.Religionhadagreatinfluencesonthelivesofthepeopleoftheancient civilizations. The Sumerian people used to give great amount of respect on the priests because they felt that the priests can control their life. The priests used to be revered by the common people in the Sumerian civilization and the people used to go along the decisions that were made by the priests. The modern civilization on the other hand is markedly different from Sumerian civilization due to the fact that the priests do not have such a great influence in the society (Perry, 2015).Money is held in great esteem by the people in the modern world and those who have a large amount of wealth in the society are held in great reverence within that of the societal structure. The influence of the people in the Sumerian civilization was on the basis of their privileged social class and not based on money. The priests and the nobles used to control the other classes in the Sumerian civilization. The difference exist between both the civilizations due to the influence of the king in the ancient civilization. The priests used to attend the king in the ancient age and this accounted for the higher power of the priests in the ancient ages. The king was looked after by the priests along with the people who were in high positions in the society and this made them easily recognizable in the society.The people in the Sumerian civilization could be
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4CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION recognized in the society with the help of their clothes along with that of their jewellery. The priests used to act as the advisors of the king and they were held in great esteem by the people in the society. They used to stay close to the king and this relegated them with the power and the authority in the society. The priests used to help the king in interpreting will of Sumerian gods (Keller, 2017).The working class people of the Sumerian civilization had to abide by the decisions of the people in the top authority like the kings and the nobles in the Sumerian civilization. The ancient civilizations had monuments along with the stone walls and slowly people started to create the social infrastructure. The people gradually started to create the social infrastructure that paved the way for the creation of the new social hierarchy. The increase in the traffic and the conflict occurring in between the external civilizations needed the emergence of the diplomats along with the centralized rulers.The cities gradually developed out of the villages and they in due course of time evolved to become the urban centers. Surplus amount of food production that was generated by the villages paved the path for the developing of the specialized roles along with the associated classes (Allen, 2018). The co-operation in between the different classes brought down the division that existed in between the different classes in the present civilization. The facilitation of the trade helped in bringing together the different classes in the present civilization that helped in the separation of power within the society. There was diversity in the Sumerian civilization and this can be understood from that the fact that there was various kinds of classes in the Sumerian society. Diversity can be seen from the fact that there were nobles, priests, military officers, scribes, traders along with merchants in that of the Sumerian civilization. The social stratification arose in the ancient times owing to requirements in relation to the environment (Mead, 2017).This gave birth to a complex society that was an unequal society as there were some people who has more
5CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION privilege as compared to the other people. Greater privilege paved the way for the greater responsibilities where the nobility had to shoulder more responsibilities as compared to the commoners. The king was at the top of the Sumerian society and he was held to be a divine figure who played the role of the god in the Sumerian civilization. It can on the other hand be said that there was less diversity in relation to classes in the modern civilization (Keller, 2017).This can be seen from the fact that there was the existence of primarily two classes in the modern civilization- ruling class and that of the working class (Adams, 2017).The absence of nobles, slaves and the priests in the social structure of the modern civilization made the society less diverse in the present age. The opportunities for social mobility in the Sumerian civilization was limited as the power dynamics in the society made it difficult for the people in the lower classes to rise above in the society. The Sumerian civilization featured the class system where it was difficult to rise above one’s position in terms of the social class (Shinde, 2016).An individual can rise in the social structure with the help of marriage or that of financial gain. It was difficult to marry someone belonging to the upper class as it was not approved by the families. The class structure was rigid in the Sumerian civilization and this made it difficult for people to rise above in the social hierarchy. It has been found on the other hand that there remains a great deal of opportunity for the social mobility in the society of the present age. An individual in the society getting the opportunity of education can rise in social position and create a powerful influence in the society. The modern society provides a lot of opportunities to an individual that can help an individual in becoming affluent that can pave the way for his growth within that of the societal structure (Veblen, 2017). Socio-political system included social and the political elements and there takes place interaction in between the various elements. There were predominantly four classes in the Sumerian society- clients, slaves, commoners and the nobles. Modern society consists of the
6CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION two classes- ruling class and that of working class. The work was done by the working class for earning living and they cannot control their work. The people of the working class did not have sufficient wealth along with that of power. There was increase in traffic that created the way for the creation of the positions of diplomats and that of the centralized rulers. Development of villages created the path for the creation of the cities that in due course of time became urban centers. There was limited opportunity for social mobility in Sumerian civilization and the people who were in the lower classes in the society could not rise in the prevailing social structure. There were power dynamics in the society that made it difficult for the people from the lower backgrounds to go above in social structure. Society of present age provided various kinds of the opportunities that helps in the social mobility of the people in the modern civilization.
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7CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION References Adams, R. E. (2018).Ancient civilizations of the New World. Routledge. Adams, R. M. (2017).The evolution of urban society: early Mesopotamia and prehispanic Mexico. Routledge. Allen, B. (2018).Knowledge and civilization. Routledge. Blundell, S. (2016).The Origins of Civilization in Greek and Roman Thought (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. Diamond, S. (2017).In search of the primitive: A critique of civilization. Routledge. Farmer, S., Sproat, R., & Witzel, M. (2016). The collapse of the Indus-script thesis: The myth of a literate Harappan civilization.Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies,11(2), 19-57. Glassman, R. M. (2017). Democracy in the Sumerian City States: The Assembly, the Elders, and the King. InThe Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation- States(pp. 303-314). Springer, Cham. Glassman, R. M. (2017). Democracy in the Sumerian City States: The Assembly, the Elders, and the King. InThe Origins of Democracy in Tribes, City-States and Nation- States(pp. 303-314). Springer, Cham. Keller, S. (2017).Beyond the ruling class: strategic elites in modern society. Routledge. Keller, S. (2017).Beyond the ruling class: strategic elites in modern society. Routledge. Lyubashits, V. Y., Mamychev, A. Y., Mordovtsev, A. Y., & Vronskaya, M. V. (2015). The socio-cultural paradigm of studies of state authority.Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences,6(3 S6), 301. Mead, M. (2017).Continuities in cultural evolution. Routledge.
8CLASS DISTINCTION IN SUMERIAN AND MODERN CIVILIZATION Perry, M. (2015).Western civilization, a brief history. Cengage Learning. Shinde, V. (2016). Current perspectives on the Harappan Civilization.A Companion to South Asia in the Past. Chichester: John Willey & Sons, Inc, 127-44. Veblen, T. (2017).The theory of the leisure class. Routledge. Watson, W. G. (2018). Lluís Feliu (ed.), Studies in Sumerian Civilization. Selected writings of Miguel Civil (Barcino Monographica Orientalia 17; Barcelona 2017. ISBN 978-84- 475-4188-1.Folia Orientalia.