Farming

 __Rivers__ the Sumerians centered on the rivers like Tigris and Euphrates because they didn’t have any other sources of water. The only water they could get from is the rains which come very rarely, and the rivers. The rivers gave them the water for cooking drinking, transporting, and farming. If it wasn’t for the rivers, they would have been hunters and gatherers for a longer period.

__Crops __ They grew mostly barley, wheat, chickpeas, lentils, millet, turnips, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks, and mustard. These were the crops they grew because they were just right for the climate of the Fertile Crescent.    

__Domestication __ The Sumerians domesticated animals to use them for harvesting, plowing, and many more. They domesticated cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs. They mostly used donkeys and cattle because they had the most strength for hard work.  __Irrigation __ Sumerians irrigated their lands to make farming possible. They irrigated their lands by using canals, channels, dykes, weirs, and reservoirs. The most common one was the canal, and they needed a continual removal of silt and repair. The king would pick people and send them to repair public canals. However, the rich were able to send their slaves instead of them. __Tools __ Sumerians chipped off stone edges to make a sickle at the beginning of the civilization. However, later on they started to bake sickles out of mud which was more effective in cutting, comfortable and easily made because they could make and shape easily and faster than chipping stones. This improved their farming skills because they could invent the best sickle for one type of a crop.   <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">

__<span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: '맑은 고딕'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Process __ <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">After the floods, the farmers would allow their animals to graze on the fields to kill the weeds. Then, they would drag their fields with their pickaxes. After drying the fields a bit they would harrow, plow, rake thrice, and pulverize. Sumerians harvested during a dry season in a team consisting of three people. They were a reaper, sheaf arranger, and a binder. <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">

__<span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: '맑은 고딕'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Lends, and finances __ <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Sumerians who failed to harvest or grow enough food to get money, food, and seeds would borrow seeds and food from the ones who succeeded. If they weren’t able to give it back to them with interest by the next harvest, their lands, homes, or a member would be taken away from them as a slave or a farmland. If their lands were taken, the descendents would become a trader, sharecropper, or a paid servant. When they had enough money to buy lands and houses, they would buy it from the government, or an individual land owner. <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> __<span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: '맑은 고딕'; mso-fareast-theme-font: major-fareast; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Things Needed for Farming __ <span style="font-size: 11pt; color: black; font-family: 'Verdana','sans-serif'; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Farming took stamina, luck, money, organization, health, strength, and community wellness. Stamina was needed to work every day without any holidays. Luck was needed for having no disasters such as fires, or any human made, natural disasters. Money was needed for borrowing or buying salves when needed, and organization was needed for a good communication among the workers. Health was needed because when ill, the crops would be uncared for and would die out. Strength was needed for the heavy jobs of farming, and community wellness was needed so that the soldiers could protect the farms against enemies that would take all the belongings and kill crops. Written, researched, by Michael Lee