What were some of the main differences between Sumer and Babylonia?

Question

This isn't a direct homework question, but it's to help me write an essay for the start of school.

I know that Babylonia adopted much of Sumer's way of doing things, but that they tweaked it a bit. Was it just that Babylon built onto what was first created by Sumer?

Was it more oriented towards trade or farming?

Thanks for all your help!

Answer 1

Sumer was a group of little city-states.  Babylonia was a large unified state covering at least Southern iraq.

They spoke a different language.  Sumerian was a dead language in Babylonian times, but was used in religion.

Answer 2

Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (1728 – 1686 BC) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer.

Sumer was a city....that just grew and grew, and grew.

They captured or took in other surrounding areas outside the city itself.

Growing even more.

People needed more room and moved into the territories.

Babylonia began the Empire that Sumer started.

They were the same people.

Think of it this way. London was once a tiny little Roman village in England....that one day grew into the British Empire.

The Wiki definition;

Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1728 – 1686 BC) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. The Amorites being a Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language. The Akkadian and Sumerian cultures played a major role in LATER Babylonian culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under outside rule.

The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC.

And it was trade AND farming that built an empire.....and warfare AND conquering....and neighbors coming together to survive. Taking the best from all.

It was the cities of Sumer were the first to practice intensive, year-round agriculture. The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and herds. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labor force and division of labor.