The artifacts that I have chosen are art and money. The reason I chose the items are because I like money and art challenges the mind. The money back then was not the same as money now. In Sameria they used round shells approximate size was normally one inch. Some times it was buried to keep away from invaders, or because it was felt money would be required by the dead in whatever new world they had just entered.
Coins weren't invented until about the seventh century B.C. Before there were cons people had to trade throughout the ancient world. But it can get to be very tiresome if you have to trade for everything. Perhaps as a means to facilitate small transactions the ancient Sumerians the same people who invented the wheel and writing invented money. About 3500 B.C. they began cutting sections from cone shaped shells and after the sections were polished folks carried them around their necks on string using the shells to pay for small items.
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From Sumeria have come examples of fine works in marble, diorite, hammered gold, and lapis lazuli. Of the many portraits produced in Sumeria some of the best are those of Gudea, ruler of Lagash. Some of the portraits are in marble others are in a grayish black color. Sumerian art was very complex clay was the most abundant material. Stone, wood, and metal had to be imported. .
Art was primarily used for religious purposes. Painting and Sculpture was what was mainly used for the art. Among other Sumerian art forms was the clay cylinder seals used to mark documents or property. Most male statues stand or sit with hands clasped in an attitude of prayer. They are often naked above the waist and wear a woolen skirt curiously woven in a pattern that suggests overlapping petals. A toga like garment sometimes covers one shoulder. Men generally wear long hair and a heavy beard, both often trimmed in corrugations and painted black. The eyes and eyebrows are emphasized with colored inlay.
