Anna Barth 10/19/2010 Period 2

The Canal
Village life in Sumer was significantly altered due to the invention of the canal. The canal allowed villagers easy access to water for drinking, cooking, and farming, making village life much less difficult. The extra water made it less of a problem for farmers to grow more wheat, and thus more wheat was grown. This resulting surplus in wheat led to more trade with other communities, since more wheat was available to trade away, making resources such as metal and wood more common and therefore cheaper, an overall improvement. The canal is one of the greatest contributions to agriculture in the history of mankind.