Young cities of Sumer

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 446.

Unit 2

Подберите русские эквиваленты следующим словам и словосочетаниям, содержащим интернациональные корни:

monarchy, division, labour, specialised, tax, figures, civilised, organisation, complex, religion, system, protect, attack, natural, political, group, civilisation, historical, leadership, sanction, military

Прочитайте текст. Пользуясь словарем, определите значение незнакомых слов и выпишите их в тетрадь.

In early Sumer the heads of the first cities, which were little more than enlarged villages, only gradually assumed the special attributes of monarchy, the rule of one; and the village council only gradually undertook a division of labour, so that some specialised as priests and others as warriors, farmers, or tax gatherers (key figures in every civilised society). As organisation grew more complex, so did religion: an elaborate system of worship was necessary to propitiate the quite elaborate family of gods who, it was hoped, would protect the city from attack, from natural disaster, and from any questioning of the political arrangements deemed necessary by the ruler group.

Unfortunately, but inevitably, the young cities of Sumer quarrelled over the distribution of the rivers' water, and their wealth excited the greed of nomads outside the still comparatively small area of civilisation. War, perhaps the most potent of all forces of historical change, announced its arrival, and military leadership became at least as important an element of kingship as divine sanction. It was to remain so throughout the long history of monarchy: whenever kings have neglected their military duties they have endangered their thrones. The wars of Sumer also laid bare another imperative of monarchy – the drive for empire, arising from the need to defend and define frontiers by extending them, and the need to find the means to pay for troops and weapons, whether by the plunder of an enemy or by the conquest of new lands.

Запомните необходимый минимум профессиональной лексики:

city - город

monarchy - монархия

council - совет

arrangement - устройство

distribution - распределение

wealth - богатство

area - район, область, площадь, территория

force - сила

change - изменение

duty - обязанность

empire - империя

need - нужда, потребность

means - средство, способ

pay - платить