pedagogical techniques that quickly became so essential to this particular form of urban life that they remain with us to this day. To get a sense of how pervasive some of these innovations were, consider that just about anyone reading this book is likely to have first learned to read in classrooms, sitting in rows opposite a teacher, who follows a standard curriculum. This rather stern way of learning was itself a Sumerian invention, one now to be found in virtually every corner of our world.
