About Sumerian houses:

“Mashkinu (middle class) houses usually consisted of one story mud brick houses, in all six rooms, sharing walls with neighbors, facing small courts. Affluent Amelu officials afforded two story dwellings featuring twice as many rooms plastered inside and out with whitewashed adobe.

Common features of the Sumerian house usually contained a kitchen, servant quarters, bathroom, sitting rooms, and a private chapel. The dry climate of Mesopotamia did not permit many large trees to grow in the region, limiting the strength and quality of furniture. Tables, chairs, and beds consisted of woven reeds about frames.

People dumped waste outside with pots, no stone drainage system existed at the cities to carry away waste water. The residents packed clay over the waste to minimize the smell, creating large hills near the houses. Over time, the residents used ladders to get into the house.”