Download Name: Date: Per:______ Western Civilization Mesopotamia Project

Name:_________________________________ Date:______________ Per:____________
Western Civilization Mesopotamia Project
You are an archaeological historian and are about to embark on a fantastic journey into
the past to discover the mysteries of ancient Mesopotamia. Your goal is to achieve an
understanding of what life was like, what the culture consisted of, how the government
developed, details about the religious beliefs, the development of trade, the development of
specialization and social classes, and how the first written language looked. You will discover
that much of what we in the twenty-first century take for granted in our civilization has roots in
the Mesopotamia of 5,000 years ago. You will be asked to explore a number of web sites and
find specific information that you will use to perform a number of tasks that you will adapt into
a finished project to be turned in. You will also be directed to a variety of web sites and will be
asked to complete a variety of tasks.
RULE #1: Do not copy and paste information from the internet! Put in your own words!
RULE #2: You are to pick only 3 of the following 5 Tasks to complete for your “project”.
TASK 1: Ancient Sumerian Society
Go research the ancient Sumerian society. Write a one page, multi-paragraph report on their
society. Include the following information:
1. Description of their Daily Life.
2. Description of the social classes – Describe each class.
(This section could be several paragraphs)
3. Describe their religion.
Below is a list of research sites.
Classes of PeopleSumerian Society
Daily Life
Religion
Social Classes
Title this section, “Ancient Sumerian Society”.
TASK 2: Ziggurats
Go research ziggurats online. Write a one page, multipargraph report on ziggurats. Include the
following information –
1. Explain what a ziggurat is.
2. How and why they were built.
3. How does the building function in the culture. How does it affect daily life?
4. Famous ziggurats
On another page draw and label the parts of a ziggurat.
Title these two pages “Ziggurats”
TASK 3: The Code of Hammurabi
Go to the Code of Hammurabi page found on this website.
Create a page titled “The Code of Hammurabi”. On the Code of Hammurabi page are the laws of
Hammurabi as translated from cuneiform. Select four laws and write them out. After each law,
explain in your own words what the law means in today’s world. Do you know if there are
simliar laws.
Also go to the page “Hammurabi Situations”. Read each of the situations and see what
Hammurabi declared. Answer this question after reading all of the situations and Hammurabi’s
decisions on them, Why did Hammurabi’s laws and punishments seem so cruel to us? Give
examples and reasons for your answer. In your answer think about our laws and how we create
them. Do you think our laws are fair? Your answer should be multiple paragraphs.
Title these two pages “The Code of Hammurabi”.
TASK 4: Gods and Demons
Go to http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html
Read Gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia.
Create a page titled “God and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia” and list the following gods and
goddesses names: Enki, Gula, Isthar, Ninurta, and Anu. Explain who they were and what their
power was.
TASK 5: It Happened First in Mesopotamia
Go to It Happened First in Ancient Mesopotamia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/world/newsid_2955000/2955531.stm
In this article are a number of “firsts” that Mesopotamians achieved. Select two of these and
design a visual that depicts each of the achievements. The visual maybe drawn or you may bring
in a model. On the title page describe how each could have been used during this time. Your
visual should have labels, be colorful, and be accurate. Title this page “It Happened First in
Ancient Mesopotamia”.