Download Cuneiform - Model High School

Woden’s Day, January 16: Mesopotamia
EQs: Where was Mesopotamia, why is it called that, why is it
called “The Cradle Of Civilization,” and how did they write?
 Welcome! Gather
pen/pencil, paper, wits!
 Review of CLOZE:
Intro to World Lit
o BCE/CE/BC/AD
o “arbitrary signals”
o The Truths of Fiction
 Gilgamesh’s World
o Mesopotamia
o Cuneiform
 CLOZE: Mesopotamia
 Begin Group Project:
Cuneiform Me!
o In small groups, students
create cuneiform codes
and messages
ELACC12RI3: Analyze and explain
how individuals, ideas, or events
interact and develop
ELACC12W6: Use technology to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing
ELACC12W9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis
ELACC12W10: Write routinely over extended and shorter time frames
ELACC12SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions
ELACC12L4: Determine/clarify meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases
ELACC12L6: Acquire and use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases
CLOZE: WorldLit
1.
A class called “World Literature” could cover all the Earth’s people, places, and times, but we will limit ourselves to works produced between the years _______BCE and _______CE
2. “BCE” stands for “B
C
3. “CE” stands for “C
.”
E
Modern scholars use this instead of “BC,” which means “B
.
C
.”
.” Modern scholars use this
E
instead of “AD,” which means “A
D
.”
4. Why do modern scholars prefer “BCE/CE” to “BC/AD”?
5.
Define hemisphere: __________________________________________________________
6.
Define quadrasphere: ________________________________________________________
7.
We will focus on the _______________ Quadrasphere, often called ___________________.
8. “Language” is best defined as “any ________________ of ______________ ____________
9. By this definition, why is this not language:
10.
Define: logos
11.
Define: iconos
12.
Define: narrative
13.
Define: exposition
14.
Define: lyric
15.
Define: argument

16. What would be meant by saying that “The Three Little Pigs is a true story”?
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem about a famous king of
Uruk. There may or may not have been a real Gilgamesh, but
there was a real Uruk, a Sumerian city in Mesopotamia.
“Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”
(Gk. meso “middle” + pota “rivers”)
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern Iraq ( “Uruk” = “Iraq”)
This area sometimes is called “The Fertile Crescent”
because the rivers and climate made it good farming.
For that reason, the first cities in the world – in modern sense
as collections of people, buildings, streets, services – were built here.
And for THAT reason, Mesopotamia is sometimes called
“The Cradle of Civilization.”
In about 3300 BCE, people in Mesopotamia made dents in clay.
This is called cuneiform
(Latin cun “dent,” “wedge” + form “shape”).
Cuneiform is one of the first styles of writing in the world.
At first it was used on a small scale for simple messages, as on
this clay cylinder – basically a receipt about stock on a ship:
Later, cuneiform was used for more complex purposes.
The Epic of Gilgamesh is, so far as we can tell, the first story
to be written down anywhere in the world. Oral versions
probably existed from 2500 BCE – 1000 years before it was
inscribed in cuneiform on this clay tablet in about 1500 BCE.
CLOZE: Mesopotamia
1. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about a famous king of ____________, a Sumerian city in the
modern country of _________________ (the names sound very similar).
2.
Mesopotamia comes from Greek words meaning “_______________ the ______________ ”
3.
What two rivers frame Mesopotamia?
a.
b.
4.
The area was sometimes called “The ______________ Crescent” because:
5.
The first ____________ in the world were built there.
6.
For that reason, Mesopotamia is sometimes called “The __________ of _______________.”
7.
Cuneiform was first used in ________________ in about the year __________ BCE.
8.
Define cuneiform: _____________________________________________________
9.
The Epic of Gilgamesh probably existed in oral form in about ____________BCE, and
written on a cuneiform tablet in about _____________ BCE.
Begin Group Project: Cuneiform Me!
1. Divide into pairs – or, if you wish, you may work alone.
PHYSICALLY MOVE YOUR DESKS TOGETHER
so that I can discern each group.
2. Your pair, or your lonely self, will function as a nation of
people. Decide on a “working name” for your nation.
3. Fill out the Project Sheet I give you.
4. Create a cuneiform alphabet out of ONLY lines, curves and
dots. Remember that language consists of ARBITRARY
signs – no numbers, letters or almost-letters, pictures, etc.
5. Write out a brief message (30 – 50 characters) in your code.
WorldLitComp Group Project: Cuneiform Me!
Complete this worksheet and submit it today. I will use it to remind you of your mission.
Group Name:
Group Members’ Names:
Below, write out the code you will use to write your message.
On the back of this page, write out your message and its translation.
WorldLitComp Group Project: Cuneiform Me!
Complete this worksheet and submit it today. I will use it to remind you of your mission.
Group Name:
Group Members’ Names:
Below, write out the code you will use to write your message.
On the back of this page, write out your message and its translation.