Download Part 1: Reading Passage - Social Studies with Mrs. Rogers

Part 1: Reading Passage. Read the passage below.
HW #11
Due: 11/6/14
Mesopotamian Innovations
Mesopotamia was home to several of the world’s earliest civilizations. These
civilizations made cultural and technological innovations (inventions) that would
influence many societies throughout history. Some of the most important innovations
came from the Sumerian civilization.
Cuneiform: The First System of Writing
The Sumerians were the first people to develop a system of writing. The Sumerian
writing system, called cuneiform, was developed around 3300 BCE, at about the same
time the Egyptians were developing hieroglyphs. Unlike Egyptian hieroglyphs, which
used symbols to represent sounds as well as entire words, the cuneiform symbols were
only used to represent sounds. Although it looks nothing like most modern systems of
writing, cuneiform is considered the first alphabet.
Sumerians wrote on clay tablets. They pressed a stylus carved from the triangular stem
of a reed into soft clay, creating wedge-shaped impressions. Cuneiform means “wedge
writing.” When the writer, called a scribe, was done, the clay was allowed to dry. The
hardened tablets were not easy to transport, but they were strong – strong enough to
last for over 3,000 years! Archaeologists have found thousands of these tablets, many
of them in surprisingly good shape.
Reading and writing cuneiform was difficult. Children had to go to school to learn it.
Schools were usually located in temples. Teachers would write a passage on one half of
a clay tablet, and then the student could copy the teacher’s symbols onto the other half.
The Sumerians used cuneiform writing in almost every aspect of their daily lives. They
kept careful records of every item they bought, which crops they grew each year, the
laws that governed the people, epic stories, and prayers to gods. They even created
dictionaries, as well as essays about math and science. Because they did so much
writing, and because so much of it has survived, we know a lot about who the
Sumerians were and how they lived.
Calendars
Mesopotamians created calendars – an innovation which helped to improve agriculture
throughout the region. Ancient calendars were lunar, or based on the cycle of the
moon, unlike our modern calendar, which is based on the Earth’s movement around
the sun. The calendars helped farmers to know when floods would be coming, so their
crops wouldn’t wash away.
Knowing when the floods would come improved agriculture in Mesopotamia. As a
result, farmers were able to harvest more food. This food surplus enabled the cities to
support larger populations. Having surplus food, which could be traded for other
goods, also helped Mesopotamians establish trade with other civilizations.
Agricultural Technologies
Farming was a big part of life in the Mesopotamian region, as it is located in the fertile
land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Many important innovations were
developed to make farming easier, however, they also impacted trade and
transportation as well. Two important technological improvements were the invention
of the plow and the wheel.
The plow made it easier to break up the soil for planting. Plows were made of iron and
were pulled by oxen. They were used for turning the soil, to prepare it for planting.
Before the plow was invented, farmers used animal horns or pointed sticks to poke
holes in the earth. Then they would plant seeds in the holes. This was a very slow way
to farm. By using these new tools farmers could not only do more work, but they could
also work faster.
Wheels allowed for quicker and easier transportation. Before the invention of the
wheel, people had to carry their goods, or use animals to carry their loads. The wheel
made the use of carts possible. This allowed traders to carry more goods and supplies
while moving faster along trade routes.
Ziggurats
As was true with many early civilizations, religion played an important role in the
everyday life of ancient Mesopotamians. The Mesopotamians believed in polytheism;
they worshipped many gods. Each god or goddess was responsible for a specific part of
nature or daily life, such as fresh water, healing, or farming. Although gods were
shared across Mesopotamia, it was believed that gods lived in a certain city-state. The
citizens of that city-state believed the god that lived there protected the city.
To honor their gods and goddesses and ensure their presence in and protection of the
city, Mesopotamians built large religious monuments called ziggurats. Each ziggurat
was dedicated to a specific god. Because of their importance, ziggurats were often built
in the city of city-states.
Ziggurats look similar to the Egyptian pyramids, but the sides of ziggurats have series
of steps, rather than the smooth face of pyramids. Mesopotamians believed that the
gods would use these steps to come down to Earth from the top of the ziggurat.
The Mesopotamians believed that all of the land and everything on it belonged to the
gods. Therefore, they believed that everything they did was for the gods and that the
product of their work belonged to the gods as well.
Optional Reading Initials
Part 2: Reading Comprehension
Based on your reading, complete the activities below.
1. What is the name of the Sumerian system of writing?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Hieroglyphs
Sanskrit
Cuneiform
Sumerian
2. Which statement describes an effect of the development of cuneiform on Mesopotamia?
a. Only the wealthy were taught to read and write cuneiform and benefited from its development.
b. Writing was used only for business transactions and not for entertainment.
c. Conflicts over ownership of land and other items decreased because citizens had a record of
purchase.
d. Children from all economic levels and genders were forced to learn to write by the region’s
leaders.
3. What part of nature provided the basis for the Mesopotamian calendar?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Cycles of the moon
Stars in the night sky
Earth’s movement around the sun
Solar eclipse pattern
4. How did calendars contribute to growth in cities in ancient Mesopotamia?
a. They notified more people of important feast days, which brought visitors and increased wealth
to the cities.
b. They helped farmers plan their crops to avoid floods, which allowed them to grow more food and
to feed more people in the cities.
c. They caused people who believed that the astronomers who created calendars could predict the
future to move closer to the cities to hear the predictions.
d. They helped leaders to predict when neighboring armies would attack their cities.
5. How did metal plows help to increase Mesopotamian trade with other civilizations?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Farmers could plant faster, helping them plant large areas and grow extra grain for traders to sell.
Many farmers who learned metalworking to make plows also made other metal goods to sell.
Farmers could plant faster, so they had more free time to go to markets and buy from traders.
Farmers who bought plows from traders found their new tools so helpful that they later bought
many other goods from traders.
6. The Mesopotamian city-state of Sumer was located
a.
b.
c.
d.
Along the coast of the Persian Gulf
In the Nile River valley
Between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
On the Arabian Peninsula
7. What was the function of the steps on the side of a ziggurat?
a.
b.
c.
d.
To make it easier to defend
To make it easy to identify as a temple
To allow priests to conduct ceremonies
To allow the gods to come down to Earth
Part 3: Critical Thinking.
Based on your reading, complete the activities below. Write your answers in complete sentences.
1. In your own words, what is an innovation?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How is Sumerian cuneiform different from Egyptian hieroglyphs?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Who was a scribe? What was their job?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. The invention of the Sumerian calendar resulted in agricultural improvements.
List two benefits of the calendar:
 _____________________________________________
 _____________________________________________
5. Why were agricultural technologies, like the wheel and the plow, important? Be specific.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Ancient Mesopotamians’ innovation of the wheel changed their lives for the better.
List two benefits of the wheel:
 _____________________________________________
 _____________________________________________
7. What type of religion did ancient Mesopotamians practice?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8. How are Sumerian ziggurats different from Egyptian pyramids?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________