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Standard 6.13 Lesson
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C HAPTER
Chapter 1. Standard 6.13 Lesson
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Standard 6.13 Lesson
Standard 6.13 Lesson: Analyze the important achievements of Mesopotamian civilizations, including its
system or writing (and its importance record keeping and tax collections), literature (Epic of Gilgamesh),
monumental architecture (the ziggurat), and art (large relief sculpture, mosaics, and cylinder seals).
Click Here to view the Review PowerPoint for the Lesson
Click Here to view the TCAP Review PowerPoint for the Lesson
Writing
FIGURE 1.1
Sumerians were the first ancient people to make their own written language. Cuneiform was first used as a record
keeping device to keep track of items that they traded or legal issues that needed to be recorded. Cuneiform was
written on clay tablets using a stylus. Not everyone knew how to read and write – only scribes were trained to read
and write.
Writing began in the Middle East between 8000 and 3200 BCE when the Mesopotamians used clay "tokens" to
count their goods. Each shape represented a word, or logogram. However, the rise of the state in about 3200 BCE
increased the complexity of the information they wished to store, and so clay tablets were used to record script
composed of the symbols on the tokens. From 3100 BCE, the state required each person to record their name along
with details of their goods. As writing personal names logographically was very difficult, a system of phonetic
writing was developed which gradually evolved into Cuneiform (the script used by the Babylonians and Assyrians).
Click here for the evolution from tokens to Cuneiform
TABLE 1.1:
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TABLE 1.1: (continued)
*
Cuneiform example from a tablet in the British Museum, London.
Click here for a guide to Cuneiform
Click here for further examples of Cuneiform
Click here for an interactive look at an early clay tablet from the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.
Record keepers were very important and busy people. Since only a few people could write, scribes had one of the
most valuable skills in the ancient world. Scribes held positions of great respect. These scribes recorded sales and
taxes, tax payments, gifts for gods, and marriages and deaths.
Click here to explore a scribe’s life. Includes photos of tools used for writing and their descriptions.
Click here for a short youtube video of a professor demonstrating Cuneiform as used by scribes
For an excellent lesson plan on the emergence of writing, see The Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia
The Epic of Gilgamesh
The most famous example of Sumerian literature is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a Sumerian king who
ruled the city-state of Uruk. This tale can compare with the hero of Hercules from Greek mythology.
The story was recorded by a scribe around 2000 BCE. The story is about the strongest and most powerful man in
the world – King Gilgamesh. He was part human and part god and he could defeat any enemy in battle. He could
even lift up a mountain!
He became bored and started to treat his subjects badly. The gods were watching and decided that Gilgamesh needed
a challenge so they sent him a challenger named Enkidu. They battle but neither could win. They eventually stop
fighting and start a friendship.
Gilgamesh and Enkidu go on an adventure together. They travel to the Cedar Forest and hope to fight the fearsome
monster, Humbaba. They chop down trees in the forest and find Humbaba. Gilgamesh called on the winds to trap
Humbaba and they kill him. They cut down many cedar trees and take the trees back to Unuk.
Later in the story, they kill another monster, the Bull of Heaven. That angered the gods and the gods decided to kill
Enkidu.
After Enkidu’s death, Gilgamesh became very sad. He also began to worry about dying and he decided to try to find
a secret to eternal life. He set out on a number of adventures and met Utnapishtim, who had saved the world from a
great flood. Gilgamesh then learned that no human can escape death.
Some facts about the Epic of Gilgamesh
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Chapter 1. Standard 6.13 Lesson
FIGURE 1.2
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• It was written in Akkadian, the language of the Babylonians at the time of its writing.
• The story was first translated by archaeologist George Smith in 1872.
• Many tablets telling the story of Gilgamesh have been recovered from the famous Assyrian library to the
ancient city of Nineveh.
• Gilgamesh’s mother was the goddess Ninsun. He was said to have gotten the beauty from the sun god and
courage from the storm god.
The Ziggurat
FIGURE 1.3
At the center of each city-state in Mesopotamia stood a large structure called a Ziggurat. The Ziggurats looked like
step pyramids. They ranged from two huge “steps” to seven. The Ziggurats were the temples to the main god of
the city. The top was a shrine to the god and only the priests would perform sacrifices and other rituals there. They
built the Ziggurats high because they wanted to be as close to the heavens as possible.
Many of the ziggurats have been destroyed over the years. The famous huge ziggurat of Babylon was said to have
been in ruins when Alexander the Great conquered the city in 330 BCE. Some ziggurats have been repaired such as
the Ziggurat at the city-state of Ur.
Click here for the British Museum website on Ziggurats. Includes pictures, a game, and the history of ziggurats.
Examples of Ziggurats
Ziggurats:
• Were a form of temple common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia.
• Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure.
Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside.
• The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit.
• Access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from
base to summit.
• The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be
dwelling places for the gods.
• Through the ziggurat the gods could be close to mankind and each city had its own patron god. Only priests
were permitted inside the ziggurat and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs.
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Chapter 1. Standard 6.13 Lesson
FIGURE 1.4
Ruins of a ziggurat in Ebla, Syria
•
– As a result the priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.
• There are 32 known ziggurats near Mesopotamia. Four of them are in Iran, and the rest are mostly in Iraq. The
most recent to be discovered was Sialk, in central Iran. This video recreates the construction of the Ziggurat
of Ur to scale in time lapse.
Mesopotamian Art
FIGURE 1.5
Artisans played a huge part of Mesopotamian culture. They made useful items that the people used everyday and
they also made works of art to glorify the gods and the kings.
The most common materials for artists was clay. Clay was used for pottery, but also for building buildings and for
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tablets used to record the history of the their society! They used pottery to make cooking pots and they learned to
make a potter’s wheel. Pottery was baked in ovens to harden the clay and they used glazes and patterns to turn their
pottery into works of art.
Mesopotamian art is one of the earliest forms of art. It dates back to 3500 BCE. Most art from Mesopotamia was
meant to glorify leaders and their connection to the gods. Art was commonly made from natural resources, such as
stone, shell, marble, etc. The art usually was not signed, as the art was about the subject, not the creator.
Click here for a more detailed history and examples of art from Mesopotamia.
Large Relief Sculptures
• A piece of art that projects from, but belongs to, the wall.
• While there are many different types of relief sculptures, Mesopotamians were most known for their large
relief sculptures.
• The most common of these was the Ishtar Gate, which was built under Nebuchadnezzar around 575 B.C.
While a miraculous piece of art, it also served a purpose in protecting the city of Babylon.
For more see Art and Architecture
Institute, University of Chicago.
from Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History from the Oriental
Cone Mosiacs
• In the 4th-3rd millennium BCE, Mesopotomians developed a type of mosaic composed of slender cones of
baked clay with some base ends painted red, black, and white.
• These were embedded in mud brick walls to create a decorative protective coating in geometric patterns,
perhaps derived from textile or matting materials.
TABLE 1.2:
*
Cylinder seal and impression: cattle herd in a wheat field. Limestone, Mesopotamia, Uruk Period (4100 BC–3000
BC
Cylinder Seals
• Cylinder seals were first made in Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq, soon after 3500 BC.
• Paper had not been invented, so documents were written in cuneiform on clay tablets and then wrapped in clay
envelopes.
• The seals were used to make an impression (or ’seal’) in the soft clay, to indicate that the message on the tablet
was genuine. People continued to use cylinder seals to ’seal’ ancient documents for about three thousand
years. The seals are comparable to modern-day notarization.
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Chapter 1. Standard 6.13 Lesson
FIGURE 1.6
Jewelers
Fine jewelry was worn as a status symbol in Mesopotamia! They loved it! Both men and women wore jewelry.
They made all sorts of jewelry including necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.
Stone Masons
FIGURE 1.7
Some of the best information about Mesopotamia has come from art carved by stone masons. They carved everything
from large sculptures to small detailed items - including cuneiform. The carved small cylinder stones that were used
as seals. The seals were quite small and they were used as “signatures.” The seals identified who “made” the items
or where it had originated.
The Standard of Ur is a very famous piece of stone and mosaic work from the ancient Mesopotamian city-state of
Ur.
Ancient Mesopotamia - Mr. Nicky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6thAH9PdBcI
The Most Beautiful Sumerian Mesopotamian Chill- Out Music
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HzLefeWM3c
Mesopotamia: Crash Course World History #3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohXPx_XZ6Y
Mesopotamia: From Farmers to Nomads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8S5I83Ccc
6th Grade Social Studies Videos by Nathan Beach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohXPx_XZ6Y&list=PLjkNj4ybhzfgcvogliCpnv42fp3usuemO
6th Grade Social Studies by Phillip Steffani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8S5I83Ccc&list=PLKV6lZT9wzx2noEWEjNG7T1hWl_CcmoZi
Mesopotamia: The Development of Written Language
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mesopotamia%20the%20development%20of%20written%20language%20&sm=
Mesopotamia Videos put together by Dan Klumper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8S5I83Ccc&list=PLOwiHJnKon1uKDdvAosw7aThFbG5DY7E _
Mesopotamia Review Video by Mr. J. Social Studies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkL3w_f2pAk
Mesopotamia by April Kincaid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sohXPx_XZ6Y&list=PLAgANw1tKPP3rU_DIwf_XEu3KYxaOx8md
Mesopotamia Videos organized by Michael Bernard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4NkTbjrez8&list=PLXxEtktMoV5Fw2XHE3m65LBXHSc_M4Pey
The B52s - Official Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h064CoGvaY
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