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Justine Weaver 9th Grade World History I Honors Unit 2: Early River Valley Civilizations Lesson 1: Intro to Civilizations/Mesopotamia Title: Intro to Civilizations/Mesopotamia Content Summary/Relevance The content of this lesson is based around the questions of: What makes a civilization? How does where you live affect how you live (geographic determination)? What are major differences between the hunter-gatherer lifestyle and settled urban centers? We will touch on the concepts of change, location, and interaction as they apply to early civilizations. Students will have background knowledge about the five “key factors” that societies must have in order to be considered civilizations. These key factors include: advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. Students will also have read Diamond’s The Worst Mistake, which may change their perception of the alleged “progress” of how humans developed agriculture. A unique perspective surrounding this debate focuses on whether or not settled agriculture communities or “civilizations” were really that much better than the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Hopefully, students will come into the unit with an open mind about this topic – and a different view about civilizations. In this lesson, students will be primarily learning about the key characteristics of river valleys, especially about how the flooding of the rivers provided a layer of rich soil called silt that was very conducive to growing crops. Flooding was both life-giving and taking – there was a very fine balance between not enough saturation and deadly floods (except in Egypt). In this lesson, student will specifically learn about Mesopotamia, which is considered to be the first/oldest civilization. Mesopotamia was located in the Fertile Crescent, an area that forms a crescent shape from the Persian Gulf to the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. The boundaries of this area have definitely shifted due to the changing nature of the bodies of water, but Mesopotamia is generally thought to be located in present day Iraq. The first civilization in Mesopotamia was Sumer, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Sumer was an area on the southern end of the Fertile Crescent, near the north end of the Persian Gulf. Many aspects of Sumerian civilization are important to consider. By 3000 BCE, the Sumerians had built a number of cities; each city had shared cultural elements but developed their own governments with their own rulers. Each city and the surrounding land it controlled formed a city-state (functions like an independent country does today). Sumer’s earliest government was controlled by the city/temple priests, who acted as middle-men between the people and the gods, which put them in a position of power. During periods of conflict, however, the people would choose a strong military leader to take control of the city. But, when the conflict was over the military leaders were out and the priests would be back in. These military leaders eventually took over leadership roles full time and founded dynasties (between 3000-2500 BCE many Sumerian cities were under the rule of dynasties). Sumerians did indeed trade with other societies in the Fertile Crescent (at first) and began to spread their ideas/religions to other societies while also absorbing religious beliefs from their neighbors (cultural diffusion). The Sumerians are thought to have created one of the first “epic” stories, known as the Epic of Gilgamesh, which tells the tale of a Sumerian king on a quest for immortality. An especially interesting part of the story focuses on a great flood that wiped out almost all life – it is a story that shows up in almost all ancient civilizations/religions – which is fascinating! This also brings up the idea that the Sumerians were a religious people – their religion was polytheistic and centered around appeasing multiple gods (who usually were not benevolent). The Sumerians appeared to believe in an afterlife but it seemed to suck, in that was like an eternal purgatory type thing. The Sumerians’ religious practices included elements such as sacrifice of animals and other aspects that we may consider to be very different from how we worship today. Many of the Sumerians’ monumental building projects were based around their religion. Their cities had temple complexes that included ziggurats – large pyramid-like structures, “mountain of God” - where the priests carried out the sacrifices to the gods and appealed for the safety of the city. Sumerian society also ushered in the development of social classes. At the top of the “pyramid” were the kings and priests, followed by wealthy merchants. Next were the artisans and farmers, and slaves occupied the base of the “pyramid.” Slaves were sometimes captured from other societies and others were sold into slavery. Slaves could hope to eventually earn their freedom. Women actually had a pretty good deal (comparatively) throughout Sumer; they could pursue all sorts of occupations and even enter the lower ranks of priesthood, but they could not go to school and learn how to be scribes (which means many of them probably could not read or write). Also, Sumerians and writing! Cuneiform! Big deal! Part of what makes them a “civilization,” they were also thought to have created the first system of writing. Sumerians’ also were major innovators – they are thought to have maybe invented (or perfected) the wheel, the sail, and the plow. They were the first society to use bronze, create mud bricks, the pyramid shape apparent in the ziggurats, a number system (where we get our measures for circles, minutes in an hour), arches, columns, ramps, etc. This content may seem pretty far-fetched to students…who cares what happened thousands and thousands of years ago? But I think important lessons can be learned from studying the Sumerians and the area where they lived. Students will gain a lot of practical knowledge through this lesson as far as locating places on a map, which is a very important skill. Also, that area today is experiencing much turmoil, and is the focus of many current events. It may be worthwhile to tie in some current events as a journal topic or do now activity. I think it will also be interesting for students to consider the question of what makes a civilization. If the Sumerians didn’t “create” civilization, would it have been created by another culture? Are humans wired to do these types of things, or would we have stayed in groups as hunter-gatherers? Many of the Sumerians’ inventions are also pretty relevant to today, like the wheel and their numerical system. Students will also be working on their writing skills for this lesson through journals and maybe a really short (2-3) paragraph response paper. For this lesson, we will be focused on finishing up Mesopotamia and starting Egypt. The primary points remaining for Mesopotamia include viewing the Sumerians as the first “Empire builders”. Between 3000-2000 BCE Sumerian city-states were at constant war with each other. Some Sumerian city-states of note may include Ur, Umma, and Kish (probably remind students what a citystate is). This constant state of war among city-states greatly weakened infrastructures and made it much easier for outside societies to attack the cities of Sumer. Sargon of Akkad was the ruler of the Akkadians during this time period – the Akkadians were a Semitic people, which means they spoke a language similar to Hebrew or Arabic. Sargon eventually was able to take advantage of the weakened city-states and seize control of Northern and Southern Mesopotamia, creating the world’s first empire (describe difference between city-states and empires). The Akkadian Empire lasted only 200 years, and they were actually taken over by another people called the Amorites, who established their capital at Babylon. The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of Hammurabi from 1792-1750 BCE. Hammurabi was a smart dude in that he realized that it would be a good idea to have only one unified law code for his empire. He took an assortment of the laws, rules, and judgments and condensed them into…Hammurabi’s Code! He had his code, which lists 282 specific laws, engraved in stone and distributed around the empire. The code had laws that dealt with almost every aspect of Sumerian life, like property laws, crime, family relations, etc. The code applied to everyone, but punishment was different between social classes and genders. Many of the laws in the code applied the principle of retaliation as punishment for crimes, which is where we get the saying, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” They were serious about this stuff. The Babylonians reign lasted an additional 200 years after Hammy, but eventually fell to other nomadic warriors (which is definitely a cyclical process). SOLs: WHI.3a, 3b, 3c Students will demonstrate knowledge of ancient river valley civilizations, including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus River Valley, and China and the civilizations of the Hebrews, Phoenicians, and Nubians, by: a. Locating these civilizations in time and place b. Describing the development of social, political, and economic patterns, including slavery c. Explaining the development of religious traditions Objectives Students will understand: That where you live determines how you live That change is the result of interactions between humans, the environment, and ideas Students will know: The characteristics of a civilization (organized government, specialized workers, I forgot the rest) The characteristics of a river valley civilization (in general) – such as flooding, irrigation, etc. and the positives and negatives of their location (physical barriers/isolated from enemies) How to locate all four river valleys civilizations and pertinent physical features on a map For Mesopotamia – the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Development of social patterns – from priestly leaders to hereditary kings; social stratification including slavery Development of political patterns – city-states, centralized government based on religious authority Development of economic patterns – increased trade (along rivers and seas, also by land), more agricultural surplus based on innovations like the plow, wheel, etc – bronze Sumerian innovations The definition of polytheism and how it applies to the Sumerians’ religious beliefs The definition, purpose, and significance of a ziggurat ( and the priestly class) The definition and significance of cultural diffusion as it applies to the Sumerians The first writing system, cuneiform, created by the Sumerians Students will be able to: Explain the characteristics of civilizations, and specifically river valley civilizations Explain the importance of location as it applies to river valleys Locate and identify all four ERVCs and pertinent physical features on a map – including the Fertile Crescent, Mesopotamia, Sumer, the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Zagros Mountains, Egypt and the Nile, Indus River, Huang He River and China (we will get into more geographical specifics about the other civilizations when we get to them) Describe and analyze the development of social, economic, and political patterns as they applied to Sumer (listed above) Define polytheism Describe the Sumerians’ religious beliefs – and ziggurats! Describe major Sumerian innovations, especially WRITING – cuneiform Analyze how cultural diffusion shifted societal views Assessment There will be multiple possibilities for assessment during this lesson: Diagnostic: The first opportunity for diagnostic assessment will come during the Mini-Quiz; the students will have outlined the pertinent section of the book for homework. If there is a topic/concept students seemed pretty confused about when we review their answers, we will definitely focus on that more during class. It will also clue me into who read the section and has the information they need to have, and will inform my instruction. Another diagnostic assessment could occur during the civilization sorting activity – they will get some terms from the section they were supposed to read and some that might be new to them. This will serve to access any prior knowledge students may have about the topic. Formative: The civilization sorting activity can also be a formative assessment because it will allow the teacher to assess where the students are in their understanding of civilizations and what makes a river valley civilization unique. When students share their category ideas, and talk about which category they put certain terms or images into, I can gauge how they progressing with the concepts they need to understand. Same goes for the mapping! Students need to know where places are located in order to put things into perspective/context. Also, during the lecture/PP slides we will definitely be stopping to discuss certain things that may need some more explanation – if there seems to be a topic that students are struggling with we can go into more depth about that. Hammurabi or Flood Story thing? Procedures 1. Do-Now – Mini Quiz on Section 3 Chapter 2 of the textbook (15 minutes) For homework the previous class period, students will have been assigned to do an outline of the pertinent chapter (this is not a new thing – they have done this before) and will know the expectations for what they need to do. I will probably give the students the quiz as they walk in the door. When they sit down they should take out their outlines and begin working on the quiz quietly. While they’re working I’ll pass out red pencils for grading, and any other graded materials that they have turned in. The students will probably have 5-8 minutes to complete the quiz, and will then pass it to their partner to grade. Again, we will probably spend about 5-8 minutes grading the quiz and clearing up any questions the students may have about the content. After we finish grading the quiz, the students will turn them into their tray, and then sit down quietly. 2. Agenda for the day (< 1 minute) Do-Now – Mini Quiz Objectives for the day Civilization sorting activity PowerPoint/Lecture Flood Stories Wrap-up and Review 3. Objectives We will briefly the review the objectives for today’s class while going over the agenda 4. Civilization Sorting Activity (20 minutes) After we complete the do-now and go over the agenda, we will start our sort of diagnostic/sort of review activity. Students will be separated into groups for this activity (they will just turn around to the group of two behind/in front of them). I will give each group an envelope with words/images associated with civilizations and the huntergatherer lifestyle. (I haven’t made them up yet…that’s upcoming). Groups will sort these words and images into categories that they come up with – and then will share with the class/justify why they chose to put words and images in the categories that they did. They can write the categories they come up with on post-it notes. Or, maybe they could choose one group member to come up to the board and write down which categories they decided to make, and then each group can share with the class which categories they chose/their justification for choosing them, etc. This activity will get the students thinking about bigger concepts (what they name their categories) associated with civilizations, and hopefully will get them to that more analytical level of thinking that we want them to reach (when they have to justify why they put certain images/words in the categories that they did). I might make a corresponding worksheet to go with this activity. During this time I would pass out most of the materials students will be using in class. 5. PowerPoint and Brief Lecture (20-30 minutes) The PowerPoint presentation relates to key facts and understandings students will gain during this lesson about civilizations and Mesopotamia. During the PowerPoint, I plan to stop lecturing and try to involve the students in the content by asking questions to the entire class about the content, and including short videos that relate to the content. During the PowerPoint, students will have notes given to them; they will have some key terms/ideas that they will have to write down. Like I said, I would like to get students more involved by asking questions and trying to have some discussion about the concepts we will go over. 6. Flood Stories Activity (10 minutes) For the last part of class, I wanted to have the students work on some writing skills. Students will be given a small writing assignment about the flood stories, stories that are startling similar through different cultures and time periods. I found four flood stories that I want to students read. My goal for this assignment is to both to work on writing skills for students, and to get them familiar with gathering and synthesizing information from multiple sources. In class, I will give the students the stories to read, and then they will think-pair-share with the person they’re sitting next to about what ideas or a plan they have for writing. They will only write write either one well thought out paragraph, or at the most, two paragraphs about the connections they see between the stories, why they think these connections exist, and what these connections tell them about interactions across time and place among different cultures. The students could start writing in class if they wanted, and could finish this for homework. It would be convenient if I could assign this on a Thursday or Friday so they would have some more time to work on it. 7. Wrap-Up and Review For the last 2-3 minutes of class we will go over what we learned today and I would address any questions/concerns about content or homework. Students can pack up and be ready to go when the bell rings. Civilization Sort Terms: Polytheistic Neolithic Artisan Trade Scribe Theocracy Empire Dynasty City-state Pictogram Nomad Alphabet Glacier Mesopotamia Animism Egypt Domesticate Sumer Agriculture Indus Valley Hominid Nile Technology Tigris Euphrates Temple China Citadel Mohenjo-Daro Monsoon Caste Monotheism Feudalism Huang He River Iron Calendar Irrigation Government Laws Images: “Flood Stories” Activity Flood Stories – taken from http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/floodmyths.html#Maya Sumerian: The gods had decided to destroy mankind. The god Enlil warned the priest-king Ziusudra ("Long of Life") of the coming flood by speaking to a wall while Ziusudra listened at the side. He was instructed to build a great ship and carry beasts and birds upon it. Violent winds came, and a flood of rain covered the earth for seven days and nights. Then Ziusudra opened a window in the large boat, allowing sunlight to enter, and he prostrated himself before the sun-god Utu. After landing, he sacrificed a sheep and an ox and bowed before Anu and Enlil. For protecting the animals and the seed of mankind, he was granted eternal life and taken to the country of Dilmun, where the sun rises. [Hammerly-Dupuy, p. 56; Heidel, pp. 102-106] Babylonian: Three times (every 1200 years), the gods were distressed by the disturbance from human overpopulation. The gods dealt with the problem first by plague, then by famine. Both times, the god Enki advised men to bribe the god causing the problem. The third time, Enlil advised the gods to destroy all humans with a flood, but Enki had Atrahasis build an ark and so escape. Also on the boat were cattle, wild animals and birds, and Atrahasis' family. When the storm came, Atrahasis sealed the door with bitumen and cut the boat's rope. The storm god Adad raged, turning the day black. After the seven-day flood, the gods regretted their action. Atrahasis made an offering to them, at which the gods gathered like flies, and Enki established barren women and stillbirth to avoid the problem in the future. [Dalley, pp. 23-35] Hindu: Manu, the first human, found a small fish in his washwater. The fish begged protection from the larger fishes, in return for which it would save Manu. Manu kept the fish safe, transferring it to larger and larger reservoirs as it grew, eventually taking it to the ocean. The fish warned Manu of a coming deluge and told him to build a ship. When the flood rose, the fish came, and Manu tied the craft to its horn. The fish led him to a northern mountain and told Manu to tie the ship's rope to a tree to prevent it from drifting. Manu, alone of all creatures, survived. He made offerings of clarified butter, sour milk, whey, and curds. From these, a woman arose, calling herself Manu's daughter. Whatever blessings he invoked through her were granted him. Through her, he generated this race. [Gaster, pp. 94-95; Kelsen, p. 128; Brinton, pp. 227-228] Hebrew/Old Testament: God, upset at mankind's wickedness, resolved to destroy it, but Noah was righteous and found favor with Him. God told Noah to build an ark, 450 x 75 x 45 feet, with three decks. Noah did so, and took aboard his family (8 people in all) and pairs of all kinds of animals (7 of the clean ones). For 40 days and nights, floodwaters came from the heavens and from the deeps, until the highest mountains were covered. The waters flooded the earth for 150 days; then God sent a wind and the waters receded, and the ark came to rest in Ararat. After 40 days, Noah sent out a raven, which kept flying until the waters had dried up. He next sent out a dove, which returned without finding a perch. A week later he set out the dove again, and it returned with an olive leaf. The next week, the dove didn't return. After a year and 10 days from the start of the flood, everyone and everything emerged from the ark. Noah sacrificed some clean animals and birds to God, and God, pleased with this, promised never again to destroy all living creatures with a flood, giving the rainbow as a sign of this covenant. Name:_____________________ Date:______________________ Period:_____________________ Making Connections Across Cultures: Flood Stories Instructions: What we know as “flood stories” provide some of the most fascinating similarities across cultures in ancient history. These stories contain many common elements even though they were created in different cultures at different times. The big questions are: why are these stories so like each other even though they were written within completely different contexts? What does this tell us about communication between ancient cultures? Your task is to read all of the stories provided and then PICK TWO to compare and contrast in depth. You will use the graphic organizer on the back to develop your thoughts, and then write or type a two-paragraph response. Response Topic: Compare and contrast two flood stories listing at least two things that are similar and two things that are different. Use examples from the stories. Comparing the two stories that you choose does not mean simply writing, “These stories are similar because they are both about floods.” Try and reach that higher level of thinking! Use the similarities and differences you find in the stories to answer the questions: Why are these stories from different cultures and different times so similar? What do these similarities and differences in the stories suggest about communication between cultures? *It may be useful to think of organizing your response as follows: 1st paragraph: Compare and contrast two flood stories 2nd paragraph: Use your analysis from the first paragraph to answer the questions listed above Name:____________________ Date:____________________ Period:____________________ Instructions: After choosing which two stories you will compare and contrast, use this graphic organizer to develop your thoughts. Story #1:______________________________________________ Story #2:_______________________________________________________ How are they similar?:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How are they different? What do the similarities and differences you observed suggest about communications between cultures? Why do these similarities and differences exist in the stories? Now…you are ready to write your response!!