Download Section 8: Cuneiform Writing - Boyertown Area School District

Name: ____________________
Date:_________ Period____
Mesopotamia
The Land Between The Rivers
Label the map with the
following locations.
Bodies of Water
Found on pages R18-19,
and 17.
1. Tigris River
2. Euphrates River
3. Nile River
4. Black Sea
5. Red Sea
6. Persian Gulf
7. Caspian Sea
8. Arabian Sea
9. Mediterranean Sea
Small States
Found on pages
R18-19
1. Lebanon
(Phoenicia)
2. Israel (Palestine)
Physical Features
Found on pages R18-19
and 17.
1. Asia Minor
2. Arabian Desert
3. Zagros Mts.
4. Syrian Desert
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Mesopotamia: Birthplace of Civilization
Section One- Introduction
3500 BC. What things happened at that particular time that helped man to become
civilized? Why do we say at this time in history, humans built the first civilization?
What do we mean by civilization and civilized? When we talk about civilization, we
will be talking about many people living in one area. Three things must be true about
these people.
1. They must have a _______________________________
2. They must have a _______________________________
3. They must have ________________________________
What Were City-States? Geographic features isolated Sumerian cities. Mudflats and
desert made travel and communication difficult. Each Sumerian city—and the lands
around it—became a separate city-state. Each city-state had its own government and did
not belong to a larger unit. Sumerian city-states often fought with each other. They went
to war for glory and more territory. To ward off enemies, each city-state built a wall. First
they mixed river mud with crushed reeds. Then they molded bricks and left them to dry
in the sun. The hard, waterproof bricks were used for walls, homes, temples, and other
buildings.
Section 2-Food Production
The Sumerians (people who lived in Southern Mesopotamia) did not get their food by
hunting and gathering. Instead they produced their own food by farming. To help them
farm the dry land they learned to irrigate their fields. Answer the questions in complete
sentences where appropriate*. Read pages 28-32 in Ancient Civilization to answer the
following questions.
1. What was the annual rainfall in southern Mesopotamia? ________________________
2. How did the building of levees and canals help to increase food production?*
________________________________________________________________________
3. Sumerians were able to grow a surplus of crops. Define surplus*.
________________________________________________________________________
4. Not all Sumerians had to be farmers because they had a surplus of crops. Some could
do other jobs. Name at least (6) other jobs.
A.
C.
E.
B.
D.
F.
Section 3: Sumerians Became Traders
Read pages 65-67 and 70 Ancient Civilization to answer the following questions.
Answer in complete sentences where appropriate*.
1. Why did Sumerians become interested in trading with their neighbors?
________________________________________________________________________
2. What did the Sumerians have to trade?*
________________________________________________________________________
3. Name two inventions that helped the Sumerians trade with their neighbors.
A.______________________________ B. _____________________________________
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4. Look at the map on page 66. Name two countries with whom the Sumerians traded.
A.______________________________ B._____________________________________
5. What evidence do we have that the Sumerians traded with their neighbors?*
________________________________________________________________________
6. Barter was the earliest form of trading. Why?
________________________________________________________________________
7. Later Sumerians began to use money in their trading. What was the first type of
material they used for money?
Section Four: Home Life and Education
Whose Civilization is it Anyway?
You and your group will perform a short semi-improvisational skit describing an aspect
of Sumerian home life and education. Your group will be given a focus area that will be
your main inspiration for the performance. Be creative and have fun! Pay attention for
further instructions from your teacher.
Group One Information:
 The Sumerian family was patriarchal which means the father was the head of the
household.
 The father’s power included selling off his wife and kids for up to three years to
pay off debt.
Group Two Information:
 Sumerian children had to obey all members of the family
 If children made their parents angry they could be sent to another city or sold into
slavery.
 Marriages were arranged by the parents
Group Three Information:
 Only rich boys were able to attend schools (temples)
 The first schools were located in the temples
 Sumerian schools were only for boys
 The subjects studied in Sumerian schools were reading, writing, and arithmetic.
 Schools were open from sunrise to sunset
Group Four Information:
 Boys learned to write by writing something over and over and over again.
 Absolutely no special activities (like this one!)
 Absolutely no class discussion
 Class work done the same day after day after day…
 School principal (ummia) “The man with a whip!”
Section 5: Government of Mesopotamia _____________
1. Did the Sumerians believe in one or many gods?
2. What group of people ruled the Sumerians as kings?
3. The Sumerians believed that their kings got their power from
the ________________.
4. How do people become slaves in ancient times?
5. Why do you think that all Sumerians obeyed their rulers? This
chart is an example of a __________ which is a system of ranks.
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Section 6: Architecture
Look at the house on the smart board and read the following below to answer the
question. This is an artist’s reconstruction of a house found in a Mesopotamian tel. Only
part of the roof is shown so that you can see the inside. Made from mud bricks and clay,
the house had rooms built around a central courtyard(atrium). They had windows as
well as doors. Archaeologists know that many Sumerians lived in houses of this kind.
1. Sumerian homes were made of ____________________________________________.
Sections 7: Ziggurat (see textbook page18)
It was the largest and most important building in a Sumerian city. It rose above the city
like a hill. Such a hill temple was called a ziggurat. The ziggurat was the “mountain of
god.” It was the “hill of heaven,” in the eyes of the Sumerian people. Within a city, all
life centered on the ziggurat of the special city god. The Sumerians believed that god
lived on top of the ziggurat. Three times a day the priests brought food to the god. Only
the priests could enter the room where god lived. The farm workers worked in the fields
of the god. Then they brought a surplus grain to the temple of the city god. In return, the
city god protected them and the city from harm.
List the many functions of the ziggurat.
A.___________________________________ B. _______________________________
C. ___________________________________D._______________________________
E. ___________________________________ F. _______________________________
Section 8: Cuneiform Writing
Based on this chart, how has cuneiform changed between 3000 B.C. and 500 B.C.
________________________________________________________________________
Read A Skilled People starting on page 20 and answer the following questions.
1.__________________________ is the earliest known form of writing.
2. Describe the process of cuneiform writing.
_______________________________________________________________________
3. Why did Mesopotamians use a system of writing?
_______________________________________________________________________
Continued…
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4. Not everyone could read and write cuneiforms. Who were the people that were hired
to keep records for other Sumerian people?
________________________________________________________________________
5. The people of Persia began to use cuneiform around 500B.C. At this time cuneiform
writing became less popular. Why? This is an opinion question. The answer is not in
the book, be creative.______________________________________________________
Section 9: Sargon and Hammurabi
As you read pages 23-25, complete the following sentences.
1. Sumeria was conquered by the ______________. Their king,
______________, set up the world’s first ______________.
2. The Babylonian king ______________ is best known for his collection
of ______________.While some of his laws seem cruel, they were an
important step toward a fair system of ______________.
3. Define empire-_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. Define Babylon- ________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
You Decide…Hammurabi’s Laws: Fair or Cruel?
Directions: read pages 24 and 25 and answer the following questions. Answer in
complete sentences.
1. Why do you think some people thought Hammurabi’s laws were fair?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. Why do others think the laws were cruel?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. Do you think the laws were fair or cruel? Explain
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Section 10: Final Unit Questions
1. Why did civilization in Mesopotamia begin in the valleys of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. How did the Sumerians contribute to later peoples?
a. writing- _________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
b. sailboats- _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________ Continued…
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c. wheeled cart- ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
d. irrigation- _______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
e. cylinder seal- ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Why did the Sumerian city-states lose power?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
Study Guide
Unit Test Mesopotamia
Map Identifications- Tigris and Euphrates Rivers / Fertile Crescent / Mesopotamia /
Sumer/ Mediterranean Sea / Persian Gulf / Arabian Sea / Arabian Desert / Red Sea /
Black Sea / Caspian Sea / Zagros Mountains / Palestine / Phoenicia / Asia Minor/
Syrian Desert / Iraq
Vocabulary- irrigation / scribe / hierarchy / ziggurat / patriarchal / levee / cuneiform /
surplus/ barter / silver bars / city-state / cylinder seal
Description of Places: Mesopotamia “The land between the rivers”
Concepts- 3 things exchanged in trade are goods, ideas, and culture.
People- Hammurabi / Sargon I
Contributions- Be familiar with Sumerian contributions (inventions and innovations).
You should also be able to state how the invention benefited the people of that time.
ALL THIS INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN YOUR MESOPOTAMIA PACKET. IN
A SENSE YOUR PACKET IS THE STUDY GUIDE.
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