Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Cuneiform Ancient Sumerians used sharp reeds to scratch symbols into wet clay tablets. The dried tablets became permanent records. Cuneiform symbols looked like the signs they represented. Over time, they simplified their figures so they could be formed more quickly. As in ancient Egypt few people could write. Even kings usually could not. It was an honor to be able to go to school and learn to be a scribe. Boys and, very rarely, girls spent years studying in local schools. First they learned how to make clay tablets and reed pens. Then students practiced over and over how to write the basic signs of cuneiform. Scribes in Sumer also had to study mathematics so they would be able to keep accurate records. Trained scribes could and did write almost anything. Scribes also recorded stories, laws, and songs. The sturdy ancient tablets have survived thousands of years. They have helped historians to piece together a detailed picture of early Mesopotamia. 1. How were the materials used for cuneiform and hieroglyphics similar and different? 2. Why did cuneiform symbols grow less picture-like as time passed? 3. Why did scribes need an education? 4. Why were scribes essential (important) in Sumer? Sumerian City-States Cuneiform writing first appeared in about 3500 B.C. Over the next thousand years, Sumerian life centered around the city-states of southern Mesopotamia. A city-state is a self-governing city that also governs surrounding villages. Find the city-states Ur, Uruk, and Kish on the map. 5. Which city-state is furthest south in Sumer?