Download Mesopotamia Graphic Novel Project Product

Mesopotamia Graphic Novel Project
Product:
You will be creating a graphic novel that describes the
development of Mesopotamia from the beginning of the civilization. You are
the main character and you will be living across hundreds of years, so that you
can describe the development civilization in Mesopotamia. Mrs. Fuller and Mrs.
Burns-Fess will outline the resources available to you.
Requirements
1) Cover Page:
~ The cover page should be completely colored with a title
and the author’s name (you).
2) Content Pages: Your graphic novel will contain at least the
first 6 content pages (“Secure” and “Exceeds” will contain
some or all of pages 7-10).The requirements for each page
are listed on the Table of Contents. You must include the
following items on each page.
 A colored illustration
 A paragraph that thoroughly explains the topic
 A title
*Read the example page to see what is expected.
3)
Summary & Rubric Pages: The last two pages of your
graphic novel will be a summary and the rubric. The summary
follows the content page guidelines. As you complete pages,
sign off on the rubric and ask your accountability partner to
do the same.
Mesopotamia Graphic Novel
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10
Page 11
Nomads Settle Down
 Explain what nomads were
 Explain how people began to settle in one place
 Explain how they learned how to grow vegetables
 Used the rivers to irrigate
Sumerian City-States
 Describe the Sumerian City-States
 Explain the social classes
 Explain how they advanced
Agriculture & Irrigation
 Explain how inventions changed farming
 Explain how trade effected Sumer
Religion
 Explain the purpose of a Ziggurat
 Explain polytheism
 Explain the role of gods within Sumer
Sumerian Achievements
 Explain how Sumer’s culture spread to other citystates because of trade and war
Sumerian Social Structure
 Explain the social order of people in Sumer
Akkadian Empire
 Who was the ruler
 Explain how Sumer became an empire
 Explain how they were able to conquer city-states
Babylonian Empire
 Who was the ruler
 What were the empire’s contributions
Assyrian Empire
 Who was the ruler
 What were the empire’s contributions
Persian Empire
 Who was the ruler
 What were the empire’s contributions
Summary
-Illustration
-Summary paragraph
My Family Settles Down
I hated moving from place to place, but what
was I to do? We were nomads. We had to go
where the food was. It was a hard life, but that
all changed. There were these amazing people in
our community that figured out that we could grow
food in the ground, and that we could use the
water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to
water those plants. When that happened, we knew
that that we could stay in one place and live a
different kind of life. It was probably the most
important reason why we eventually grew into a
civilization.
Sumerian City-States
By 3000 B.C.E. there were several hundred
thousand people like us who had settled in the
southern part of Mesopotamia. Most of us were
farmers, but there were also cities too. After a
while, we started joining together in groups—the
cities and the farms that were close by. These
were called “city-states”. The city-states fought a
lot for more land, and we built strong armies and
walls around the cities for protection.
Agriculture
Roaming around looking for food all the time
was an adventure, but it was also a hard life.
After a while we figured out how to grow our food
and raise animals. Now we could stay in one place
instead of moving around all the time. We picked
the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers,
because we needed the water and rich soil there
for growing crops. At first we had problems with
the floods, but we learned how to dig canals to
keep the floods from destroying our cities, and to
irrigate our fields. We became very good farmers
and were even able to create food surpluses!
Because of this, some people could quit farming
and learn other skills.
Religion
Religion is the most important part of our
lives. It influences almost everything we do. The
Priests perform religious ceremonies, and except
for the King they are the most important people in
our society. We worship many gods, and that is
called polytheism. The gods have great powers. If
the gods are pleased, we will have good health and
good crops. If we displease the gods, then a lot of
bad things will happen. To please the gods we make
offerings and always obey the King because he was
chosen by the gods.
Sumerian Achievements
Because we were able to live together and
share the work, we had a lot more time to learn
and advance our society. Over the years we were
able to achieve and invent a lot of things. One of
the most important things we did was learn to
write. We used a pen made from a reed called a
stylus and wrote on clay tablets. Because of
writing we were able to share our stories and our
history with later generations.
There are lots of other achievements too. We
invented the wheel and a plow for farming. We
invented a number system and did lots of math.
We learned a lot about science. We built beautiful
buildings and made jewelry and music.
Social Status in Sumer
Everyone is not equal in our society. Of course
the Kings are at the top of the social order, and
the priests are just below them. The craftspeople,
merchants and traders are next. The traders
travel to faraway lands and bring gold, silver,
copper and gems to Sumer. They also spread our
learning to the places they visit, and bring back
knowledge to us.
Below the craftspeople and traders are the
farmers and the laborers. Slaves are at the
bottom of our social classes and don’t have any
rights at all.
Summary
Many different people lived in the Fertile
Crescent in the place known as Mesopotamia. We
were the first people on Earth to live together and
form a civilization. We fought a lot with each
other, but we also made a lot of important
discoveries and achievements that are still valued
by modern people.
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Mesopotamia Graphic Novel Rubric
Category
Cover Page:
-
Full page colored/Author’s name
- Title capitalized correctly
Page 1: Nomads Settle Down
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 2: Sumerian City States
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 3: Agriculture & Irrigation
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 4: Religion
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 5: Sumerian Achievements
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 6: Social Structure
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 7: Akkadian Empire
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 8: Babylonian Empire
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 9: Assyrian Empire
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Page 10: Persian Empire
- Illustration
- Detailed description
Summary
-Illustration
-Summary paragraph
Author’s Initials
Accountability Partner Initials