are included on the enclosed cd-rom. -...

Illuminating HistoryIlluminating History

ISBN 978-1-4291-1495-0

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The

Stan

dard

of Ur


Mesopotamian Ziggurat


Assyrian Chariots & Weapons

iron scimitar

iron axe

straight swordfound at ashur


Architectural Wonders ofNew Babylon

hanging gardensof babylon

ziggurat

ishtar gate


EMP4822

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Ancient Mesopotamia

by Linda Armstrongillustrated byCorbin Hillam

AuthorLinda Armstrong

IllustratorCorbin Hillam

Book Design and Production Good Neighbor Press, Inc.

Copyright © 2002Milliken Publishing Co.All rights reserved.

The purchase of this book entitles the individual teacher/purchaser to reproduce copies by anyreproduction process for single classroom use. The reproduction of any part of this book for use by anentire school or school system or for any commercial use is strictly prohibited.

iiCopyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP8822

Activities marked with an * can be used with one of the transparencies on the enclosed CD-ROM.

Activities

* Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1* Mesopotamians Before History Began . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2* Land Between Two Rivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Water Without Rain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4The Sumerian Gourmet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5What Can You Make with Water and Dirt? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

* My City Is Better Than Your City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7I’ll Trade You Copper for a Necklace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8What’s the Big Deal About the Wheel? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

* Putting the Bargain in Writing: Cuneiform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10* Make a Clay Tablet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11* Lead the Procession: Create a Standard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12* Babylonia vs Assyria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13* You Are the Architect: Design a Ziggurat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14* When 1 Is 60: Babylonian Math . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

It’s the Law: Hammurabi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16* Iron Power: Assyria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17* The New Year Festival in New Babylon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Sing Me a Story: The Epic of Gilgamesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

* Who Was Who in Ancient Mesopotamia? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Ancient Mesopotamian News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Conqueror After Conqueror: Cyrus and Alexander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Mesopotamian Trivia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Then and Now . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25Mesopotamian Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26Learn More About Ancient Mesopotamia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Transparencies Use with activities on . . .

Map of Ancient Mesopotamia pages 1, 2, 3, 7 and 13Mesopotamian Writing pages 10 and 11The Standard of Ur page 12Ziggurat page 14Babylonian Numbers and Times Table page 15Assyrian Chariots and Iron Weapons page 17Architectural Wonders of New Babylon page 18Who Was Who in Ancient Mesopotamia? pages 16 and 22

Table of Contents

Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4822

Map of Ancient MesopotamiaThe map may be projected onto a large sheet of whiteor tan paper mounted on the bulletin board. Studentsmay trace map features onto the display. They may,for example, start by tracing only the Tigris, theEuphrates, the neighboring seas, and surroundingmountain ranges. Using other sources, they may addpictures of animals, trees, birds, fish, and insectscommon to the area. Cities may be added to the mapas they are studied. The transparency may also be projected next to apull-down map of the world. Students may compareancient place names to modern ones. Someinteresting locations include Babylon, a culturalcenter and home to the Hanging Gardens; Baghdad,the present-day capital of Iraq; Eridu, site of the firstziggurat; Jarmo, the first permanent settlement;Nineveh, the last capital of the Assyrian empire; Ur,an ancient Sumerian city and site of the Royal Tombsand Uruk, the home of Gilgamesh.

Mesopotamian WritingThe ancient Mesopotamians wanted to keep recordsof things they bought and sold, so they drewpictures of animals, grain, fish, and birds. Asdifferent people copied the pictures the drawingsbecame simpler. When record keepers started usingreeds to press the drawings into soft clay, it washard to draw curves. Straight lines were faster andeasier. The pictures became symbols.Over time written symbols came to stand for morethan one idea. The written word for foot could alsostand for the spoken word for walk. Later the picturesstood for sounds. People used cuneiform to writeeverything from tax records to recipes.This transparency may be used to start a creativelesson on inventing a simple writing system. Projectthe transparency and have students choose one ofthe symbols to copy through all of its stages ofdevelopment. Then have them create more symbolsof their own.In a class discussion, have students suggest broadermeanings for each of the symbols on thetransparency. For example, a foot could meanwalking, and it could be expanded to mean traveling.List the student suggestions on the board. Havestudents use the cuneiform symbols to writesentences on their own. Choose volunteers to write

their cuneiform sentences on the board. Call on class members to try to guess the meanings of the sentences.

The Standard of UrWhen scientists were excavating the ancientSumerian city of Ur they found a large group oftombs. These burial sites have been called the RoyalTombs of Ur. Many beautiful pieces of art were found in the tombs.One of them was this box, which is made of woodand covered with tiles arranged to form pictures oflife in Ur. Some scholars think this was the sounding box for amusical instrument, but many think it was astandard, a kind of sign to be carried on a pole at thebeginning of a procession. In a class discussion, have the students point outwhat each of the people on the Standard is doing. Callon students to point out people from each ofMesopotamia’s three classes depicted on the Standard.One side of the Standard is called War and the otherside is called Peace. Ask students which side isshown here.

ZigguratThe Sumerians built platforms for their temples. Theywanted the city’s patron god to be closer to the sky.Clay bricks did not last long, so the Sumerians had torebuild often. When an old temple crumbled, theybuilt a new one on top. Soon there were severallayers of platforms, one on top of the other.

Such temples, called ziggurats, towered over the lowmud houses and shops of Sumerian cities. Accordingto Mesopotamian religion, each ziggurat was home toa different god. For example, the ziggurat at Ur washome to the moon god, Nanna. The Babylonians, whocontinued many Sumerian traditions, also builtziggurats. The Tower of Babel was probably a ziggurat.

Project the transparency onto a sheet of white paperand have students trace it. Using other sources, havecommittees create a mural centered on the ziggurat.One committee could research costumes and draw thepeople at work in the town at the foot of theziggurat. Another committee could put in the homesand shops. A third committee could add the farmsoutside the city walls.

Point out that none of the walls of a ziggurat is straight.

iiiCopyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4822

iiiCopyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP8822

Teaching Guide for Transparency Pages

iii

Babylonian NumbersSumerians began counting to keep track of grain andother goods. At first they used tokens. Then they usedmarks in clay. Although Babylonians used place valueto write larger numbers just as we do today, theirsystem was different in some important ways. Ourplace values are based on 10. Their place values werebased on 60. Multiples of 60 were also used formeasurement. For example, a surveyor’s rope was3600 fingers long. A finger was about 2/3 of an inch.Have the students use the number symbols on thetransparency to write a list of ten cuneiform numbers.Tell them to exchange papers with a partner andtranslate the numbers into standard Arabic script.Have students make a multiplication table usingBabylonian numbers and base 60. It should be atable of the multiples of just one number such as six.Have students look around the room to find anexample of something with numbers using base 60.When they name the clock, brainstorm other wayswe still use base 60 in measurement.

Assyrian Chariots and Iron WeaponsThe Assyrians, whose home was northernMesopotamia, were fierce fighters, but that alone didnot win them the empire they built between 1000and 612 BCE. They learned how to refine and shapeiron from the Hittites. Strong, sharp iron weaponsand chariots pulled by fast horses helped theAssyrians conquer cities from the Nile River to theCaucasus Mountains. Call on volunteers to pretend to be the inventor of thechariot or of one of the iron weapons. Have them tryto convince the class to use the new inventions.Point out the wheels on the chariot. Ask why spokedwheels were better than solid ones.Point out the horses pulling the chariot. Explain thatthe Assyrians took great pride in breeding beautifulhorses. Scholars think the horses came from theSteppes. Have students find the Steppes in an Atlasor on a world map.

Architectural Wonders of New BabylonThe old city of Babylon was destroyed by theAssyrian King Sennacherib. When Nebuchadnezzarbecame the King of Babylon a hundred years later, he

rebuilt the old capital and made it grander than ever.He restored the ziggurat of the city god Marduk.Called House of the Platform of Heaven and Earth, itwas seven stories tall. The walls and roof of thetemple at the top were covered with gold.Although it was considered one of the SevenWonders of the Ancient World, scholars are not surethe famous “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” reallyexisted. According to the story, Nebuchadnezzar builta beautiful terraced garden for his wife, butarchaeologists have not found any ruins that fit thedescription. Have students use other sources to findthe other six wonders of the ancient world. One of the most amazing sights in New Babylon wasthe Ishtar Gate and Processional Way. Dedicated tothe goddess of love, it welcomed travelers to the cityand provided a dramatic backdrop for the great NewYear celebration. Have students use paper to create agateway for either side of one of the classroom doors.Point out that the Gate of Ishtar is decorated withdragons. Have the class vote on two animals theywould like to use on their own classroom gate.

Who Was Who in Ancient Mesopotamia?Three classes of people developed along with thecities of ancient Sumer. Babylonia and Assyriacontinued the tradition. At the bottom of the socialladder were the slaves, servants, and day laborers.On the next level were the farmers, traders, skilledcraftsmen, and educated scribes who lived andworked within the city walls. On the top level were the priests, the king and hiscourt, and wealthy land owners. On the computer, make name tags for each classmember with the words lower, middle, or upper. Callon students to name one thing they could do if theybelonged to that social class in Ancient Mesopotamia.Have students form small groups and come up withskits showing the interaction between the classes.Possible situations involve buying things in amarketplace, testifying in court, telling parents that adaughter wants to get married, a boy telling hisfriend he will have to become a slave because hisfather is in debt. Have the groups perform their skitsfor the class.

ivCopyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP8822

Teaching Guide for Transparency Pages

1Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4822


1

Timeline of Ancient MesopotamiaPREHISTORIC MESOPOTAMIANS LEARNED TO FARM.

about 7000 B.C.E. Farmers built a town at Jarmo. They grew wheat from storedseeds and herded pigs, goats, and sheep.

about 5000 B.C.E. Farmers moved from the crowded hills into southernMesopotamia. They learned to irrigate crops.

between 5000 and 3500 B.C.E. Villagers divided up work and became specialists. They builthouses with mud bricks.

THE SUMERIANS BUILT CITIES.

about 3500 B.C.E. A priesthood developed and Sumerians built the Temple at Eridu,a simple Ziggurat.

about 3100 B.C.E. Cuneiform writing was invented.around 3000 B.C.E. Sumerians used carts with wheels. The first kings ruled. Trade

developed. Men from rival city-states fought each other usinglances and shields.

around 2700 B.C.E. Gilgamesh ruled the city of Uruk. He became the hero of many legends.

about 2300 B.C.E. Sargon I conquered northern and southern Mesopotamia andfounded the Akkadian dynasty, the first empire in the world.

2218 B.C.E. When tribes from the hills conquered the Akkadians, Sumerian Ur rose to rule much of Mesopotamia.

around 2000 B.C.E. Elamite tribesmen, from what is now Iran, destroyed Ur.

THE BABYLONIANS AND ASSYRIANS CREATED RIVAL EMPIRES.

around 1792–1750 B.C.E. Hammurabi ruled Babylon. His Old Babylonian dynasty includedmuch of Mesopotamia. He established a detailed code of laws.

between 1595–1157 B.C.E. First the Hittites, then the Kassites conquered Babylon. TheKassites ruled the city for four hundred years.

between 1300 and 600 B.C.E. Using horse-drawn chariots and iron weapons, Assyrian soldierscaptured lands from the Nile to the Caucasus Mountains.

883–859 B.C.E. The Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II built a great palace in thecity of Kalhu.

704–681 B.C.E. The Assyrian king Sennacherib created a Royal Library.612 B.C.E. Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, was destroyed by invading Medes

and Babylonians.

BABYLON ROSE AGAIN.

605–562 B.C.E. Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon, built “The Tower of Babel”and the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon.”

539 B.C.E. Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and made Mesopotamia partof the Persian Empire.

331 B.C.E. Alexander the Great conquered the Persians and made Babyloniahis capital. After his death, the city fell into decay.

Name __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


In prehistoric times small bands of people roamed the hills to the north and east of the Fertile Crescent.They slept in temporary camps and hunted for food. About ten thousand years ago some of thesegroups began to tame pigs, goats, and sheep. They also planted wheat and barley.

Around 7000 B.C.E. they started to build towns. Life was easier for babies and children in the newsettlements. More young people lived to adulthood. The villages grew until there were more peoplethan the fields could support.

Some farmers left to look for fresh land. At the base of the foothills they found a broad, fertile plainbordered by two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. The northern and central parts of the plain werehot and rainless most of the year. The southern delta, where the rivers flowed into the sea, was a huge swamp.

The people who settled this harsh land had to be creative to survive. Their descendants built some ofthe world’s first cities, developed irrigation, the wheel, and the written word.

1. Trace the Tigris River and the Euphrates River in blue.

2. Color the Persian Gulf blue.

3. Outline the country of Iraq in orange.

4. Why did the people who settled in Mesopotamia have to be good at problem solving?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

5. Use reference sources to find out what kinds of animals the first Mesopotamians hunted.

Mesopotamians Before History Began

DID YOU KNOW?Even with modern technology, the city of Baghdad on

the delta of the Tigris and Euphrates has unpredictable floods.

A T L

OCEAN


The name Mesopotamia comes from two Greek words that mean “middle” and “river.” It is a landsurrounded by rivers.

Both the Tigris and Euphrates begin in the mountains of Turkey. They take different routes southtoward the lands of ancient Mesopotamia, now Iraq. The rivers spread out when they hit the flatvalley. They meander and often change course. Ur, which once stood on the banks of the Euphrates,is now 12 miles from the water.

The Euphrates is about 600 miles longer than the Tigris, but the Tigris carries more water. In ancienttimes, both rivers were used for transportation, fishing, and irrigation.

Mesopotamia’s rich soil was a gift from the rivers. If you have ever seen a stream after a rainstormyou know that it looks muddy. It is carrying fine dirt called silt. When a stream runs fast it can carry a lot of silt, but when it slows down, the silt sinks to the bottom. The Tigris and Euphrates dropped alot of silt in the valley, especially during floods that came at least twice a year.

Today dams and reservoirs control the rivers. They store water and produce electricity, but silt nolonger renews the land and countries argue about water rights.

1. Mix dirt with water in a plastic bottle with a lid. Shake it up, then let it sit for at least a day.What happens?

2. Make a chart showing at least two ways the Tigris and Euphrates are the same and at least two ways they are different.

3. Look up the word meander in the dictionary. Write the meaning on the back of this page.


PUZZLERIf Mesopotamia means “between rivers”and hippo means “horse,” what doeshippopotamus mean?

Same

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Different

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Land Between Two RiversName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


The plain that became Mesopotamia was goodfarmland. The rivers carried soil down from themountains. There was a long season of sunshine.There was only one problem. There was hardlyany rain. Plants need water to grow.

There was plenty of water in the Tigris andEuphrates Rivers. Sumerian farmers learned todig ditches and make water flow into the thirstyfields. The result was almost magical. Enoughwheat and barley thrived in the warmth of thedesert sun to feed hundreds of people. This wasone of the first uses of irrigation in the world.

With irrigation, farming became easier. People had time to learn new skills. Some made pottery for carrying water, storing seed, and preparing food. Others made better tools for digging, planting, and harvesting.

1. Why was the land on the plains good for farming?

________________________________________ ________________________________________

2. How did irrigation make cities possible?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Name three ways farmers could use pottery.

_________________________ _________________________ _________________________

4. Name three modern tools you would use for digging, planting, or harvesting vegetables in a garden.

_________________________ _________________________ _________________________

For Info Archaeologists: Use reference sources to dig up the answers to these questions:

5. What tools did Mesopotamians use to make farming easier?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

6. Find at least one problem caused by irrigation.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Water Without Rain


Mesopotamians ate a lot of barley. Mesopotamian cooks ground barley seeds into flour. They mixedthe flour with other ingredients to make flat bread, which they served with olive or sesame oil.Sometimes they boiled the grain to make gruel or mush.

Farmers also grew grapes, peas, garlic, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, apples, and figs. Groves of datepalms provided sweet fruit.

Large herds of sheep and goats contributed milk and cheese. There were also pigs, chickens, andcows, but meat was considered a special treat.

Mesopotamians hunted wild creatures including doves, ducks, geese, gazelles, oryx, ibex, wild bulls,boars, hares, wild sheep and onagers, a kind of donkey. They fished in the rivers and in the PersianGulf. In addition to using hooks and lines, they trained pelicans to catch fish. Some farmers raised fishin ponds. Since there were no refrigerators, fishermen dried, salted, or pickled their catch.

Mesopotamians used many spices including mustard, coriander, and cumin to flavor their food. Theyloved garlic and onions.

As in most cultures, the rich and powerful were served the most interesting dishes. Most middle and lower class people ate simply. Beer was a favorite drink. People of all classes enjoyed it with their meals.

1. List three of your favorite foods. If you lived in ancient Mesopotamia, would you be able to getthose foods? Why or why not?

2. Make up a menu for breakfast, lunch, or dinner using foods available to wealthy ancientMesopotamians.


DID YOU KNOW?Wood was very scarce so food was cooked over dung fires. (If you don’t know what dung is, look it up in the dictionary.)

The Sumerian GourmetName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


When people came to live in Mesopotamia they found mud, reeds, sun, and not much else.

Building houses without wood or stone was a problem until Sumerians learned to make mud bricks.Sometimes they baked the bricks in ovens to make them harder. More often they just dried them inthe desert sun. From these simple blocks of clay Mesopotamians constructed great cities. They builttemples and palaces that were wonders of the ancient world.

Sumerian potters used water and dirt in a different way.They pounded and squeezed it until it was smooth and freeof air bubbles. Then they formed it into cups, bowls, plates,and jars. They decorated their pots with painted designs andbaked them in special ovens to make them stronger. Withpottery wheels, much like the ones we use today, theymanufactured containers for cooking, storing grain, andcarrying water.

With experience, these potters learned to add minerals to thecoating of the pots. These glazes created shiny surfaces withbright colors. Later, in Babylon, glazed tiles were used todecorate buildings.

Clay was also used to form the counting tokens that led tothe development of trade. All of the “books” in Assyria’s great libraries were made of clay. What canyou make with dirt and water? The Mesopotamians built empires.

1. What items in your house are made of clay?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Pretend you invented the brick. On the back of this page write a description of your invention.Draw a picture. Give measurements and describe how it would be used.

3. Today archaeologists use styles in pottery design to help them decide the age of buried cities. List some things in our culture that have changed styles over time.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

What Can You Make with Water and Dirt?


About 3500 B.C.E. the Sumerians moved into Mesopotamia. These people, who may have come fromthe area around the Caspian Sea, had some very good ideas. They built better roads. They createdwheels and put them on carts. They improved the canal system and introduced new farming methods.

With improved irrigation, farmers produced more food than townspeople could eat. In their new carts,they carried the harvest to storehouses to be saved from one season to the next. Traveling over newroads, they exchanged extra food with neighboring peoples for wood, metal, and stone.

Farming was still important, but other jobs became important too. Bakers made bread for manyfamilies. Weavers spun wool and wove it into cloth. Leather crafters made sandals. At least 12 of the towns grew into true cities where thousands of people lived and worked.

Cities such as Ur, Uruk, and Nippur were similar. They spoke the same language—Sumerian. Theyworshiped many of the same gods. Each one had a temple in the center of town. Orchards and fieldsstretched out beyond the city walls. These cities did not all belong to one nation, however. Each onewas a city-state, a separate country.

The ruling classes of these city-states were rivals. They argued over trade, land, and water rights.Armies marched out to fight against their neighbors. The middle and lower classes did not alwayssupport these battles.

1. Is Los Angeles a city-state? Explain your answer.

___________________________ because _________________________________________________.

2. The word civilization comes from an old word for city. Why are cities a mark of civilization?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. On the back of this page, name five special jobs people do in the city. Why aren’t there asmany different kinds of jobs in small towns or in the country?


DID YOU KNOW?Because of bad debts, many Mesopotamians worked for the temples.

In exchange for what they grew or made, they were given rations of barley and beer.

My City Is Better Than Your CityName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


From the beginning the people of Mesopotamian city-stateswere great traders. At first all deals were made by simplebartering. Farmers gave craftsmen barley in exchange forsleeping mats, tools, and pottery. The grain was measuredout according to standard weights.

Around 2500 B.C.E., wealthy people started paying theirbills with silver coils called “hat” or “ring money.” Thesilver was cast into long thin pieces and rolled into spiralsof different values. A shekel, about the weight of threepennies, was worth a month’s labor on an estate. Largesilver coils weighed 60 shekels.

To get silver and other needed materials such as copper, tin,bitumen, and wood, Mesopotamians traded with people asfar away as India. They provided pottery, jewelry, andother finished goods. As the centuries passed, Babyloniansand Assyrians took more from their neighbors than theygave back. Then they sent armies out to conquer thepeople in lands with valuable resources.

1. Look up barter in the dictionary. On the back of this page write the definition and give anexample of how we use bartering today.

2. Why would it be hard to buy a piece of land or a new cart with measures of barley?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Name three things Mesopotamians needed to get from other places.

_________________________ _________________________ _________________________

4. What do we use today instead of measures of grain or “hat”? ______________________________

5. Why did the Babylonians and Assyrians want to conquer other lands?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

I’ll Trade You Copper for a Necklace


Returning from trips was easy. Mesopotamian traders built rafts out of cedar logs, loaded them withcargo and floated downstream. Carrying grain, pottery, and woolen cloth up into the mountains washard. Traders needed a land vehicle.

The flat sledges they tried first would not carry much. Around 3500 B.C.E. Sumerians put logs underthe sledges. That made them easier to pull. Next they attached runners to the loads, which helpedeven more. Over time the runners wore notches in the logs. When someone carved away the woodbetween the notches, the first cart was created.

Next someone thought of cutting holes through the sides of carts. When an axle was threadedbetween the holes, it turned with the wheels. Later, axles were fastened to the bottoms of carts andonly the wheels turned.

With carts farmers could harvest and store large amounts of grain more quickly and easily. Traderscould carry more goods and travel farther. Soldiers, in chariots, could carry more weapons.

1. On the back of this page, describe how you could use a piece of cardboard to show how asledge worked. What would you have to add to keep things from falling off? How could youshow logs being used under a sledge? (Hint: Use some things you have in your desk.) Whatproblem would you have when the sledge moved? How could this be solved?

2. Complete this analogy: wheels are to sledges as sails are to _______________________________.

3. Make a cart out of light cardboard. Use drinking straws, cardboard circles, and glue to createwheels and an axle. Be sure to punch holes in the sides of your cart and push the strawthrough before you glue on the wheels.


What’s the Big Deal About the Wheel?Name __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


Mesopotamians needed to keep track of their deals. When farmers traded animals or measures ofgrain, they dropped clay tokens one by one into a container.

This did not provide a lasting record, so some people made lists of the goods they exchanged. Usingreeds, they drew simple pictures of the items on flat pieces of clay. Then they made marks to showhow many goats or measures of barley were traded.

Drawing pictures of items on tablets took a long time and not everyone drew the same way. Peoplewho were good at creating tablets started making them for other people. Soon, when a record wasneeded, one of these experts, a scribe, would be called.

As decades passed, pictures and numbers became reed-shaped lines pressed in the clay. The tabletsimproved, too. Important documents were enclosed in clay envelopes sealed with special picturesignature stamps called “cylinder seals.” When these decorated metal or ceramic cylinders were rolledacross the smooth surface of the wet clay, they left the same mark every time. Most people, includingthe kings, were illiterate. This was a good way for them to sign their names.

Through scribes, people wrote letters to each other. They also shared knowledge. Doctors wrote downtreatments for diseases and formulas for medicines. Cooks wrote down recipes. Farmers wrote downthe best ways to plant their fields. In the last centuries of Mesopotamia, the Assyrians wrote downstories, poems, and hymns that had been passed down for generations.

1. Choose a partner. One of you will pretend to be a metal trader who can neither read nor write.The other will assume the role of the trader’s scribe. The metal trader wishes to write a letter tohis wife at home in Ur telling her of his adventures in the Taurus Mountains. The scribe willwrite the trader’s words on a piece of paper. Keep in mind that Mesopotamians did not have theluxury of paper and pencil but would have written on clay using a reed as a writing instrument.

2. Draw a design for a personal cylinder seal. Choose pictures that represent your personality. The royal house of the King of Assyria had one that showed the king on a lion hunt. Put all the pictures on the bulletin board. Try to guess who designed each seal.

Putting the Bargain in Writing


Not very many children were lucky enough to go to Mesopotamian schools or Tablet Houses. Of thosewho were, most of them were the sons of rich and powerful men. We know this because they oftenwrote their fathers’ jobs after their names when they did assignments.

The classes lasted a long time and were not much fun. The students had to copy the same exercisesover and over again until they were perfect. Discipline was very strict. If a student was late to class ordid not do his assignment, the future scribe was beaten.

Cuneiform writing began as pictures, but over the years thepictures were sorted into 500 or so symbols that stood forsounds and ideas as well as things. Students had to learn tomake all of these symbols quickly, neatly, and in a wayother scribes could read.

Scribes did not go down to the local office supply store tobuy clay tablets. At first their teachers made them. Thenthey learned to make their own.

Study the cuneiform chart on the transparency, the symbolson this page, or a chart in another reference book. Smoothout a piece of clay. Form it into a small tablet. Copy somecuneiform symbols on your tablet using a small stick or theside of a pencil tip.


Make a Clay TabletName __________________________________________________

Lead the Procession: Create a StandardName __________________________________________________


When the great British archaeologist, Sir Leonard Woolley, was digging up the ruins of the ancientSumerian city of Ur, he found an unusual cemetery.

While we do not really know who was buried in the tombs, the ornate jewelry found there suggeststhat the people were royalty—a king, his queen, and the servants of their court. Because the buriedking’s name is not listed on Sumer’s list of rulers, some scholars think the man and woman were ritualsubstitutes.

Though the people themselves remain a mystery, the items buried in these tombs tell us a great dealabout life in a Sumerian city.

In one room archaeologists found many colored pieces of shell and semiprecious stones lying together.Woolley, suspecting an original wood base had rotted away, ordered that wax be pressed down on thescattered bits. When the wax was picked up, the pieces formed a picture.

With wood and bitumen (a kind of pitch), the original design was restored. Some scholars think thisreconstructed two-sided box-like item was part of a musical instrument. Woolley called it a standard, asign carried at the start of a procession. There are Mesopotamian pictures of processions led by mencarrying standards.

On the back of this paper draw a design for a standard for your class. The Standard of Ur showspeople at work. Your design should include various aspects of your school day. What materials wouldyou need to make your design into a real standard? Write your suggestions. When, during yourregular school day, do you have a procession? Could your standard be used to lead the way?


Mesopotamia was not all one flat desert. The north was hilly. It was closer to sources of metal, wood, and wild game. The south had palm trees, reeds, water birds, and rich fishing grounds on the Persian Gulf.

As the centuries passed, the people in northern and southern Mesopotamia developed separatecultures. They became rivals.

When Elamite tribesmen conquered the Sumerians around 2000 B.C.E., Assyria and Babylon inheritedthe Fertile Crescent. In the north, the Assyrians, already master hunters, became masters of war. Inthe south, Babylon became a cultural center, continuing many of the old traditions. At first, theBabylonians controlled most of Mesopotamia.

Around 1300 B.C.E. the Assyrians started to gain power. In addition to Mesopotamia, they conqueredparts of Egypt and Anatolia. Wealth and slaves poured into their capital cities. The Assyrians builttemples and palaces. They created great sculptures and libraries of clay tablets.

Meanwhile, the Babylonians formed alliances with Assyria’s enemies. They destroyed the Assyriancapital, Nineveh. Then they rebuilt Babylon, which the Assyrians had leveled.

1. List two ways Assyria and Babylon were the same and two ways they were different.

2. Power shifted often in Mesopotamia. Use the timeline to list the dates when:

a. the Elamites defeated the Sumerians _________________________________________________

b. the Hittites conquered Babylon ______________________________________________________

c. the Medes and Babylonians destroyed Nineveh _______________________________________

d. Babylon was rebuilt _______________________________________________________________

3. Use the timeline to list invaders who conquered

a. the Babylonians ___________________________________________________________________

b. the Assyrians _____________________________________________________________________


Same

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Different

_____________________________________

_____________________________________

Babylonia vs AssyriaName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


The Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians believed their godsliked to live in the mountains close to the sky. They made theirtemples as high as possible.

The early city of Eridu created an artificial mountain. Workersconstructed a platform, then placed their temple on top of it. Thecity lasted a long time, but the original mud brick temple did not.Every rain weakened it. Eventually it had to be rebuilt. Bricksfrom the original temple were used as filler for a second smallerplatform on top of the first.

Later, a powerful leader named Ur-Nammu used these ideas tobuild temple mountains, or ziggurats, in other Sumerian cities.Archaeologists have excavated the ruins of a ziggurat at Ur. Ithad three platforms. Stairways led to the temple on top.

Each city’s ziggurat was dedicated to the patron god and had aname. The one at Ur was the home of the Sumerian moon god,Nanna. The one at Nippur was called “The House BindingHeaven and Earth.”

Study pictures of ziggurats.

1. Pretend you are an ancient architect. Design a ziggurat for your city. It should have platforms,ladders, and a special small building at the top. The rest is up to you. Make your drawing onthe back of this page.

2. Give your ziggurat a name. Dedicate it to something.

3. If you wanted to build a model of a ziggurat for a classroom display, what materials would youuse? Make a list of suggestions.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Challenge: Build a ziggurat model using your ideas.

You Are the Architect: Design a Ziggurat


Most of the tablets we have from ancient Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria are not stories, histories,poems, or letters. They are records of taxes, land sales, loans, and inheritances.

Numbers were so important to ancient Mesopotamians that written methods of counting probablydeveloped before written language.

Babylonians used two symbols to write all numbers. These symbols used place value in a way thatcombined base 10 and base 60. There were 59 combinations of symbols to represent numbers from 1 to 59. The symbol (a wedge turned sideways) meant 10, and the symbol (a vertical wedge) meant 1. For example,

1. Write the following numbers in Babylonian:

2. When Mesopotamians wanted to write the number 60, they put one mark in the column to theleft of the “ones” column. What number does this tablet represent?

3. A “three” mark in the 1 x 60 column would stand for 3 x _____ which equals _______.


DID YOU KNOW?Sixty can be divided evenly by 12 different numbers. How many of them can you list?

would mean 36 in our numbers.

When 1 is 60: Babylonian MathName __________________________________________________

1 x 60 x 60 x 60 =

_________________

42 28 57 14

1 x 60 x 60 =

_________________

1 x 60 =

_________________

1 x 1 =

_________________

Name __________________________________________________


In 1750 B.C.E. a king named Hammurabi rose to power inBabylon. He united much of Mesopotamia under one rule forthe first time in centuries.

He was a powerful military leader, but that is not why weremember him. Hammurabi is known as a lawgiver. Actually,many Mesopotamian rulers created codes of law, but we donot have them because they were written on clay tabletswhich crumbled. Hammurabi had his laws engraved on acolumn of polished black rock over seven feet high. Thestone, or stele, was set up in the middle of the city. The 282decisions tell us much about justice at the time.

There were no police to arrest offenders. Victims had to dragwrong-doers into court. Both sides swore to tell the truth. Ajudge listened to testimony and made a decision.

The phrase “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” comesfrom one of Hammurabi’s punishments, but it was not hisidea. It was an old Sumerian concept—exact revenge.Another way to put it would be, “What I take from you, youmay take from me.” For example, if a builder used poormaterials and the house he constructed killed someone whenit collapsed, he could be executed. Some offenses werepunished by fines. Jails were not mentioned.

Answer the following questions true or false:

1. Hammurabi was the first king to write and enforce laws in Mesopotamia. _______________

2. Police arrested offenders and brought them to court. _______________

3. Witnesses swore to tell the truth. _______________

4. Some of Hammurabi’s laws originally came from ancient Egypt. _______________

5. Hammurabi was a good military leader. _______________

6. Hammurabi expanded Babylonia’s empire. _______________

7. Hammurabi kept the stele with the laws on it in his palace. _______________

DID YOU KNOW?According to Hammurabi’s Code, a person could not be forced

to work more than three years as a slave to pay off a debt.

It’s the Law: Hammurabi


Around the middle of the ninth century B.C.E. theAssyrian army swept into Babylon. After overcomingtheir conquerors, the Hittites, the Assyrians were readyto win. They had iron weapons and chariots pulled byhorses.

They were ruthless fighters with a personal stake in thebattle. They did not want to be the servants of Babylon.They wanted to be the masters. They easily conqueredthe proud capital. Because they respected it as a centerof culture, the Assyrians did not destroy Babylon atfirst. After suppressing several rebellions, however, theyreturned and leveled the city.

The Assyrians went on to conquer cities outside ofMesopotamia. Attacking and plundering without mercy,they marched entire populations into slavery. They usedthe labor to build temples and palaces in their cities.

The more land Assyria conquered, the richer her kings and nobles became and the more they calledfor new conquests. At last, the kingdom was so spread out that there were not enough soldiers toprotect it.

In 612 B.C.E. Babylonians and other groups that did not like the Assyrians banded together to attackNineveh. They destroyed the city and the center of power in Mesopotamia moved south again.

Fill in the blanks to complete these sentences.

1. Assyrian weapons were made out of ______________________.

2. Assyrians pulled their chariots with ______________________.

3. Assyrian prisoners of war became ______________________.

4. Assyrians got materials they needed by ______________________ other cities.

5. Assyrian defenses became less effective because they were too __________________ _________.


Iron Power: AssyriaName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


There were many festivals in Babylon, but the most important was the New Year festival or Akitu. Heldevery spring in the Babylonian month of Nissan, it celebrated the beginning of the growing season.

Events were scheduled for each of the festival’s 11 days. The first days were spent in preparation. Onthe fourth evening the Enuma Elish was read. The Enuma Elish was a creation story that went backto the days of ancient Sumer. The version read in Babylon said Marduk, the city’s patron god, createdEarth and sky when he defeated an angry goddess in battle and split her body in half.

On the fifth day of the festival the Babylonian king went to the temple and stood before the highpriest. The priest took away everything that marked him as a king, and then slapped him. The kingsaid, “I have not sinned, O lord of the lands. I have not destroyed Babylon.” After the priest gave backthe king’s clothes and jewelry, he slapped him again even harder or pulled his ears. If the king let atear fall, it was a sign that the coming year would be prosperous.

On the twelfth day visitors returned home and everyone went back to work.

1. Why did the Babylonians have their New Year festival in the spring?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why do you think the priest slapped the king and took away the signs of his power?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Who was the patron god of Babylon? ___________________________________________________

4. Why would the reading of a creation story be an important part of a New Year celebration? List some things we do to celebrate New Year’s Day.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The New Year Festival in New Babylon


Mesopotamians believed that gods and spirits controlled most things that happened in their lives, so it is not surprising they believed gods, demons, ghosts, and spirits caused disease.

Just as there were specialized metal workers, bakers, and weavers, specially trained people served as doctors.

There were two types of doctors. One type was an ashipu, or spiritual doctor. The ashipu performedsacrifices, searched for omens, chanted spells, and prescribed rituals. Mesopotamians believed thesedoctors could help and sometimes the belief was enough to cure them.

For certain problems, patients were sent to an asu, or physician. The asu knew how to combine manykinds of herbs into skin creams, syrups, and poultices. By 2100 B.C.E. physicians knew how to healwounds by washing them with water, applying a “plaster” similar to soap and bandaging them.

We know Mesopotamian doctors performed surgery because Hammurabi mentioned it in his famouslaws. If an upper-class patient died after an operation, the doctor had his hand cut off.

1. What was the difference between the two kinds of doctors in ancient Mesopotamia?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Which kind of Mesopotamian doctor was more like the doctors we have today? Give a reason for your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. If you were a skilled Mesopotamian doctor, would you want to perform surgery on someone who was very sick? Why or why not?

_____________________________________________________________________________________


DID YOU KNOW?Dogs were associated with the healing goddess. A sign with a picture

of a dog drove bad spirits away and welcomed good spirits into the home.

Medicine in Ancient MesopotamiaName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


Accompanied by the music of harps and flutes, Mesopotamian poets lamented their losses and praisedtheir gods. They also told stories. Sumerians composed one of the world’s first epic poems, Gilgamesh.

Modern scholars have pieced together tablets from Ashurbanipal’s famous library in Nineveh andtranslated the poem for us. It tells about King Gilgamesh of Uruk, and Enkidu—a wild man who hadlived with the animals until he was tamed by a woman. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were enemies at first,but became close friends. Together they had many adventures. Once they went to a forbidden cedarforest to get wood.

Humbaba, a horrible monster that guarded the forest,killed Enkidu. Overcome by sadness, Gilgamesh went tothe underworld to talk to the only man who had becomeimmortal, the hero of Mesopotamia’s flood story,Utnapishtim. Gilgamesh asked him how to overcomedeath. Utnapishtim gave him a plant which had thepower to restore his youth. Overjoyed, Gilgameshstarted home, but when he stopped to bathe in a pool ofcool water, a snake ate the plant. The snake shed itsskin and became young again. (To this day, snakes shedtheir skins.) Gilgamesh returned to Uruk empty-handed.He felt his life had been wasted until he saw the citywall he had helped his people build. He decided therewas a kind of immortality in accomplishment.

Thousands of years later we know Gilgamesh’s name.Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a wall hebuilt to protect his people from invaders, and we still enjoy a wonderful poem about his courage.

1. Usually the treasure in a story is gold, silver, or jewels. Why would Gilgamesh and Enkidu risk their lives to get cedar trees?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Write and illustrate a story about two friends who have an adventure while searching for a treasure.

3. Stories and poems were not read silently in Mesopotamia. They were read aloud. Share theadventure story you wrote with a group.

Sing Me a Story: The Epic of Gilgamesh


Children in ancient Mesopotamia did not go to school unless they were studying to be scribes. Evenkings and priests seldom knew how to read and write. In most cases, children learned the jobs of theirparents. Boys learned from their fathers and girls learned from their mothers.

Mesopotamian society was made up of three major social classes. At the very top of the socialstructure were the kings, the priests, wealthy landowners, and military leaders.

The middle class included farmers, traders, shopkeepers, and skilled craftspeople.

Servants and slaves belonged to the lower class. Some Mesopotamian slaves were prisoners of foreignwars, some were paying off their own debts or the debts of family members. Being a slave was notnecessarily a permanent condition. Slaves were paid a small amount and were allowed to buy theirown freedom.

On another sheet of paper, make three columns and label them Upper Class, Middle Class, and LowerClass. Place the following occupations in the proper column.

architect artist astronomer bakerchariot maker doctor engineer farmerfisherman jeweler maid furniture makergoat herder weaver kinggeneral sandalmaker scribe sculptorsoldier brickmaker tailor ferrymanharpist slave pearl trader teacherox handler maid gardener carpenterqueen priest


Who Was Who in Ancient Mesopotamia?Name __________________________________________________

1. Write a headline in six words or less for each event.The wheel was invented in Sumeria.

______________________________________________________________________________

King Hammurabi introduced a tough new law code.

______________________________________________________________________________

Babylon and its allies destroyed Nineveh.

______________________________________________________________________________

2. Complete the want ads in your own words.

Our motto: If it’s not more than 3,000 years old, it’s too new for our news.

Government Positions Available

Tax collector. Duties include . . .

Benefits include . . .

To apply . . .

Cylinder Seals for Sale

Sign all of your documents with thevery best. Visit Asur’s Gallery today to order your custom seal.

Cart and Onager for Sale

My cucumber crop failed and I needbarley for the winter. My loss is yourgain. Meet me outside the city gate atsundown tomorrow.

Wanted

Young men to study to be scribes.Must be willing to . . .

Duties include . . .

Apply at the tablet house at sunrise tomorrow.

Name __________________________________________________


Ancient Mesopotamian News


The leaders of New Babylon spread their empire too far outacross the lands surrounding Mesopotamia. When theconqueror Cyrus united two great tribes, the Medes and thePersians, Babylon could not stand against him. The Persianscontrolled lands from Egypt to the borders of India. LaterPersian kings wanted to capture the city-states of Greece.

In 334 B.C.E. Alexander, a brilliant young Macedonian led hissoldiers into what is now Turkey. The Persian army marchedup to meet him. Although outnumbered, Alexander’s forceswon. By the time he was 25, Alexander had taken all of thePersian lands, including the former great cities of Mesopotamia.After a disastrous campaign in India, Alexander returned toBabylon where he died of a fever.

Over the centuries, others tried to bring Mesopotamia’s farmsand cites back to life, but the center of civilization had shiftedto other parts of the world.

REVIEWMatch.

1. _____ the Tigris A. Mesopotamian writing

2. _____ ziggurat B. known as a lawgiver

3. _____ base 60 C. a cultural center

4. _____ Assyrians D. a temple with platforms

5. _____ cuneiform E. a river in Mesopotamia

6. _____ Hammurabi F. hero of an epic poem

7. _____ Sumerians G. clay counters

8. _____ Gilgamesh H. warriors of the north

9. _____ tokens I. Mesopotamian place value

10. _____ Babylon J. inventors of the wheel

11. _____ clay K. made cities possible

12. _____ scribes L. a Persian conqueror

13. _____ Cyrus M. a basic resource

14. _____ irrigation N. people who could read and write


Conqueror After Conqueror: Cyrus and AlexanderName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


We still use the Mesopotamian base 60 system forcounting minutes in an hour and degrees in a circle.

When the Egyptians first saw the Euphrates theythought it was flowing backwards. The Nile flowstoward the north and the Euphrates flows south.

Even though girls did not go to school in Mesopotamia,the world’s first famous author was a Mesopotamianwoman, a priestess named Enheduanna. Tablets withcopies of her poems and hymns have been found inseveral Sumerian cities.

Wood was so valuable in Mesopotamia that whenpeople sold their houses they took their doors withthem. Many houses did not have doors.

On hot summer nights Mesopotamians slept on the roof.

One of the world’s first drinking straws was found in the Royal Tombs of Ur. It was made of gold andlapis lazuli, a beautiful dark blue stone.

Sargon the Great had indoor toilets with seats in his palace. They emptied into drains.

Rabid dogs were a serious problem in Mesopotamia. The treatment was a dog bite incantation.

1. Of the items listed above, which surprises you the most? Why?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Use the internet or other reference sources to write two other interesting tidbits of informationabout ancient Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamian Trivia

25Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP4822Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP8822

2. List 10 other ways that life in ancient Mesopotamia was similar to life today.

1. _____________________________________ 6. _____________________________________

2. _____________________________________ 7. _____________________________________

3. _____________________________________ 8. _____________________________________

4. _____________________________________ 9. _____________________________________

5. _____________________________________ 10. _____________________________________

3. From what you’ve learned of life in ancient Mesopotamia, what do you think was mostdifferent about life then and life today?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Life in ancient Mesopotamia was very different from what it is today. Life in ancient Mesopotamia was very similar to life today.

How can both these statements be true?

1. Fill in the chart by making an X in the correct column following each item.

Then Now Both

Grow crops

Play baseball

Bakers make bread

Government collects taxes

Enjoy music and stories

Celebrate New Year’s

Have laws and courts

Write letters

Cook with electricity or gas

Doctors prescribe medicine

Most children attend school

Wages paid in money

Then and NowName __________________________________________________

Name __________________________________________________


Complete one of these projects. Include maps, illustrations and other appropriate graphics.

• Create a time machine: Photograph or scan your own drawings to create a Mesopotamian slide presentation.

• What would you need to open an Ancient Mesopotamian Café? Design a menu and the interiordécor. Create a display of ingredients.

• Plant birdseed in Styrofoam™ cups. Design experiments to show what grain has to have togrow. Research the kinds of grain grown in Mesopotamia and how the needs of the plantsaffected the culture.

• Read some Mesopotamian stories and poems. Illustrate them and tell how they relate to thereligion or history of the people. Write a lament or a hero tale, choose background music andperform it for the class.

• Have a Mesopotamian fashion show. Explain the differences in clothing between various socialclasses. Make beads out of air-dryable craft clay and string them to create jewelry. Useauthentic designs.

• Use squares of construction paper to make a mosaic of either the dragon or lion from the IshtarGate of Babylon. Draw a map of the city showing the location of the gate and othermonuments.

• With a partner, create a late-night interview show. The interviewer prepares interestingquestions for the guest, who is a famous archaeologist. Visit the British Museum Mesopotamiasite for ideas.

• Design a race that will show the advantage of the wheel. The whole group should be involvedand it should be fun. Before the race, give a presentation showing different kinds ofMesopotamian methods of transportation.

Write a three- to five-page report on one of these topics:

Hammurabi Assyria Northern MesopotamiaSargon I Medicine Farming techniquesNebuchadnezzar II Clothing CraftsmenGilgamesh Religion City-statesSennacherib The Hanging Gardens The Royal Tombs of UrAshurnasirpal II Assyrian chariots Musical instrumentsBabylon Hunting and herding MetalworkingNineveh Slavery Laws and crimeUr Sumerians and Semites Painting and sculptureUruk Akkadia Pottery and archaeologyCuneiform Sammuramat Cyrus the GreatThe Tigris and Euphrates Darius Alexander the GreatFood and drink Assyrian Libraries MeasurementsMesopotamian schools Houses and furniture TradeInventions Plumbing and waste Invaders of MesopotamiaZiggurats Native plants City planningSumeria Southern Mesopotamia Taxes and contracts

Mesopotamian Projects


RESOURCES FOR STUDENTSGreat Civilizations of the East: Discover the Remarkable History of Asia and the Far East by Daud

Ali, Fiona MacDonald, Lorna Oakes, Philip Steele

Ancient Near East (Coloring Book) by Bellerophon Books

Book by Karen Brookfield (Part of the Eyewitness Books series)

Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others edited by Stephanie Dailey

The Children’s Atlas of World History by Neil DeMarco

Mesopotamia by Tami Deedrick

Slavery in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia by Jacqueline Dembar

Cultural Atlas for Young People: Early Civilizations by Erica C.D. Hunter

Books and Libraries by Jack Knowlton

Women Warriors by Marianna Mayer

Ishtar and Tammuz: A Babylonian Myth of the Seasons by Christopher Moore

Science in Ancient Mesopotamia by Carol Moss

The Assyrian Empire (World History Series) edited by Don Nardo

Empires of Mesopotamia by Don Nardo

They Lived Like This in Ancient Mesopotamia by Marie Neurath

Mesopotamia by Lorna Oakes

Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia by Michael Roaf

Prehistory and the First Civilizations by J.M. Roberts

The History of Making Books, Scholastic, Inc.

Mesopotamia: The Mighty Kings Time-Life Books

Gilgamesh the King, The Revenge of Ishtar, and The Last Quest of Gilgamesh by Ludmila Zeman

WEB SITESThree great sources of information about ancient Mesopotamia are:

Mesopotamia at the Electronic Passport, http://www.mrdowling.com/603mesopotamia.html is a great introduction.The Mesopotamian Display at the British Museum, http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html is aninteractive experience with beautiful graphic exhibits.More technical information and an outstanding collection of links can be found at The OrientalInstitute at the University of Chicago, http://www.oi.uchicago.edu/OI/default.html.You can search for other sites using key words like Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Babylonia, cuneiform,Gilgamesh, ziggurats, and Assyria.


Learn More About Ancient MesopotamiaName __________________________________________________

28Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co. MP 822Copyright © 2002 Milliken Publishing Co.

Mesopotamians Before History Began, page 21.–3. See map.4. There were not many natural resources and it was a difficult

climate.5. May include: geese, ducks, doves, wild bulls, gazelles, oryx,

ibex, boars, hares, wild sheep, and onagers.

Land Between Two Rivers, page 31. It settles to form a layer at the bottom.2. Same: begins in Turkey, used for transportation, fishing, and

irrigation in ancient times. Different: Tigris carries morewater, Euphrates is longer.

3. See dictionary; Puzzler: River horse

Water Without Rain, page 41. lots of sun, good soil2. created enough crops to feed many people, allowed

specialization3. to carry water, to store seed for planting, to carry crops

to market4. shovel, hoe, clippers, rake, trowel, etc.5. Answers will vary. Might include plow, planting stick6. increasing salts in the soil

The Sumerian Gourmet, page 51. Answers will vary.2. Answers will vary.

What Can You Make with Water and Dirt?, page 61. Answers will vary. Might include toilet, plates, sinks,

figurines, tiles.2. Answers will vary.3. clothes, cars, appliances, homes, signs

My City Is Better Than Your City, page 71. No, because it is part of the USA.2. Answers will vary. Might include specialization, arts and

culture, architectural development, more free time.3. Answers will vary, but might include aspects of:

entertainment, publishing, business and governmentleadership, large retail stores, auto sales, special industriessuch as oil refining, docks, airlines, amusement parks,transportation.

I’ll Trade You Copper for a Necklace, page 81. Definition will vary. Barter is used at

yard sales, flea markets. Services traded between friends.2. It would be too much barley to haul in

a wagon.3. tin, copper, wood, silver, gold, bitumen4. money5. So they could get all the raw materials they needed.

What’s the Big Deal About the Wheel?, page 91. You would have to add sides. You could show it by putting

pencils under the cardboard. The problem is, the sledgewould roll past the pencils. You could solve it by moving thelast pencil up in front of the sledge before you push forward.

2. boats

Babylonia vs Assyria, page 131. Answers will vary. Possibilities include:

Same:Both were in Mesopotamia and depended on the Tigris andEuphrates Rivers.Both were attacked by outsiders.Each destroyed the other's capital city.Both used clay tablets and cuneiform writing.

Both built empires.Both built wealth by trading with other cultures.Different:Assyria was hillier and closer to sources of metal, wood, andwild game.Babylonia had palm trees, swamps, reeds, water birds, andricher fishing grounds.

2. a. 2000 B.C.E.; b. 1595 B.C.E.; c. 612 B.C.E.; d. 605-565 B.C.E.

3. a. Hittites, Kassites, Assyrians, Persiansb. Hittites, Babylonians, Medes

When 1 Is 60: Babylonian Math, page 151. 42 28

57 14

2. 219,6613. 60, 180

Did You Know? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60

It’s the Law: Hammurabi, page 161. false 5. true2. false 6. true3. true 7. false4. false

Iron Power: Assyria, page 171. iron 4. capturing or attacking2. horses 5. spread out3. slaves

The New Year’s Festival in New Babylon, page 181. It was the start of the growing season.2. So the king would remember that he was just a human being

and his authority came from the gods.3. Marduk4. It is a time of beginnings. Sing “Auld Lang Syne,” make

noise, have parties, make resolutions, have parades, watchfootball.

Medicine in Ancient Mesopotamia, page 191. Ashipu were spiritual; asu were practical or physical.2. Asu, because they prescribed medicines, cleaned wounds,

and did operations.3. No, because if the patient died you could have your hand cut

off. (Yes if you really thought you could save the person.)

Sing Me a Story: The Epic of Gilgamesh, page 201. Because good wood was very rare in Mesopotamia.

Who Was Who in Ancient Mesopotamia? page 21Lower class: slave, maid, (gardener: could be in middle class) Middle class: everyone else except the following:Upper class: king, queen, priest, general

Conqueror After Conqueror: Cyrus and Alexander, page 231. E; 2. D; 3. I; 4. H; 5. A; 6. B; 7. J; 8. F; 9. G; 10. C; 11. M; 12. N; 13. L; 14. K

Then and Now, page 25Grow crops: both Laws: bothBaseball: now Letters: bothBakers: both Gas and electricity: nowTaxes: both Doctors: bothStories: both School: nowNew Year’s: both Wages: now

Answer Key

8

Illuminating HistoryIlluminating History

ISBN 978-1-4291-1495-0

Milliken Publishing Company, a Lorenz companyP.O. Box 802 • Dayton, OH 45401-0802

www.LorenzEducationalPress.com


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The following color images (transparencies) are included on the enclosed CD-ROM.


The

Stan

dard

of Ur


Mesopotamian Ziggurat


Assyrian Chariots & Weapons

iron scimitar

iron axe

straight swordfound at ashur


Architectural Wonders ofNew Babylon

hanging gardensof babylon

ziggurat

ishtar gate


EMP4822

are included on the enclosed cd-rom. -...

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