Station #1-The INVENTION of the first WRITING SYSTEM
The First System of Writing
The Sumerians were the first people to develop a system of writing. The Sumerian writing system, called cuneiform, was developed around 3300 BCE, at about the same time the Egyptians were developing hieroglyphs. Unlike Egyptian hieroglyphs, which used symbols to represent sounds as well as entire words, the cuneiform symbols were only used to represent sounds. Although it looks nothing like most modern systems of writing, cuneiform is considered the first alphabet.
Sumerians wrote on clay tablets. They pressed a stylus carved from the triangular stem of a reed into soft clay, creating wedge-shaped impressions. Cuneiform means "wedge writing." When the writer, called a scribe, was done, the clay was allowed to dry. The hardened tablets were not easy to transport, but they were very strong—strong enough to last for over 3,000 years! Archaeologists have found thousands of these tablets, many of them in surprisingly good shape.
The Impact of Writing
The development of writing impacted all aspects of Sumerian life. Farmers could record which crops they grew each year and record plans for future planting. Merchants were able to keep detailed records of their transactions. Laws could be written down and standardized across large areas. Records of legal disputes and the resulting settlements could also be kept.
Reading and writing cuneiform was difficult. Children had to go to school to learn it. Schools were usually located in temples. Teachers would write a passage on one half of a clay tablet, and then the student would copy the teacher's symbols onto the other half.
The Sumerians used cuneiform writing in almost every aspect of their daily lives. They kept lengthy and careful records of every item they bought, from land and livestock to shoes. They used it to write letters, epic stories about gods and heroes, and prayers to the gods. They even created dictionaries, as well as essays about math and science. Because they did so much writing, and because so much of it has survived, we know a lot about who the Sumerians were and how they lived.
Directions: Complete questions and activity on the back of your activity worksheet. You do not have to write the questions but you MUST answer in COMPLETE sentences.
Choose either set of qquestions to answer on the back of your writing activity
Station #1- Writing Activity
Write Your Name in Cuneiform!
Directions: Cuneiform is the world’s first system of writing. Looking at the chart below, you are going to write your first, middle, and last name using cuneiform on a NOTECARD. You can then write your age in cuneiform as well. Make it colorful and creative! Write your complete heading on the back.
/ 1 / / 2 / / 3 / / 4/ 5 / / 6 / / 7 / / 8
/ 9 / / 10 / / 11 / / 12
/ 13 / / 14 / / 15 / / 16
/ 17 / / 18 / / 19 / / 20
/ 30 / / 40 / / 50 / / 60
1.My name is:
2. I am ______Years old.
3. What would it be like to complete assignments in school using cuneiform?
______
Station #2-The INVENTION of LAW
The Law of the Land
In the winter of 1901 to 1902, French archaeologists digging in Susa, Iraq, made an incredible discovery: a huge block of stone engraved with the earliest complete legal code in human history. This code would come to be known as the Code of Hammurabi.
Hammurabi was a Babylonian king who is believed to have reigned in the 1700s BCE. Not only was he a powerful military leader who greatly expanded the size of his kingdom, but he was also a shrewd and "hands-on" ruler. Hammurabi built a strong central government and personally supervised tasks such as building, irrigation, and tax collection. However, he is most well known for the code of law he created.
Mesopotamians believed that the Code of Hammurabi was not created by the king, but rather that it was given to him by Shamash, god of the sun, who was associated with justice.
Many historians believe that Hammurabi’s Code was created by recording a number of the legal decisions he had made throughout his reign. His decisions were based on old Sumerian laws that had existed for centuries. No written record of those laws has been found.
It is believed that the copies of the law code were placed in important locations throughout Babylon, so that people would know the law and be aware of their rights. Most aspects of life were covered by parts of the code.
Clear Rules, Clear Punishment
Hammurabi's Code lays out a clear and specific structure of laws and punishments. These laws not only protected innocent people who had been harmed, but they also prevented criminals from being given a punishment that did not fit their crime. For instance, under the code, a thief might have his own property taken away instead of being put to death. The idea of having the punishment match the crime, both in type of punishment and severity, is known today as the principle of "an eye for an eye." Even though the code standardized laws throughout the land, a person’s social status made a difference in how the laws were applied. For example, there was a greater penalty for striking a man of a higher social class than there was for striking a man who was equal to you.
Directions: Complete questions and activity in your Interactive Notebook. You do not have to write the questions but you MUST answer in COMPLETE sentences.
Label the top of the page: Station #2 Questions and Activity
Station #2- Law Activity
Crime Committed / Hammurabi Code Punishment / 2017 Punishment1. What should be done to the builder who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
2. What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and put downs her husband?
3. What should be done to a man who keeps food for himself instead of sacrificing it to the gods?
4. What should be done to the man who does not keep his word?
5. What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
6. What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
7. What should happen when one man accuses another man of committing a crime and it is found that the man really did not commit the crime he is accused of?
Station #3 – The Invention of the Wheel
The Wheel as a Tool
The wheel was invented in ancient Mesopotamia by the Sumerians. However, it did not come into existence overnight. The wheel most likely evolved as a way to move large items from one place to another. The first stage in the development of the wheel was the roller. A roller was made by cutting down a tree trunk and then placing a large object underneath the object made it easier to roll on the trunk. These planks, or runners, made grooves into the roller, allowing the object to ride the roller longer before falling off it. The runner allowed more time between having to change roller, and this saved the Sumerians physical effort and time. Eventually, perhaps to make the cart lighter, much of the wood between the two runners was cut away, leaving two end wheels connected by a narrow beam. This was the first axle. An axle is a rod that passes through the center of a wheel. It allows the wheel to spin freely. Later, the axle was separated from the roller ends, now independent wheels, and independently attached through the middle of each wheel.
Think of how the wheel altered the lives of the people living in Mesopotamia. In developing the wheel, Sumerians also invented the first cart. A sled was hooked onto the axle, and the cart was born. Carts allowed more grain to be transported from one place to another. People could also go farther in a shorter amount of time by riding in carts or chariots. Also, if a person or tribe had to move because of flood or war, they could bring more possessions than before, as well as food and water.
Station #3 –Wheel Activity
The wheel altered the lives of the people living in Mesopotamia.
- Wheels and wheel-shaped parts are used every day. List as many devices as you can think of that we use today that depend on the wheel. (Consider objects in your home, at school, games and toys, machines, vehicles and engines as you make your list on loose leaf)
- Now imagine living in a world without any kind of wheels or rolling devices. How would life be different? Would it be harder? How and why? Describe what it would be like to live without any wheels.
Station #4 – Vocabulary Practice
On loose leaf choose 10 words, number your paper and write the word, sentence, and picture.
Term / Definition / Sentence / Picture/Symbol- Fertile Crescent
- Silt
- Irrigation
- Canals
- Surplus
- Division of labor
- City-State
- Empire
- Polytheism
- Hammurabi’s Code
- Social Hierarchy
- Cuneiform
- Pictographs
- Scribe
- Epics
- Ziggurat
- Monarch