Common Core SS Standards Addressed Throughout the Reading Packet

Ancient Mesopotamia

Franceschini

Common Core SS Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:

6H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to interpret various historical perspectives.

6H.2.1 Explain how invasions, conquests, and migrations affected various civilizations, societies and regions

6H.2.3 Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time

6H.2.4 Explain the role that key historical figures and cultural groups had in transforming society

6G.1.1 Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading practices and spread of culture).

6G.1.2 Explain the factors that influenced the movement of people, goods, and ideas and the effects of that movement on societies and regions over time

6G.1.4 Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their environments

6G.2.2Construct maps, charts and graphs to explain data about geographic phenomena (e.g., migration patterns and population, resource distribution patterns.

6E.1.2 Explain how quality of life is impacted by economic choices of civilizations, societies and regions

6C&G.1.4 Compare the role (e.g., maintain order and enforce societal values and beliefs) and evolution of laws and legal systems (e.g., need for and changing nature of codified system of laws and punishment) in various civilizations, societies and regions.

6C.1.1 Analyze how cultural expressions reflected the values of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., oral traditions, art, dance, music, literature, and architecture).

Common Core Reading Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:

Locate and cite details, State main ideas and summarize.
Determine meanings of words and phrases.
Determine how information is presented (sequentially, comparatively, etc.).
Integrate and analyze visuals (maps, charts, pictures) etc. with text.

Common Core Writing Standards addressed throughout the reading packet:

Produce clear and coherent writing appropriate for the task.
Use technology and internet to produce writing.
Informative and Explanatory Writing in the context of SS

Unit Vocabulary:

Students should write these words in their vocabulary journal and write their meaning with pictures (when possible) as we come across them in our readings.

Neolithic Revolution
Agricultural Revolution
Fertile Crescent
Civilization
Cradle of Civilization
Fertile
Mesopotamia
Irrigation
Tigris and Euphrates
Cuneiform
Innovation
City-States
Monarchy
Democracy
Babylonia
ziggurat
Hammurabi
Caravan
Marduk
Tablets
Site
Phoenicia
dye

Mesopotamia > Geography

Objectives- SWBAT explain why the Fertile Crescent was the birthplace of civilization. SWBAT ID 3 civilizations of Mesopotamia. SWBAT assess similarity between geography of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia

6G.2.1 Use maps, charts, graphs, geographic data and available technology tools to draw conclusions about the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions

6G.1.3 Compare distinguishing characteristics of various world regions (e.g., physical features, culture, political organization and ethnic make-up

The Fertile Crescent is an area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today the country of Iraq in Southwest Asia. Human beings have been living in the Fertile Crescent for over 12,000 years. The first people moved to the Fertile Crescent because of the available water and good farmland between the two rivers. The first people moved around in small groups sometimes hunting and sometimes farming. Beginning around 10,000 BC to around 4,000 BC there was the Neolithic Revolution. The Neolithic Revolution was when these groups of people developed new farming methods and made new stone tools. It is sometimes called the AgriculturalRevolution. Because of these new inventions, farming became easier. As a result, people did not have to move around as much. They could stay in one place and build large villages and towns. This was the beginning of some of the world’s oldest civilizations. Civilizations are when people not only live together, but they also build big cities, develop religion, develop government and develop art and education.

The area between the Tigris and Euphrates is known as the “cradle of civilization” because it was where some of the earliest civilizations in the world began. Again, this was because the land between the Tigris and Euphrates was so fertile(good for farming). The Greeks called the Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia. Just like the Nile was a gift to the people of Egypt, The Tigris and Euphrates were gifts to the people of this region. Many thousands of years ago, early settlers wandered into the land between two rivers. Natural vegetation and wildlife kept the people well fed. The rivers provided fresh drinking water, and a place to bathe. These early people settled down, invented a system of irrigation and began to farm.

Trade routes brought distant travelers into new lands. With them they carried the technologies, ideas and cultures from one land to another. Sitting in the middle of these trade routes were the civilizations of the Middle East. Mesopotamia was the site of three great civilizations beginning around 3,500 BC and ending around AD 600. The three great city-state civilizations in order were Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria. A city-state was a city with a government that controlled the land and people around it. They were not as big as countries or empires.[1]

In Northern Mesopotamia, the land is fertile. There is seasonal rain. The rivers and streams are fed from the hills and mountains of the region.

In Southern Mesopotamia, the land is mostly flat and barren. Temperatures can rise over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. There is very little rainfall. Storms do blow in from the Persian Gulf, which cools things off. The area does have slight seasons. It can get quite cool at certain times of the year.

Essential Questions:

1)Why was the Fertile Crescent known as the cradle of civilization?

2)What were the three great civilizations of Mesopotamia?

3)How do you think the geography of Mesopotamia was similar to Ancient Egypt and in what ways did the geography influence civilization?

Assignment: Write 7 questions and answers. Your questions must be information questions. They must begin with a “Wh” word (who, what, when, where, how, why or which)

The People and Civilizations of Mesopotamia

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provided the perfect location for these peoples to settle. These two large rivers run along side each other, and span hundreds of miles. Between these rivers are found a crescent shaped landscape where the soil is fertile. This area is known as the Fertile Crescent.

Some of the first civilizations on Earth formed in the Fertile Crescent. Many of these cities banded together forming small kingdoms. Sumer, Babylonia and Assyria were the most prominent civilizations of the land we call Mesopotamia.

Map Questions- Look at the map on the next page and answer the following questions.

What body of water do the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers empty?
Where is Ancient Egypt in relation to Mesopotamia (What direction)?
What desert is south of the Fertile Crescent?
What sea is to the west?
Which seas are north?

Sumer

Objectives- SWBAT list important inventions of Sumerians. SWBAT contrast Sumerian loyalty to the city-state to our modern view of loyalty as nations.

6H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to interpret various historical perspectives.

6H.2.1 Explain how invasions, conquests, and migrations affected various civilizations, societies and regions

6H.2.3 Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed civilizations, societies and regions over time

6H.2.4 Explain the role that key historical figures and cultural groups had in transforming society

6G.1.4 Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their environments

In about 3500 B.C., a people known as the Sumerians migrated from Asia into Mesopotamia. These people founded a city located in the Sumer Valley. In the beginning, they were an agricultural community. They grew crops and stored food for times of need. The ancient Sumerians were very smart. They invented the wheel, the sailboat, frying pans, razors and the first written language called cuneiform. Other important innovations included plows and plow seeders for farming, hammers, axes, pottery, bronze tools and kilns for cooking. They invented a system of mathematics based on the number 60. Today, we divide an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. That comes from the ancient Mesopotamians.

By around 3000 B.C., the Sumerians had formed a number of complex city-states. A city-state is a large city along with any surrounding territory that is ruled by a single entity or ruler. It is believed that there were at least 12 Sumerians City-States in the Fertile Crescent. The people of these city-states shared a common culture and religion with one another. However, their rulers had complete autonomy from one another. They ruled their city-states without any interference from the leaders of other city-states.

The ancient Sumerians built many cities along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Archaeologists believe that their largest city, the city of Ur, had a population of around 24,000 residents. The ancient Mesopotamians created a government that was a combination of monarchy and democracy. Kings ruled the people. Elected officials who served in the Assembly also ruled the people. Even kings had to ask the Assembly for permission to do certain things.

Law held a special place in their civilization. Sumerian laws were not written down, but people knew what they were and they knew what could happen to you if you broke the law. The Sumerian laws clearly said how you had to behave and what your punishment would be if you did not behave correctly. The laws that were later written down by the ancient Babylonians were, for the most part, laws first created by the ancient Sumerians.

Around 2,000 B.C., the Sumerian city-states were conquered and united by a succession of rulers and empire builders from Akkad. The first great ruler was a man by the name of Sargon of Akkad. Legend suggests that Sargon was abandoned by his mother. Placed in a reed basket, he was pushed into the Euphrates River where he was found by a farmer in the kingdom of Akkad. Eventually Sargon grew up and became the ruler of Akkad. He immediately began a military campaign in which he united all the Sumerian city-states. Following the death of Sargon’s grandson, the empire that he had built collapsed.

About a thousand years later, the Babylonians took over Sumeria in the south, and the Assyrians took over in the north, but the Sumerian culture lived on.

Essential Questions:

Name 5 important inventions of the Sumerians and state what you think was the significance.
Explain what a Sumerian city-state was. How would you contrast a Sumerians view of loyalty to our own.

Other Questions:

What did all Sumerian city-states have in common? How were they different?
Explain how Mesopotamia was considered both a democracy and a monarchy.
Who was Sargon and what impact did he have on Mesopotamian city-states?

Babylonia

Objectives- SWBAT write an argumentative essay stating whether or not they feel Hammurabi’s code was just.

6H.1.3 Use primary and secondary sources to interpret various historical perspectives.

6H.2.4Explain the role that key historical figures and cultural groups had in transforming society (e.g., Mansa Musa, Confucius, Charlemagne and Qin Shi Huangdi

About a thousand years after the ancient Sumerians settled in the land between two rivers, two new civilizations arose. One was the warrior civilization of the Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia.The other was the ancient civilization of Babylonia. Babylonia was located in southern Mesopotamia, near the Persian Gulf. Babylonia had a long history. The people achieved a high level of civilization.

3500 years ago, Babylon was an impressive place. It was a massive walled city, with a network of canals and vivid green crops. Even from a distance, visitors could see the top of the 300-foot high ziggurat long before they reached the huge city. Babylonian religious activities were centered around the temple, the ziggurat. Like the Sumerians, the Babylonians held elaborate festivals and had many different kinds of priests. Their priests spent most of their time driving away evil spirits.The Mesopotamians were polytheistic. They worshipped numerous god and goddesses.

Hammurabi’s Code

The most powerful and most famous Babylonia ruler was King Hammurabi. We know a good deal about the great king Hammurabi. Babylonian culture was based on law. Everybodyhad to obey the law. Hammurabi wrote down and unified all the laws of ancient Babylonia so that everyone had to obey the law equally, rich and poor alike. Laws were written down in cuneiform, an ancient picture and symbol writing system. It formed the basis of recorded history. The Sumerians had created the first written cuneiform. Using this written language, Hammurabi created the first written set of laws. In Hammurabi's court, it did not matter if you were rich or poor. If you broke the law, and were found guilty, you would be punished.Since the laws were clearly written down, everyone was expected to obey them.

Hammurabi (ca. 1792 - 1750 BC) was successful in uniting all of Mesopotamia under his forty-three year reign of Babylon. Hammurabi’s Code consisted of two hundred eighty-two laws concerning a wide variety of abuses. Below are 12 examples of his code. Read for yourself and see what you think.

The Code of Hammurabi

(196) If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
(197) If he break another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken
(199) If he put out the eye of a man’s slave or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.
(200) If a man knocks out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.
(188) If an artisan has undertaken to rear a child and teaches him his craft, he cannot be demanded back.
(121) If anyone store corn in another man’s house he shall pay him storage at the rate of one gur for every five ka of corn per year.
(109) If conspirators meet in the house of a tavern keeper, and these conspirators are not captured and delivered to the court, the tavern keeper shall be put to death.
(53) If anyone be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition and does not so keep it,: if then the dam breaks and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined.
(3) If anyone bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
(6) If anyone steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.
(22) If anyone is committing robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.
(14) If anyone steal the minor child of another, he shall be put to death.

Questions:

What are three offenses in which one can be put to death?
Rephrase law 188 in your own words.
What can one infer from laws 199 and 200 about society equity?
What was the purpose for writing these laws?
What conclusion can you draw about Hammurabi’s society?

Unit Writing Tasks: