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Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a

Greek word which

means between

the rivers. Thereare two main

rivers, the Tigris

and Euphrates,

and they flowthrough many

varied landscapes.

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The rivers start in high

mountains where there is a lot

of rainfall. They then rushthrough grasslands which are

important for growing wheat and

herding sheep and cattle

(Assyria). Their final journey isacross a very flat plain

(Babylonia) where the only

plants are found close to the

rivers. Beyond is sandy deserts

or dry earth. Here the rivers splitinto many different streams until

the water eventually flows into

the sea.

The Fertile

Crescent

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Mesopotamia also known as theFertile Crescent

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Mesopotamia

The Fertile Crescent

aka The Cradle of Civilization

By 3500 B.C. small farming and fishing villages throughout Mesopotamia were growing into

towns and cities as more crops and animals were grown to feed the people. Thus, the

beginning of a civilization. Many Mesopotamians were very clever and developed new waysof getting around such as in carts with wheels. The people also came up with a method to

help them remember things by inventing a form of writing we call cuneiform. The first people

to do this lived in the south and are called the Sumerians.

The Sumerians lived in cities surrounded by rich farmland. They travelled to neighboring

towns in boats along the rivers and canals that crisscrossed the land. They also led donkeysloaded with goods north along the river banks to exchange for stone and metal. The cities

became very wealthy and sometimes war broke out between them. Each city had its own king

who was the most important person. He had to lead the army but he was also expected to

build temples for the gods who were thought to control the universe.

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Sumerians

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Cuneiform: Wedge-Shaped Writing

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Cuneiform Writing

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Schooling The Tablet House

Schooling for the Sumerians began around the ages of

5 or 6. The first thing a student had to learn was to

make a tablet and handle a stylus. He had to learn to

make a simple cuneiform wedge and then practice thehorizontal, vertical and sloping wedges over and over

again. The next stage was to learn the basic sign list

and the different readings of each sign.

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Deciphering Cuneiform

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People's names were used by students to learn how to

string signs together to build up words. Next the pupil

would start to use a school tablet - a round, bun-shaped piece of clay.

The teacher would write out three lines on one side of

the tablet. The student would have to study thesebefore turning the tablet over and trying to reproduce

what the teacher had written.

Finally, around the age of ten or eleven, the pupil wouldbe considered a scribe and learn to write literature or

use numbers for accounting, measurement, and

surveying.

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Sumerian Scribes

Tablet House

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