Warm-upWritten Communication

1. What is a Ziggurat? Explain using 3 details (DOK 2)2. Was Mesopotamia Monotheistic or Polytheistic? (DOK 1)3. Why did civilization begin in Mesopotamia? Give me 2 reasons. (DOK 2)

Cave PaintingsCave Paintings have been found all over the world and range from 28,000-7000 B.C

Artists used materials from the Earth to usually paint animals, as that is what their lives revolved around and what they saw every day…

CuneiformCuneiform- the earliest form of writing. It used symbols made up of wedges and lines and was pressed into wet clay with a sharp stick.

http://www.penn.museum/cgi/cuneiform.cgi

Cuneiform started as pictographs, but evolved into symbols. Pick 2 of the above words and

copy them into your journal from 3500 B.C. to 500 B.C.Want to know your

name in cuneiform? Read pages 49-51 in your Ancient World Books.

(Began around 3500 B.C.)

Like ancient Mesopotamia, Egyptians used pictures to stand for ideas or things. These pictures were called Hieroglyphics.

Hieroglyphics

What would your name be in hieroglyphics?

Hieroglyphics were written on stone, clay or Papyrus. Papyrus is a reed-like plant found in the marsh areas of the Nile River

(Began around 3000-2800 B.C.)

The Phoenician Alphabet was the worlds first alphabet. It used symbols to represent sounds rather than using pictures for objects and ideas…

Phoenician Alphabet

The alphabet had 22 symbols and was the basis for many following alphabets, including English.

Why would a simple alphabet be more valuable to civilizations rather than hieroglyphics and/or cuneiform?

Could you write your name in Phoenician?

(Began around 1200 B.C.)

http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=D02E62DA-912F-4BEC-9D18-3734B840DABB&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US

Written Language Flow ChartFrom earliest to most recent…

Cave Paintings

Cuneiform

Hieroglyphics

Phoenician Alphabet

Copy this blank chart into your journal

JAGS the following into your journal1 Apply- What forms of written communication

do you use in your life? (DOK 2)2. Compare- which of these written languages

would have been the best for trade in the Ancient World? Why? (DOK 3)

3. Predict- What do you think communication (written or other) will look like in the future? (DOK 2)

Review Questions