Do Now: Respond to the question “why is writing important?” (think about what you use writing for, what has been written in history and why that matters?) ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________ Directions: As we are reading the following passage, highlight key details that would have to do with the economics of Mesopotamia. Remember, economics is what you do with the goods you produce, and how you acquire new goods. The Sumerians were one of the earliest urban societies to emerge in the world; in Southern Mesopotamia more than 5000 years ago. They developed a writing system whose wedgeshaped strokes would influence the style of writing in the same geographical area for the next 3000 years. Eventually, all of these diverse writing systems became known as cuneiform. It is actually possible to trace the invention of the Sumerian writing system. For 5000 years before the appearance of writing in Mesopotamia, there were small clay objects in random shapes called clay tokens, that were used for counting agricultural and man made goods. As time went by, the ancient Mesopotamians realized that they needed a way to keep all the clay tokens securely together (to prevent loss, theft, etc), so they started putting multiple clay tokens into a large, hollow clay container which they then sealed up for protection. However, once sealed, it was hard to remember how many tokens were inside the container. To solve this problem, the Mesopotamians started stamping pictures of the clay tokens (which represented the number of goods they had) on the surface of the clay container with a stylus. For example, if there were five clay tokens inside, they would stamp the picture of the token five times, and so problem of what and how many inside the container was solved. Eventually, the ancient Mesopotamians stopped using clay tokens altogether, and simply stamped the symbol of the clay tokens on separate wet clay surfaces. In addition to symbols derived from clay tokens, they also added other symbols that were more pictographic, or a picture of the object, they resemble the natural object they represent. Moreover, instead of repeating the same picture over and over again to represent multiple objects of the same type, they used different kinds of small marks to "count" the number of objects, thus adding a system for counting objects to their system of symbols. The Sumerian writing system during the early periods was constantly changing. The original direction of writing was from top to bottom, but for reasons unknown, it changed to lefttoright very early on (perhaps around 3000 BCE). This also affected the orientation of the signs by rotating all of them 90° counterclockwise. Another change in this early system involved the "style" of the signs. The early signs were more "linear" in that the strokes making up the signs were lines and curves. But starting after 3000 BCE these strokes started to evolve
Transcript
Do Now : Respond to the question “why is writing important?” (think about what you use writing for, what has been written in history and why that matters?)
Directions: As we are reading the following passage, highlight key details that would have to do with the economics of Mesopotamia. Remember, economics is what you do with the goods you produce, and how you acquire new goods.
The Sumerians were one of the earliest urban societies to emerge in the world; in Southern Mesopotamia
more than 5000 years ago. They developed a writing system whose wedge-‐shaped strokes would influence the style
of writing in the same geographical area for the next 3000 years. Eventually, all of these diverse writing systems
became known as cuneiform . It is actually possible to trace the invention of the Sumerian writing system. For 5000 years before the
appearance of writing in Mesopotamia, there were small clay objects in random shapes called clay tokens, that were
used for counting agricultural and man made goods. As time went by, the ancient Mesopotamians realized that they
needed a way to keep all the clay tokens securely together (to prevent loss, theft, etc), so they started putting
multiple clay tokens into a large, hollow clay container which they then sealed up for protection. However, once
sealed, it was hard to remember how many tokens were inside the container. To solve this problem, the
Mesopotamians started stamping pictures of the clay tokens (which represented the number of goods they had) on
the surface of the clay container with a stylus. For example, if there were five clay tokens inside, they would stamp
the picture of the token five times, and so problem of what and how many inside the container was solved.
Eventually, the ancient Mesopotamians stopped using clay
tokens altogether, and simply stamped the symbol of the clay tokens
on separate wet clay surfaces. In addition to symbols derived from
clay tokens, they also added other symbols that were more
pictographic, or a picture of the object, they resemble the natural
object they represent. Moreover, instead of repeating the same
picture over and over again to represent multiple objects of the same
type, they used different kinds of small marks to "count" the number
of objects, thus adding a system for counting objects to their system of
symbols.
The Sumerian writing system during the early periods was
constantly changing. The original direction of writing was from top to
bottom, but for reasons unknown, it changed to left-‐to-‐right very early
on (perhaps around 3000 BCE). This also affected the orientation of
the signs by rotating all of them 90° counterclockwise. Another change
in this early system involved the "style" of the signs. The early signs
were more "linear" in that the strokes making up the signs were lines
and curves. But starting after 3000 BCE these strokes started to evolve
Chelsea Singlehurst
Chelsea Singlehurst
This assignment, a primary source analysis of the uses of cuneiform, was the first real extended written response assignment that the students had to do. In our initial stages of writing, we worked with students on basic formulaic writing. The rubric that we used for this assignment was the “perfagraph” (perfect paragraph) rubric that we use to teach formulaic writing. After the first two quarters, students were able to move on to more advanced rubrics, but in the first quarter, students focused more on formulas for writing.The student samples in this document show this scoring through their ability to simply create an introductory and conclusion sentence, and give three supporting facts. If a student either had irrelevant, grammatically incorrect, or less than three supporting facts they were docked. Generally throughout high school a five paragraph essay is what they can expect until they learn further methods of writing, and as such need to learn to find at least three supporting facts.’
Chelsea Singlehurst
Singlehurst Dramatic Academic Growth Evidence
into wedges, thus changing the visual style of the signs from linear to "cuneiform".
adapted from “http://www.ancientscripts.com/sumerian.html”
Directions: For the following primary sources fill out your primary source analysis tables below with guidance from your teacher. It is okay to jump around the columns, there is no correct order.
First Resource: Accounting
tablet
Transcription Drawing of the cuneiform
OBSERVE REFLECT QUESTION
what do you notice? Why does this matter? Where did it come from? What can you learn from this?
What do you wonder about.. who? what? when? where? why? how?
Second: Bill of Sale Transcription Drawing of the cuneiform
OBSERVE REFLECT QUESTION
what do you notice? Why does this matter? Where did it come from? What can you learn from this?
What do you wonder about.. who? what? when? where? why? how?
Third: Receipt of Livestock Transcription Drawing of the cuneiform
OBSERVE REFLECT QUESTION
what do you notice? Why does this matter? Where did it come from? What can you learn from this?
What do you wonder about.. who? what? when? where? why? how?
Economics In Mesopotamia there may not have been money to buy and sell with, but there was a lot of buying and
selling done by trading (i.e. the barter system) and assisted by the development of a writing system.
Writing's main purpose was to keep track of debit and credit accounts for merchants. The function of a
scribe was similar to that of an account; just balancing the amounts owed to one party by another.
Writing later became useful for many other reasons, but writing's economic use caused its invention!
Once a contract was done between two parties a cylinder wheel sealed the deal.
How did farmers learn the secrets of trading?
Trade and commerce developed in Mesopotamia because the farmers learned how to irrigate their land. They
could now grow more food than they could eat. They used the surplus to trade for goods and services. Ur, a city-‐state
in Sumer, was a major center for commerce and trade. Temples were the chief employer and location for commercial
activity.
What if you needed some important things. How could you get them?
The system of trade developed from people's need. People in the mountains needed wheat and barley.
Mountain people could give timber, limestone, gold, silver, and copper. Flax was grown in the river valley and then
woven into cloth. Linen garments were worn by priests and holy men. Wool and wool cloth was also important for
trade. Wood was used for ships and furniture.
Imagine having to take your boat apart after traveling down a river. Read on to find out why these people had
to do this. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers made transport of goods easy and economical. Riverboats were used to
transport goods for trade. Strong currents moved the boats downstream, but because of the current they could travel
in one direction only. The boats had to be dismantled after the trip downstream.
The Mesopotamians were clever people and used interesting types of boats. The Mesopotamians used three
types of boats: wooden boats with a triangular sail, the turnip or Guffa boat which was shaped like a tub, made of
reeds and covered with skin, and the kalakku which was a raft of timbers supported by inflated animal skins. The
invention of the wheel by the Sumerians revolutionized the transportation. Wagons could be used to carry heavy
loads.
Directions: Use the following outline and prompt to create a perfagraph explaining the given P1 (work in the space below if you need more room
Outline:
P1: Cuneiform was an important economic tool in ancient Mesopotamia.
¿¿¿ DID YOU USE TRANSITION WORDS, SPECIFIC EXAMPLES, AND EXPLANATIONS ???
2 1 0 My P1 sentence introduces the
paragraph by restating the prompt. My P1 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P1 sentence addresses the prompt and contains a transition word/phrase, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P1 sentence does not address the prompt.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P4 summarizes my power paragraph and restates my P1. If this paragraph is a part of a longer piece of writing, my P4 contains a transition word/phrase .
My P4 sums up my power paragraph, relates to P1 and restates the prompt, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P4 does not sum up my power paragraph or relate to P1.
2 1 0 My P1 sentence introduces the
paragraph by restating the prompt. My P1 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P1 sentence addresses the prompt and contains a transition word/phrase, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P1 sentence does not address the prompt.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P4 summarizes my power paragraph and restates my P1. If this paragraph is a part of a longer piece of writing, my P4 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P4 sums up my power paragraph, relates to P1 and restates the prompt, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P4 does not sum up my power paragraph or relate to P1.
2 1 0 My P1 sentence introduces the
paragraph by restating the prompt. My P1 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P1 sentence addresses the prompt and contains a transition word/phrase, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P1 sentence does not address the prompt.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P4 summarizes my power paragraph and restates my P1. If this paragraph is a part of a longer piece of writing, my P4 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P4 sums up my power paragraph, relates to P1 and restates the prompt, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P4 does not sum up my power paragraph or relate to P1.
2 1 0 My P1 sentence introduces the
paragraph by restating the prompt. My P1 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P1 sentence addresses the prompt and contains a transition word/phrase, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P1 sentence does not address the prompt.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P2 includes sentence start offs and supports my P1 sentence.
I may not have used a start off but my P2 supports my P1. My P2 may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P2 does not support my P1.
My P4 summarizes my power paragraph and restates my P1. If this paragraph is a part of a longer piece of writing, my P4 contains a transition word/phrase.
My P4 sums up my power paragraph, relates to P1 and restates the prompt, but may include grammatical or spelling errors.
My P4 does not sum up my power paragraph or relate to P1.
