Transcript LIFE IN SUMER

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Walk-In
Take out notebook, folder, pencil box. Put away backpack.
C’s, please get the textbooks.
SILENCE WHEN THE BELL GOES.
Copy the question and answer in sentences:
Why was it possible for some people in
Sumer to have jobs like potters, weavers or
scribes (people who could write)?
Answer
• People could develop skills as potters, weavers
and scribes when the farmers had grown a
SURPLUS of food, so not everyone had to be a
farmer in order to survive.
LIFE IN SUMER
Sumer
• Sumer was a region in southern Mesopotamia, in
which the first civilization formed about 3,300 B.C.
• It contained CITY-STATES, which were cities and
nearby farmlands.
• Each city-state ruled itself.
Imagine you live in Sumer
• What are some good things you might celebrate?
• What kinds of catastrophes could happen?
• How do you interpret natural disasters like floods, fires
and diseases?
• How would you choose a leader to help you through
those bad times?
TOP TEN LIST FOR LIVING IN SUMER!
• Work with a partner. EACH PARTNER MAKES A
LIST.
• Read pages 89-92.
• List the TOP TEN reasons to live in Sumer!
• Write the reason on the left side of your paper, and
why it was important on the right side.
Questions to Consider…
• What were some advantages of city life?
• What kinds of jobs could people have?
• How did the city deal with crowding? How were the streets
arranged?
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Were there leaders, and if so, how did they do on leading?
Did anyone record the details of their lives, and if so, how?
What kinds of technology emerged?
Where could people meet to share ideas and supplies?
Hand in your Top Ten List
• Make sure your name is on your paper!
• Each partner needs to turn in a paper. It
is okay if the lists are the same, but each
person has to hand one in.
Religions in Sumer
Polytheism
• Early people often practiced polytheism (the
belief in many gods and goddesses) because it
helped them to understand the good and bad
things happening around them.
• They appointed a priest to interpret (figure out)
what the gods were thinking.
Ziggurat
• They built ZIGGURATS that were the city
center, where the priest ruled, grain and other
goods were counted, and people prayed
together.
• See page 93 for diagram.
Sumerian society
Sumer had social classes.
King and priests – leaders believed to have a
link to the gods. When cities were attacked,
people chose a leader to protect them, who
became a king. Often, his son would be the next
king.
Upper classes – rich landowners, government
members, merchants.
Free people – farmers and artisans.
Slaves – Often prisoners of war, used as cheap
labor.
Draw a Ziggurat!
• Using the diagram on page 93, draw a ziggurat the
best you can.
• Label parts of your diagram using the captions on
page 93 to help you.
• Imagine you are a Sumerian coming to the Ziggurat.
Write a paragraph on what you might see and do
there.
Sumerian Inventions
SUMERIAN INVENTIONS
READ PAGES 99-102
• Read and answer the questions on your small sheet.
Create an advertisement poster!
• Make an advertisement for either a
• Plow
• Wheel (for wagons or pottery)
• Arithmetic book (and how math was used)
• Writing tools (stylus and clay tablet) and how to write
In your poster…
• Use drawings, bullets, captions, and decorations to
make a Sumerian want to buy your product!
• Be PERSUASIVE in your writing – make the person
feel like they have to have this product!
• Show your work during the gallery-walk, when we
will learn from each other’s posters!
Look at this Cuneiform writing!
•View the symbols created
for Cuneiform writing!