Transcript Writing in Mesopotamia

Anything in
BLUE
goes in your
notes
Mesopotamia
In Greek, this means, “Land
between the rivers.”
The Tigris and Euphrates
Mesopotamia is located in
the present-day country of
IRAQ.
Why did people settle in
Mesopotamia?
 The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
deposited (dropped) silt making
Mesopotamia a great place for
farming.
 Silt is loose soil and plant matter
carried by the water.
 Food is the most important thing
to have if you want to survive.
Successful Farmers
 Farmers learned how to grow
many different crops like
 Wheat, barley, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, apples
and pomegranate
 Farmers dug ditches and filled
them with water from the river so
they could easily water their crops.
This is called IRRIGATION.
SUMER
 Sumer was an area in southern
Mesopotamia where many great
cities were found.
 This region contributed many
things to all human beings.
 These contributions are called
LEGACIES.
LEGACIES OF
MESOPOTAMIA
 WHEEL and WHEELED VEHICLES
 IRRIGATION SYSTEM
 POTTERY WHEEL
 SAILBOAT
 Developed MATH & SCIENCE ideas
 CUNEIFORM
 PLOW
 A SCRIBE was an official writer. A scribe
would study for years to learn how to write
Writing in
Mesopotamia
The people of
Mesopotamia wrote in
CUNEIFORM - wedge
shaped lines
Cuneiform means wedge
shaped.
These are the cuneiform
symbols for “fallen star”
Cuneiform began as
pictures used to represent
objects but as people
began to write faster the
pictures began to simplify
and they turned into
symbols.
Watch the following
video, told from a
Mesopotamian girl’s
point of view, for all the
reasons they used
cuneiform.
Make a list in your notebook
As you are watching, list the
reasons they used cuneiform.
What did you
find?
CUNEIFORM –
Mesopotamia was the
first civilization to use
writing.
This was a system of
lines and shapes.
Laws, letter, records
and stories were
written using
Cuneiform
Religion in Mesopotamia
 The ancient Mesopotamians believed in
many gods.
 They had a god for the sun, a god for wind,
a god for fresh water, a god for salt water,
a god for air, a god for the moon, a god for
love and war, etc. etc.
 Each city-state had a god they was a special
protector
 Each family had their own personal god
 WOW. They had a lot of gods!!!
Polytheism is the belief in many gods.
Religion
• The Mesopotamians believed in many gods.
• Each city-state had both their own king and
their own gods.
• Every family had their own gods that they
prayed to.
The belief in many gods is called
POLYTHEISM
POLY = “many”
THEISM = “belief”
There is one
more important
thing that was
written in
Mesopotamia…
Let me
start by
asking you
a question:
How do we
know what is
legal or illegal?
Talk to a partner…
Having written laws is
important.
It wasn’t always like this.
Here are some silly
examples:
Anyone wearing white
socks today loses a
point off their final
average.
If you drive over the
speed limit, you will
have your car taken
away.
Is this fair?
Why not???
ONE leader from
Mesopotamia is
credited with changing
this.
His name is
Hammurabi.
THE CODE
OF
HAMMURABI
These are
the first
known
written
laws
Hammurabi had these
laws placed in all the
cities so everyone
would know the laws
(and so there could be
no excuses).
Let’s take a
look at some of
these laws.
Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi
(about 1800 B.C.)
So that the strong may not oppress the weak; to give justice to the orphan
and the widow, I have inscribed my precious words:
The following are a few of Hammurabi’s laws with respect to punitive
(punishment) responsibilities:
• If a Freeman has put out the eye of another Freeman, they shall put out
his eye.
• If he breaks the bone of another Freeman, they shall break his bone.
• If he puts out the eye of a Poor Man, or breaks the bone of a Poor Man,
he shall pay 1 mina of silver. If he puts out the eye of the Slave
of
another Free Man, he shall pay half this price.
• Should a builder build a house so poorly that it collapses on its owner, and
the owner dies, the builder shall be put to death.
• A son who strikes his father shall lose his fingers.
• If a patient dies after surgery, the surgeon shall lose his hand.
• If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition…if then the dam
breaks and all the fields be flooded; then shall he be sold for money [as
a slave], and the money shall replace the corn which he has ruined.
What are some
things that we
notice about
these laws?
Let’s take a closer look:
According to the first
paragraph, what is the
PURPOSE of the code?
The purpose of the code
is:
“If a Freeman has put
out the eye of another
Freeman, they shall put
out his eye.”
“If he breaks the bone
of another Freeman,
they shall break his
bone.”
This kind of justice is known as
“eye for an eye” justice
What does “eye for an
eye justice” mean?
Put it in your own
words:
What about the other
laws?
What do we learn
from a closer look at
the last two laws in
that excerpt?
Let’s write a few “eye
for an eye” laws for
school:
Your homework:
Write 3 “eye for an
eye” laws that would
work for your family
Perhaps it would be helpful to think
of the things that people complain
about in your house