Life in Mesopotamia

Interesting websites for getting started looking around

Hammurabi and his Code:
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp
http://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1583963
City of Babylon:
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/47575/Babylon/529/The-ancient-city
Mesopotamian life in general:
http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/mesopotamialife/index.php
Artifacts from Mesopotamia, highlights from the collection of the University of
Chicago:
http://oi.uchicago.edu/collections/highlights/highlights-collection-daily-life
The role of women in ancient Mesopotamia:
http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/lesson2.html

and more: see the class website!

Pay close attention to online resources suggested in class!

content to be dealt with

1. Life in a Sumerian city-state
a. Social class
b. Jobs
c. Education
d. Social life
e. Civic life
f. Religious life
g. Family life
h. Etc.
2. Hammurabi
a. Life
b. Code
3. Sargon
4. City of Babylon
5. Generalities of Mesopotamian civilization

Life in Mesopotamia
inquiry-based projects
(working in small groups, all students will do 1, 2, & 3)
1. Text message conversation between two Sumerians
a. Who are your characters? ideas:
i. two kids at scribe school?
ii. Two people with different jobs?
iii.Two kids from different social classes?
iv. Get your characters approved before getting started writing
b. At a minimum, you must discuss the following things:
i. Religion
ii. Work
iii.King
iv. Food
v. Agriculture
vi. Technology
vii.
Writing
2. Common craft video (you will be assigned either A, B, or C) :
a. King Hammurabi reflecting on his life and accomplishments,

pride and regrets, how he hopes to be remembered

b. King Sargon reflecting on his life and accomplishments, pride and
regrets, how he hopes to be remembered
c. tell the story of Gilgamesh
3. Glogster tourism poster for Sumer
4. Paint a picture or draw a detailed map of the city of Babylon at its

high point of power (or some other visual representation)

Life in Mesopotamia
ASSIGNMENT ONE
Your text message conversation between two Sumerians must reference all of the following
listed aspects of civilization in a meaningful way. Though you may focus on two or three
elements, you must include intelligent references to all.

religion
work
King
the city state

farming/food
social class
writing
technology

Content is the biggest part of the grade. (30/50)

Written quality is part of the grade, too: grammar, spelling, vocabulary. (10/50)
Presentation is also relevant: neat, attractive, creative. (10/50)
how long? minimum 30 lines (not counting greetings and goodbyes)

YOU WILL HAND IN A DRAFT OF THE COMPLETED TEXT DURING

CLASS ON FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER 2014 Friday 6 November 2015.

Life in Mesopotamia
ASSIGNMENT TWO

Common craft video

either KING HAMMURABI or KING SARGON reflecting on his life
and accomplishments, pride and regrets, how he hopes to be
remembered or tell the tale of GILGAMESH.
If you are doing one of the Kings, the King will be the narrator of the
video. If you have Gilgamesh, your narrator will likely be just a narrator.
The video will include at least TEN scene changes (drawings pushed
by hand on and off the screen, with narration) and last at least two
minutes.

Grade criteria:

accuracy of content (10)

depth of content (10)
relevance of content (10)
neat, creative, colorful, bold, and attractive illustrations (10)
organized presentation (5)
neat and prepared final video (5)
You will begin working on this upon handing in the draft of assignment
one (text message conversation). You will have Monday and Tuesday of
next week to prepare this video, and will record the video in class on
Wednesday.