Mesopotamia

The William Penn Charter School Sixth Grade. This multimedia presentation designed by 6th graders is one of many ways that students demonstrate their knowledge of their specific civilization.

"In general, women's rights in Mesopotamia were not equal to those of men. But in early periods women were free to go out to the marketplaces, buy and sell, attend to legal matters for their absent men, own their own property, borrow and lend, and engage in business for themselves. High status women, such as priestesses and members of royal families, might learn to read and write and be given considerable administrative authority..." -[ 2001 Women In World History Curriculum]-

"The name Mesopotamia (meaning "the land between the rivers") refers to the geographic region which lies near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and not to any particular civilization. In fact, over the course of several millennia, many civilizations developed, collapsed, and were replaced in this fertile region. The land of Mesopotamia is made fertile by the irregular and often violent flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. While these floods aided agricultural endeavors by adding rich silt to the soil every year, it took a tremendous amount of human labor to successfully irrigate the land and to protect the young plants from the surging flood waters..." -[]-

"A seventh grade World History/World Geography unit designed to be used by both students and teachers. It is designed in such a way that it can be used by students as an educational resource supplementary to the traditional social studies textbook..."

From the vocabulary section - TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES - "The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers begin in eastern Turkey, flow in a southeast direction, converge in southeast Iraq, and empty in the Persian Gulf. In ancient times, the land between the twin rivers was called Mesopotamia which was the site of the world's first civilization."

"Mesopotamia stands at the very dawn of human recorded history; we are often fooled into thinking of Mesopotamia as some distant relative, but it is, in fact, a culture stunningly different from our own."From this page you can learn about it's life, it's words, it's gods, and it's writing... -[1996, Richard Hooker]-

Along with factors such as war and changes in the environment, scientists now believe irrigation techniques played an important role in Mashkan-shapir's collapse. The same process that allowed farming in this region also eventually made it impossible to farm. Irrigation has a Catch-22: if irrigation water is allowed to sit on the fields and evaporate, it leaves behind mineral salts; if attempts are made to drain off irrigation water and it flows through the soil too quickly, erosion becomes a problem. Scientists believe that Mashkan-shapir's collapse was caused in part by destruction of the fields by mineral salts. -[ 1997-2001 Annenberg/CPB. ]-

Image - A reconstruction of the ancient city of Ur, established around 2100 B.C. as the capital of the Mesopotamian Civilization, which arose about 3500 B.C. The people of this civilization built a wonderful city, which was centered on a temple called a ziggrat that towered above all other buildings. -[Copyright 1995 Taisei Corporation]-

"History and Culture of Early Farming Communities 9000-5000. Beginning cultivation of wild wheat and barley and domestication of dogs and sheep; inaugurating of change from food gathering to food producing culture - Karim Shahir in Zagros foothills. At Jarmo, oldest known permanent settlement: crude mud houses, wheat grown from seed, herds of goats, sheep, and pigs. Hassuna culture introduces irrigation, fine pottery, permanent dwellings; dominates culture for 1000 years, develops tradefrom Persian Gulf to Mediterranean."

From the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago - A map of ancient Mesopotamia.

A guide to web resources and classroom resources where you can Learn about the civilization of Mesopotamia.

A Collection of Contracts from Mesopotamia, c. 2300 - 428 BCE.

This page was designed by teachers to be used by fourth grade students when studying the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. It has been created in response to the Massachusetts State Frameworks which suggests the study of ancient civilizations in grade four. You will also find a list of resources and classroom activities for teacher use.

     

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