The Geography & Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia

Aim: What was the significance of Geography on Mesopotamia?

The CCR anchor standards and high school standards in literacy work in tandem to define college and career readiness expectations—the former providing broad standards, the latter providing additional specificity.

Grades 9 & 10

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.3

Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

Craft and Structure

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.5

Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6

Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.7

Integrate quantitative or technical analysis (e.g., charts, research data) with qualitative analysis in print or digital text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.8

Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claims.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.9

Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.10

By the end of grade 10, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 9–10 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Grades 11 & 12

Key Ideas and Details

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1

Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.2

Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3

Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Craft and Structure

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.5

Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.6

Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.7

Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.8

Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.9

Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.10

By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11–CCR text complexity

Achievements of Mesopotamia

Some of the most important inventions in human history were made in ancient Mesopotamia.

Inventions, Science and Mathematics

Sumerians probably invented

wheel
sailboat
tools and weapons of copper and bronze
earliest writing system
- cuneiform – symbol writing on clay tablets
calendar
- divided into 12 months

Babylonians

number system based on 60
- basis for our clock time: seconds and minutes

Building

Sumerians were the world’s first city-builders

lacked stone and timber
used mud bricks and crushed reeds
constructed
- walled cities
- temples with arches
- stepped pyramids – ziggurats

Mesopotamia's 1st Empire

Sargon - Founder of the World’s 1st Empire
Akkadian Empire
Traded Extensively for Timber & Wine, gave them Farm goods in exchange
Took over Trade Routes
Unified the City States
Expanded North (To present day Syria)
Expanded West (To Mediterranean Coast)

Babyonian Empire

Hammurabi - Ruled Empire 500 Years after Sargon
Hammurabi developed a set of laws called the Code of Hammurabi
Sumerian City-States rebelled against Hammurabi's empire and it was destroyed
60 years later the Babylonians rebuilt their city and their empire

Codes of Law - Rules and Regulations to govern a society.

Code of Hammurabi

Discovered in 1901 in Susa
Pillar with over 200 laws
One of the oldest code of laws. (4,000 years old)
Showed Slavery existed in Babylonia.
Not everyone was treated the same. Different laws for different groups of people.

Classwork & Homework

Lesson Powerpoint: Mesopotamia Review

Classwork: Hammurabi Worksheet

Homework: Assignments