Early Humans Unit: Discovering How Sumerian City-States Emerged
Assignments to hand in: Discovering How Sumerian City-States Emerged Graphic Organizer[Word Version] ----- Problem Description Handout (Complete Version to Print)
essential questions, shared learning target & introduction:
Essential Question - Why do people live and move where they do?
Essential Question - How does technology affect peoples' lives?
Shared Learning Target:
What will I be able to do?: You will analyze how ancient Sumerians tackled issues they had with their geographic surroundings, adapting to their settings successfully.
What idea, topic, or subject is important for you to learn and understand so that I can do this?: You will learn about how geography affects human settlement and how humans interact with their environment in order to live successfully.
What I will do to show that you know this?: You will answer critical thinking questions about how ancient Sumerians interacted with and dealt with their environment to live successfully.
Introduction:
You will view pictures of ancient Mesopotamia ("Land between two rivers") showing some sort of problem these people faced. Then you will read descriptions about them and solve the problem for them. At the end, you will learn what historians believe happened.
Step 1: The Setting or Geography: Below is a map of Mesopotamia. Notice how each city marked on the map lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, hence the name Mesopotamia. This area is currently called Iraq.
Ancient Map of Mesopotamia
Step 2: Solving Sumerian Problems: Look at each of the following pictures and their scenario/problem descriptions. Answer the Critical Thinking Questions at the end of the description, then come up with a solution to the problem. Write down TWO reasons that justify your decision. Record your answers on the back of the Description Handout.
Event A: Food Shortage
The Zagros Mountains, which are located in western Iran along the Iran-Iraq border.
Teacher Notes - What historians believe happened
Event B: Uncontrollable Water Supply
The Euphrates River at Anah in northwestern Iraq.
Event B Problem Description Handout
Teacher Notes - What historians believe happened
Event C: Building & Maintaining an Irrigation System
An irrigation canal running through farmland on the banks of the Euphrates River in Iraq.
Event C Problem Description Handout
Teacher Notes - What historians believe happened
Event D: Attacks by Neighboring Communities
The ruins of Mari, a Sumerian city from the early third millennium B.C.E. The ruins are located along the banks of the Euphrates River on the border between Iraq and Syria.
Event D Problem Description Handout
Teacher Notes - What historians believe happened
Artist's rendition of a Sumerian city-state surrounded by a wall.
Step 3: Conclusion
The first Sumerian city-states were well-protected regions on the southern Mesopotamian plains. These city-states were designed with villages and farmlands surrounding a central city. Some scholars believe that city-states grew out of cities' need to protect themselves from their neighbors during times of war. For this reason, Sumerian city-states had high walls that stretched for as far as six miles around the city. According to the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh," these strong walls had bronze entrance gates and were built of sun-dried brick that seemed to possess the "brilliance of copper." People also dug moats around the city walls to prevent enemies from entering. Most people's homes were located inside the city walls, while their farms lay outside. During a military attack, people living outside of the city's walls fled inside the city for protection.
About 15 city-states arose in the Tigris-Euphrates river valley. Many city-states may have had a population as great as 50,000 people. Near the center of the city were houses that belonged to members of the upper class, which included priests and merchants. Upper-class houses were two stories high and had woolen carpets and whitewashed mud walls. Located near the houses of the rich were one-story, middle-class homes, belonging to crafts-people and some government officials. Ordinary or lower-class Sumerians, such as fishermen and some farmers, lived in small, mud-brick houses at the edge of the city. Finally, slaves owned no property and lived in their owners' houses. Members of each city-state worshipped the city-state's particular God and paid taxes to their government and king.