How Writing Began Wheelies in Ancient Sumer Whole Cities Made of Clay Women in Trousers and Men in Skirts Hanging out in the Hanging Gardens

Mesopotamia HOW WRITING BEGAN WHEELIES IN ANCIENT SUMER WHOLE CITIES MADE OF CLAY WOMEN IN TROUSERS AND MEN IN SKIRTS HANGING OUT IN THE HANGING GARDENS

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

mesopotamia_cover.indd 1 3/10/17 3:39 PM 2 societies, economies, and political and re- Cradle of Civilization ligious systems. Long before the cities, however, bands of In the heart of modern-day Iraq, between humans searched the plain for plants and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, lies a dry, animals to eat. About 12,000 years ago, fl at, hot plain. It offers little to attract a some of these hunters and gatherers dis- casual tourist. But buried under sandy covered that the seeds they had been eat- mounds on this vast plain are the remains ing could be planted to grow more food. of Mesopotamia, “the land between two These people began to settle in villages, rivers.” Scholars call Mesopotamia “the growing crops and domesticating animals. cradle of civilization.” It was there that Some of the fi rst permanent settlements cities fi rst developed into civilizations: were at the foot of the mountains east and human communities with well-organized north of Mesopotamia. When the soil was

d CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA the Great conquered the Babylon, lay northwest of Assyrians used chariots in began with the Sumerians, Sumerian city-states. The vast Sumer on the Euphrates battle and excelled at warfare. who started building cities in territory ruled by Sargon’s River. The Babylonians cre- Eventually, Mesopotamia came southern Mesopotamia around central government, with ated a 12-month calendar. under the rule of the Persians, 3500 BCE. The Sumerians all its varied people, made Babylon was conquered by the who controlled much of the invented an early form of up Akkad, Mesopotamia’s Assyrian Empire, which arose region for about 1,000 years. writing called cuneiform. first empire. Next came the in northern Mesopotamia Around 2350 BCE, Sargon Babylonian Empire; its capital, along the Tigris River. The

C. 4500 BCE: C. 2350 BCE: The pottery-mak- 1115 BCE: C. 3100 BCE: The Akkadian ing Ubaid people The Assyrian The Sumerians king Sargon the settle southern Empire arises invent cuneiform Great conquers Mesopotamia. in northern writing, making and unifies the They develop irri- Mesopotamia. record-keeping city-states of gation. possible. Sumer.

MESOPOTAMIA’S ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

1792 BCE: C. 3500 BCE: C. 2600 BCE: Babylon grows 811 BCE: Walled Sumerian Gilgamesh is powerful under Queen Semiramis city-states king of the King Hammurabi, rules Assyria. emerge in Sumerian city of who creates a southern Uruk. Mesopotamia. code of laws for his realm.

mesopotamia_2-3.indd 2 3/10/17 3:41 PM 3 worn out, the farmers moved onto the and leadership. plain, where the soil was nourished by the Villages grew into cities and then city- annual overﬂ ow of the rivers. There was states, which sometimes warred with one little rain, so farmers needed to channel another, following their leaders’ call. For river water to irrigate the ﬁ elds. Irrigation thousands of years, civilizations rose and projects required cooperation, planning, fell on the plain of Mesopotamia.

u TODAY, THE this palace from Over time, the once-flourish- Ur, an ancient waters of the ing cities of Sumerian city. Ur Euphrates have u MESOPOTAMIA Both rivers have Mesopotamia are was surrounded shifted to the west; is part of an area their sources in reduced to mounds by branches, or today, the river is called the Fertile the mountains of brick rising from tributaries, of the 10 miles from the Crescent. Some of of northeastern the arid soil, like Euphrates River. city’s ruins. the earliest civiliza- Turkey and drain tions developed into the Persian here, along the Gulf. This map banks of the Tigris shows the area and Euphrates. today.

r MESOPOTAMIA BILL had few natural OF SALE resources; stone, 605 BCE: wood, and metal 689 BCE: The Chaldean were scarce. There WATER The Assyrians king was, however, PITCHER conquer Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar abundant clay. II rebuilds Buildings were Babylon. constructed of mud bricks, writing was done on clay MESOPOTAMIA’S ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS tablets, and the earliest sculptures were made from 612 BCE: 539 BCE: clay. The Chaldeans The Persian king and Medes sack Cyrus conquers the Assyrian Babylon. capital Nineveh, HOUSE MODEL ending the VASE Assyrian Empire.

mesopotamia_2-3.indd 3 3/10/17 3:42 PM 4 Sumerians, SUMER 3500–2006 BCE

Babylonians, The ﬁ rst civilization developed in Sumerians use mats to dry the marshes Sumer, the marshy area at the southern end of the fertile plain Assyrians, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Over time, the Sumerians converted their open villages into and More walled cities. As cities expanded their The history of Mesopota- control, they became city-states ruled by strong leaders. One such mia is measured in millen- leader, Sargon the Great, from Akkad, niums rather than centu- conquered all of Mesopotamia, ruling from c. 2334 to 2279 BCE. Sumerians ries. The ﬁ rst cities developed a system of writing that developed in the south could be used for different languag- around 3500 BCE. For the es, enabling people to keep records and transmit knowledge. They also next 3,000 years, king- developed metalworking and were doms rose and fell, em- early users of the wheel. Sumer, pires expanded and con- however, became weakened by constant warfare. It was overrun tracted, and outsiders by invaders in 2006 BCE, and the conquered and were re- region splintered into small pelled. During that time, kingdoms. three dominant civiliza- This is a statue of King Gudea, tions held center stage at who developed long-distance various times: the Sumeri- trade in timber and metal objects. ans, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians. In brief, here are their stories. BABYLONIA 1792–539 BCE

MAGNIFICENT The city of Babylon inherited the Ishtar Gate, site of grand processions MESOPOTAMIANS culture of Sumer. Under Hammurabi Hammurabi took the throne of Bab- (1792–1750 BCE), it became the seat of ylon in 1792 BCE. A skilled states- a strong central government and a man and warrior, he united rival great cultural and religious center. kingdoms and made Babylon the However, during the following centu- center of power. He claimed that the ries, Babylon was often invaded – gods told him to write a set of laws, by the Kassites and the Assyrians, for to bring justice to the land, so “the example. In 612 BCE, Babylon was dom- strong should not harm inated by Chaldeans. They, along with the weak.” This was the Medes, crushed the Assyrian Em- the Code of Hammu- pire. Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II rabi. One of its (ruled 605–562 BCE) rebuilt Babylon into laws said, “If a the greatest city in the world. Babylo- man destroy the nians created the 60-minute hour, a eye of another calendar with 12 lunar months, and man, they shall complex multiplication tables. Cyrus, destroy his eye.” king of Persia, conquered Babylonia in Another said, “If 539 BCE, ending its glory days forever. a son strike his father, they shall cut off his ﬁ ngers.”* A lion adorns *From The Code of Hammurabi, a wall at the King of Babylon by Robert Francis Harper, ed. University of entrance to Chicago Press, 1904. Babylon.

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SUMER 3500–2006 BCE ASSYRIA 1115–612 BCE

Warlike Assyrians are busy at work in a military camp In hilly northern Mesopotamia, the small city-state of Assur slowly grew to become the powerful kingdom of Assyria. Using chariots, battering rams, and armored horses, the Assyrians conquered Babylon in 689 BCE, as well as other independent states. They uprooted the people they conquered, enslaved them, and forced them into labor. These prisoners built the cities of Nineveh and Nimrud. The cities featured ornate palaces and temples and magniﬁ - cent sculptures. Their mighty walls had gateways ﬂ anked by winged bulls or lions. They even had sewage systems. Kings Tiglath-Pileser III, Sennacherib, and Ashur- banipal II made the empire grow and opened trade links. However, in 612 BCE, Chaldean people from southern Babylonia, who had gained control of Babylon, joined the Medes people from Iran and sacked the capital Nineveh. The Assyrian Empire never recovered.

Ashurnasirpal II captured wild animals and brought them to the city of Nimrud BCE for display in the BABYLONIA 1792–539 world’s ﬁ rst zoo.

Bronze statue of Hammurabi, ruler of Babylonia

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CITY ARTISANS Day-to-Day included potters, carpenters, metal workers, leather Life workers, basket The ruins of Mesopotamia weavers, and jewelers. They reveal more about kings made both neces- and battles than about the sities and luxury ordinary citizens who items. lived there. Still, artifacts and ancient writings tell us something about the day-to-day lives of the people. What was it like to live in Mesopotamia?

l MESOPOTAMIAN cylinder seals combined beauty and usefulness. Carved in stone, they produced a raised image when rolled on moist clay. The image could be used to mark a merchant’s ship- ment or stamp an official document.

d HOUSES WERE bricks. Square or a central court- WORKER STIRRING MILK made of the only rectangular, the yard. Cities were abundant build- houses were con- mazes of narrow, ing material, mud structed around winding streets. Some had drain- age systems, and some homes even had flush toilets. Trash, however, was thrown into the street until it piled up so high that steps had to be cut down toward doorways.

MESOPOTAMIAN FASHION

r EARLY GARMENTS were knee- to calf-length skirts, worn by women and men. Later, a shawl-like piece of wool was draped over one shoulder.

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l IN THE HOME, women spun sheep’s wool with hand-spin- dles. The thread was then woven into cloth, both for the family’s use and for extra income. r SURPLUS CROPS and cloth were trad- ed for wood, gold, silver, and other natural resources Mesopotamia lacked. Traders traveled far, including to the African kingdoms of Egypt and Kush. Wood from Lebanon is being unloaded from this ship.

r SONS OF WEALTHY ics, and literature. families went to Girls learned school from age cooking, spinning, six, mainly to learn and household to read and write management from cuneiform, the their mothers or wedge-shaped from the family’s writing inscribed they also learned enslaved servants. on clay tablets. about animals and Some were taught By copying texts, plants, mathemat- cuneiform at home.

WORKER STRAINING STOOL CHURNING COWSHEDMILKING CALF STIRRING MILK MILK STRAINED CREAM A COW INTO BUTTER

1 u OUTSIDE OF CITIES, They planted fig, l AT THE TOP OF 3 merchants, farmers raised pomegranate, and Mesopotamian scribes, and crafts- cattle, sheep, other fruit trees. society were people. Below goats, and pigs. Their gardens were 1 kings and their them were These animals pro- full of cucumbers, families. Next 4 farmers, hunt- 2 vided wool, meat, peas, onions, gar- came 2 large ers, and herders. At skins for leather, lic, lettuce, lentils, landowners, the lowest level of

and dairy products turnips, and 3 high-ranking gov- society were such as milk and chickpeas. ernment officials, 5 enslaved people butter. Farmers 4 military leaders, – military captives also grew wheat, and priests. The or citizens who had barley, and mil- next rung of soci- fallen into debt. 5 let in their fields. ety held

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r TEMPLES, CALLED ziggurats, dominat- Gods and Demons ed Mesopotamian cities. Ziggurats Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians were stepped, like some pyramids, shared the same basic religious beliefs and were several and gods, or deities, though the names stories tall or taller. were sometimes different. They be- Babylon’s seven- story ziggurat, lieved that human beings were created called Etemenanki, to serve the gods. Gods looked and act- is thought to be the Tower of ed like people but had supernatural Babel referred to in powers. Spirits (good and bad) and de- the Bible. mons also affected the lives of humans.

pottery, weap- ons, and makeup paints with the tools for apply- ing them. There was also evidence that servants had been buried alive with their masters, perhaps after being drugged or poisoned. This may have been done so that servants u MESOPOTAMIANS could serve their were buried with masters in the their special pos- afterlife. In the pic- sessions. In the ture to the right, a royal tombs at Ur, dead nobleman is excavators found being placed on a jewelry (above), stretcher, on which he will be carried to his grave.

the story of Noah and the Ark. One god warned a THIS LITTLE GOD ASTARTE, Sumerian king IS HOLDING A GODDESS BUILDING PEG DEITIES ALLEY and gave him OF LOVE TO SECURE THE ABU, GOD OF instructions for FOUNDATION OF VEGETATION building a large A TEMPLE boat to carry his family and live- stock. This myth u MANY MESOPOTA- may include some MIAN myths are history. Scientists ISHTAR, echoed in the have found evi- GODDESS OF Bible. One tells of dence of flooding LOVE the gods’ deci- that destroyed sion to destroy large areas of the world with a Mesopotamia great flood, like more than once.

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SICK PATIENT FATHER

PRIESTS HELPING TO CURE THE PATIENT

u ORDINARY PEOPLE and priests offered u TO INTERPRET THE and organs of food and incense will of the gods, animals. This to the gods during priests called clay model of a special festivals. In Baru examined sheep’s liver told Babylonian times, all sorts of signs, the Baru what to the most important including the look for in vari- celebration was movements of ous places on the an 11-day new stars and planets, liver in order to year’s festival. It weather, dreams, foretell the future. was held near the and the behavior spring equinox, a time when the gods were thought MAGNIFICENT to set people’s MESOPOTAMIANS fates for the next GULA, Sargon the Great ruled from 2334 GODDESS OF year. Each day of ABU GOD OF to 2279 BCE. He became the first , MEDICINE VEGETATION the festival brought empire builder by uniting northern special ceremo- and southern Mesopotamia. A nies, including one legend tells that, as a baby, he was u MESOPOTA- sandstorms in which a set adrift in a reed basket mians from the beheaded sheep and found by someone believed in ghosts desert. Other magically absorbed who took him to the and demons. demons lurked in the evil of the old royal court, where he Ghosts of those dark corners or year. The sheep later rose to power. who had not carried disease. was then thrown Similar stories were told received a proper Some good spirits into the river so about other Near Eastern burial might haunt acted as guardians that the evil could leaders, including the the living. The and helped people float away with it. biblical Moses. demon Pazuzu to ward off evil (above) brought spirits.

mesopotamia_8-9.indd 9 3/10/17 3:57 PM The Hanging Gardens of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II, ruler of noted contribution was a Babylonia from 605 to 562 series of terraced gardens bce, brought the capital city known as the Hanging Gar- of Babylon back to its former dens of Babylon. Kept lush grandeur – and then some! and green by a complex ir- The Assyrians had de- rigation system, these gar- stroyed the city around 689 dens were considered one of bce, but Nebuchadnezzar re- the Seven Wonders of the built it. He decorated temples World. Nebuchadnezzar and palaces with lavish gold may have built them to and silver ornamentation, please his wife. She missed making it the most magnifi- the forested mountains of cent city of the day. His most Media, her homeland.

mesopotamia_10-11.indd 10 3/10/17 3:58 PM mesopotamia_10-11.indd 11 3/10/17 3:58 PM 12 Accomplishments of the Mesopotamians Long before the modern world ever knew about the splendors of Mesopotamia, it had beneﬁ ted from the accomplishments of this long-lost world. The Mesopota- mians were the ﬁ rst people known to for transportation study the skies, use the arch or the wheel, (perhaps inspired by their pottery compile laws, and keep written records. wheels). Wheels Their legacy was passed down to us by the helped animals people they conquered and by the people u DO YOU LIKE SKATE- them without the pull heavy loads, boards, rollerblades, Mesopotamians, and they made the who conquered them. Here are some of and bicycles? We who were the first battle chariot a for- their achievements. wouldn’t have any of to use the wheel midable weapon.

l MESOPOTAMIAN builders were the KING SENNACHERIB first to use the WATCHES arch, an advance that allowed doorways and roofs to hold more weight.

ROLLER

r A HUMAN-HEADED, BUCKET GANG KEEPS ROLLERS winged, four-ton WET bull sculpture is moved from a raft onto a sledge. It is pulled uphill by a chain of captives, over logs, or rollers, that serve as wheels.

l THIS MESOPO- So, tamian is care- you want anchovies fully studying with a palm tree. that ? Mesopotamians were great list makers, compiling descriptive lists of plants, animals, and minerals. u THIS BOARD GAME was played by r MESOPOTAMIANS Mesopotamians, were the first to but the rules have use baked-brick not been found. ovens, not pits of The 4,500-year- hot coals. Some old clay, wheeled ovens had cooking animal at right was ranges for boiling most likely a toy. and frying food.

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d THE ASSYRIANS smashed a hole in were probably the a city’s wall, while first to develop archers in the car’s an armored “car” tower fought off to use in battle. those defending The battering ram the city.

u ASSYRIANS USED cross a river, either inflatable animal to escape an skins as personal enemy or to attack u MESOPOTAMIANS pottery-making, they floats to help them one. were the first learned to make chemists. They glass. They also used natural mate- discovered that cop- r THIS LENS WAS rials to make such per and tin could be made by Assyrians. useful items as combined to make It is the earliest soap, herbal medi- a stronger metal, known example cines, and dyes. By bronze. of glass used for studying the soil magnification. and sand used in

r MUCH OF OUR modern number MAGNIFICENT system is based MESOPOTAMIANS on the number After her husband died (around 811 10. It probably BCE), Queen Semiramis ruled the Assyrian goes back to Empire until her son was old enough people count- to take the throne. Her husband had ing on their 10 destroyed Babylon in fingers. The a military campaign. Mesopotamians She restored it to its ROLLER used this decimal former magnificence. system and a Semiramis extended the more complex empire as far south as one built around the Arabian Peninsula, the base of 60. and north to Turkey. That one is were also the first Some people think reflected today in to use place value she invented trousers, how we measure in a number sys- which were useful for traveling in comfort seconds, minutes, tem and the first on military campaigns. They also made and hours, and to invent a symbol it hard for an enemy to see if a horseback also the degrees that indicates noth- rider was male or female. in a circle. ing, or zero. Mesopotamians

l So, MESOPOTAMIANS you want recorded the positions anchovies with of bright stars. They that ? named constella- tions and divided the sky into 12 sections, each named after a nearby constellation. Our names for the 12 lu THE SUMERIANS signs of the zodiac are probably invented based on Latin and stringed musi- Greek translations of cal instruments, Mesopotamian names. such as the harp Which of the Mesopotamian and lyre. Burial accomplishments of astronomers may have sites at Ur contain the Mesopotamians recorded the earliest beautifully carved do you think is most sightings of Halley’s instruments, Comet. evidence of their important? popularity.

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GILGAMESH TAMES A The Legendary Gilgamesh . . . LION CUB

Little is known about the THE DEATH OF ENKIDU lenging Humbaba, real Gilgamesh, a Sumerian One adventure a guardian-demon. of Enkidu and Humbaba pleads for who ruled the city-state of Gilgamesh involves his life, but Enkidu Uruk, probably around Gilgamesh’s kills him. The gods 2600 BCE. Still, he is possi- attempt to make decide Enkidu must a name for die. Gilgamesh bly the most famous of all himself by chal- mourns his friend. Mesopotamians. He is the hero of stories ﬁ rst told in the markets of Mesopotamia and later written down as one of the world’s ﬁ rst ep- ics. Twelve tablets that tell parts of the tale were found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurba- nipal. In these tales, Gil- GILGAMESH SEEKS Utnapishtim tells IMMORTALITY Gilgamesh the story gamesh is half god and half Gilgamesh travels of the flood, in which man. He is a great builder across the waters the gods saved him and warrior, but he’s not a of death to speak and his family. to the wise man He challenges perfect human being! Utnapishtim, the Gilgamesh to stay only human to have awake for six days GILGAMESH MEETS walls around the escaped death. and seven nights. ENKIDU city, the gods cre- Gilgamesh fails. When Gilgamesh’s ate the wild man people complain Enkidu to challenge to the gods that Gilgamesh. Enkidu he works them and Gilgamesh too hard building fight.

*From The Epic of Gilgamesh translated by N. K. Sandars. Penguin Books, 1960. As Gilgamesh pre- Made-Young.” pares to return to Gilgamesh finds the

* Uruk, Utnapishtim plant, but a serpent offers him a final carries it away. Finally, Gilgamesh impressed, and secret. It’s a plant Thus, Gilgamesh is throws Enkidu. they become called “The-Old- destined to die a The wild man is friends. Man-Will-Be- mortal death.

mesopotamia_14-15.indd 14 3/10/17 4:16 PM 15 . . . and the Origins of Writing It is said that “history begins at ans invented writing. Of course, Sumer” because history is the they didn’t start by writing history. written record of events, and Their earliest writing kept track of around 3100 BCE the Sumeri- business transactions.

r WITH WRITING enclosed in a clay SMALL CLAY TOKENS, PROBABLY came the desire envelope with the symbolizing items such as grain to send a letter. name and address or sheep, were an early form of a In Mesopotamia, of the recipient. bill that went with shipments. The that could tokens were put into clay spheres. be done! The The spheres had cylinder seals Mesopotamians rolled over them to show records. invented the earliest example of a postal envelope. A letter was written on a small clay tablet and shows how l SINCE MESOPO- cuneiform writ- tamia had few ing developed, trees for making from early picto- paper, writing was graphs (picture scratched on clay writing) to later tablets. This chart symbols.

MAGNIFICENT MESOPOTAMIANS Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon the Great, learned to read and write at an early age. When she was a teenager, her father made her high priestess to Nanna, the moon god of Sumer. She held the position for 25 years, expressing her religious feelings in poems. Besides penning a series of 43 hymns to the temples of Sumer and Akkad, she wrote a cycle of poetry to the moon goddess Inanna. Enheduanna is the first author to be known by name.

r THE BABYLONIAN (parallel lines in r ASSYRIAN KING map of the world the circle), crossed Ashurbanipal is the earliest by Babylon (top (668–627 BCE) known world rectangle in the founded the first map. A copy circle), and nearby national library, at is shown here. countries (small Nineveh. Clay tab- prepared that listed Made 2,700 years circles). lets were stored on the contents and ago, it shows the shelves in baskets. locations of the Euphrates River Catalogs were various baskets.

mesopotamia_14-15.indd 15 3/10/17 4:05 PM 16 How We Know What We Know When Babylon fell to the Persian king these later civilizations. It was Cyrus in 539 BCE, Mesopotamia’s glory completely forgotten. days came to an end. As the centuries The Persian rulers were followed by the passed, people remembered less and less Greeks, the Arabs, and the Turks. When of Mesopotamia’s achievements. Once- Britain defeated Turkey in World War I, glorious cities were buried in the sands. the land became part of the British Empire Cuneiform was replaced by other and was given the new name of Iraq. The types of writing. Ancient Greek historical Arab natives of Iraq fought for indepen- writing and the Old Testament kept alive dence, which they won in 1932. More an awareness that Assyria than a century before that, however, schol- and Babylon had existed. But ars and adventurers had begun to redis- Sumer had died out long before cover Mesopotamia.

urPAUL-EMILE Botta became French consul at Mosul in the Otto- u IN 1811, BRIT- made sketches, man (Turkish) ish business agent and dug up cunei- Empire in 1843. l IN 1877, Claudius Rich, sta- form tablets. This He swore to fi nd French diplomat tioned in Baghdad, is considered the the lost cities of Ernest de Sarzec visited the ruins of beginning of Assyria. While ex- was assigned to Babylon. He sur- Mesopotamian cavating at Khor- the port of Bas- veyed the site, archaeology. sabad, he uncov- ra, which is at ered the remains the head of the University of Penn- of the great pal- Persian Gulf. sylvania. Its goal ace of Sargon II. Alerted by an of- was to explore the Later, Englishman fi cial to an inter- ancient city of Ur. Austen Henry La- esting site called Woolley did some yard unearthed Telloh, Sarzec remarkable detec- palace treasures, decided to ex- tive work when he such as this plore. Between discovered pieces winged bull. 1877 and 1878, of gold near a hole l AN ENERGETIC he found many in the ground. He scholar, Gertrude inscribed tablets poured plaster into Bell had the job of and cylinder the hole, and it controlling archae- seals. Sarzec hardened in the ological digs in Iraq had discovered u FROM 1922 TO space, which had during British rule the remains of a 1934, Sir Charles been left by the de- of the area. She Sumerian city. At Leonard Woolley led caying wood of a granted permits the time, the a joint excavation harp. The plaster only for single sites very existence of team from the Brit- cast made possible with well-defi ned a Sumerian ish Museum and the this reconstruction limits. Her work put culture was of the harp. an end to random questioned by treasure hunting. some scholars.

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u In 1835, British soldier Hen- ry Rawlinson risked his life many times. He was studying writings 300 feet up a cliff face in Behistun, Persia (left). By comparing writing in three lan- guages – Old Per- sian, Elamite, and Babylonian – he eventually broke the code. His work enabled later scholars to read Akkadi- an cuneiform and thus Sumerian.

u Until Iraq’s former leader Sad- dam Hussein began a project to drain the marshes near the Persian Gulf, Marsh Arabs lived there in homes made of reeds, much like Mesopo- tamia’s earliest res- idents.

mesopotamia_16-17.indd 17 3/10/17 4:08 PM 18 Activities

Imagine that you are a reporter in ancient Sumer. A Sumerian has built the first wheeled cart. Compose WRITE A a narrative story announcing this innovation. Invent details: Tell your readers who built the cart and how that NARRATIVE person expects the invention to affect people’s lives.

CREATE AN ADVERTISEMENT Suppose you are a Mesopotamian trader. Choose something that you trade and create an advertisement for your business. Your ad must help persuade people to buy the goods you are selling. Provide details to convince them.

Mesopotamia_18-19.indd 18 3/10/17 4:09 PM 19 MAKE CONNECTIONS WITH THESE RELATED TITLES

Archaeology Language Ancient Egypt Understanding the daily lives of ancient Language is more than just the words Pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and people is the driving force behind and sounds we use to communicate. gods: This once-powerful civilization archaeology. The pottery, art, tools, The study of language helps us under- left behind breathtaking monuments and ruins early civilizations left behind stand our past. From ancient hiero- and priceless treasures. Discover the provide a window into their habits and glyphs and the first papyrus scrolls to people and practices that make Ancient cultures. Learn all about the essential sign language and computer program- Egypt so alluring to the historians who tasks of archaeologists, from mapping ming, language has long been at the have uncovered the mysteries of this a site and sifting dirt to using brushes center of human society. ancient civilization. to unearth delicate artifacts.

CALIFORNIA STANDARDS

HSS 6.2 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social structures of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush. 6.2.1 Locate and describe the major river systems and discuss the physical settings that supported permanent settlement and early civilizations. 6.2.2 Trace the devel- opment of agricultural techniques that permitted the production of economic surplus and the emergence of cities as centers of culture and power. 6.2.3 Understand the relationship between religion and the social and political order in Mesopotamia and Egypt. 6.2.4 Know the significance of Hammurabi’s Code. 6.2.9 Trace the evolu- tion of language and its written forms.

LEARN MORE ONLINE! Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills: Chronological and Spatial Thinking • The region once known as • In Mesopotamia, religion and 3. Students use a variety of maps and Mesopotamia is a stretch of land kingship were intertwined. documents to identify physical and cultural along and between two large riv- Mesopotamians believed in many features of neighborhoods, cities, states, and countries and to explain the historical ers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. different gods – a religious system migration of people, expansion and dis- known as polytheism. integration of empires, and the growth of • In Sumer, city-states emerged as economic systems. centers of culture and power. Each • Mesopotamians created technology city was surrounded by a wall pro- used in every area of life. Their tecting it from enemies. paved roads made travel easier.

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Editor: Jennifer Dixon Fact-Checker: Nayda Rondon, Amy Art Direction: Hopkins/Baumann, McIlwaine Brobel Design Designers: Ian Brown, Ed Gabel, Author: Lois Markham, James Waller David Ricculli, Jeremy Rech Author Team Lead: Amy K. Hughes Photo Research: Ted Levine, Elisabeth Morgan President and CEO: Activities Writer: Marjorie Frank Ted Levine Chairman and Founder: Proofreader: Paula Glatzer Mark Levine

GRADE 6 TITLES tames the lion), p.15 bottom center (Babylonian map), Musee de Louvre, Paris: p.15 top center (clay tokens), Erich Lessing: p.15 bottom right (King Ashurbanipal); Scala: p.4 World’s Early People Ancient India center (Gudea, king of Lagash), p.7 (milking scene), p.13 top right (bronze chariot), p.8 bottom right (Abu); British Museum, London: p.5 right (Ashurnasirpal II), p.6 Mesopotamia Indian Empires left (greenstone seal impression), p.16 upper center (winged bull), p.13 bottom right Ancient Egypt Ancient China (queen’s lyre); The Morgan Library & Museum: p.6 left (seals and tablets); Werner Forman: p.8 upper left (Mesopotamian jewelry); SEF: p.12 top right (Sumerian wheel), Archaeology Early Romans p.18 top (Sumerian wheel); HIP: p.15 top right (cuneiform tablet and envelope). Language Roman Empire Biblioteque National, Paris: p.16 lower right (Ernest de Sarzec). Bridgeman Images: Look and Learn: p.2 bottom center (King Hammurabi); Louvre, Paris, France: p.7 top Ancient Hebrews Christianity and Rome’s Legacies right (Elamite woman spinning), p.7 middle right (cuneiform script); Biasioli: pp.8–9 top Early Greeks Olmec and Maya (Etemenanki); Roger Payne: p.15 middle right (Enheduana). British Museum, London: p.13 top center (Assyrian lens). Getty Images: G. Dagli Orti: p.2 middle left (cuneiform Greece’s Golden Age Civil Rights tablet), p.4 bottom right (King Hammurabi); PHAS: p.12 middle left (Ishtar Gate); De Ancient Persia Agostini/Archivio J. Lange: p.16 middle left (ruins at Babylon). Granger Collection: p.2 bottom left (Sumerian walled city); p.6 bottom left (palace and Khorsabad); p.8 bottom left (Noah’s Ark); p.9 middle right (clay model of a sheep’s liver); p.12 bottom On the Cover: Ur-Ningirsu, Prince of Lagash. Alabaster figure, c. 2100bce . Art Resource: left (toy animal); p.16 bottom left (bull’s head); p.17 top right (Henry Rawlinson). Mary Erich Lessing. Evans Picture Library: p.13 bottom center (heavens). National Geographic Creative: H.M. Herget: p.4 lower right (Ishtar Gate), p.4 upper center (drying marsh land), p.5 Picture Credits: Alamy: Chronicle: p.2 bottom center (Gilgamesh), p.17 (Darius top (Assyrian military camp), pp.6–7 top (making cylinder seals), p.8 right (burial), monument); Interfoto: p.2 middle right (Sargon the Great), p.9 bottom right (Sargon p.9 top right (priests stand beside sick boy), pp.12–13 center (men haul a statue in the Great); Lanmas: p.2 middle right (Assyrian palace); Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Nineveh). Science Source: George Gerster: p.3 top left (palace at Ur), p.17 center middle Library: p.2 bottom right (Semiramis); Walker Art Library: p.3 middle left (Assyrians (Marsh Arabs). Shutterstock: jsp: p.4 bottom (lion on a Babylonian wall); khd: p.12 top besieging a city); Mary Evans Picture Library: p.3 bottom left (Nineveh), p.16 upper right right (lion hunt); Kamira: p.13 center (clay tablet); Fejas: p.18 bottom (vase cartoon); (Nineveh), p.16 bottom center (Gertrude Bell); North Wind Picture Archives: p.3 center Vladimir Zhoga: p.19 top center (Japanese hieroglyphs); LuFeeTheBear: p.19 top left (Ancient Babylon); bilwissedition Ltd. & Co. KG: p.3 bottom center (King Cyrus); www. (archaeologist); JJ_SNIPER: p.19 top right (ancient Egyptian statue). BibleLandPictures.com: p.4 bottom left (Code of Hammurabi); Luis Dafos: p.19 bottom (Tigris River). Art Resource: Erich Lessing: p.2 left (Ubaid), p.3 lower right (bill of Original Illustrations: sale), p.3 lower right (lion-rhyton), p.3 bottom center (vase with goat), p.3 bottom right Acme Design Company: Inflatable Skins, p.13; Pictograms to Cuneiforms, p.15. (house model), p.6 bottom right (male figure), p.7 upper right (cedar transport), p.8 bottom center (figure of a god), p.8 bottom right (Ishtar, goddess of love), p.8 bottom Gary Hallgren: Map, pp.4–5; Mesopotamian Society Diagram, p.7. right (goddess Astarte), p.9 bottom left (goddess Gula), p.9 bottom left (Pazuzu), p.12 bottom left (24 squares of Ur), p.13 top left (Ashurnazirpal assaults a city), pp.12–13 Michael Kline Illustration: Cartoons, Cover, p.9; Map, p.3; The Story of Gilgamesh, p.14. bottom (Ashurnazirpal II in Nimrud), p.13 middle right (Assaradon), p.13 bottom right (the music-stele), p.12 bottom center (studying palm tree), pp.14–15 center (Gilgamesh Wood Ronsaville Harlin, Inc.: The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, pp.10–11.

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