Mesopotamia Lapbook/Notebook •  I  couldn’t  find  free  mesopotamia  lapbook/notebook  templates  so  I  made  my  own!    It’s  very  simple  but  thought  I’d  

share  this  if  anyone  is  interested.    Just  print  out  1  copy  of  the  pdf  file  per  child,  buy  yourself  some  folders,  construcAon  paper,  tape,  etc  and  arrange  it  however  you’d  like.    There  are  some  full  page  pictures  and  plenty  for  the  sides  of  the  folder.    My  kids  are  going  to  make  liDle  booklets  out  of  everything  using  colored  card  stock  and  then  arrange  it  however  they  want.      

•  I  got  most  of  the  stuff  from  Dr.  Donn´s  history  site,  www.ancienthistory.mrdonn.org    It  was  a  great  site.    Look  at  the  mesopotamia  secAon.  

•  If  you  want  to  let  the  kids  do  their  own  coloring,  you  can    print  out  these  coloring  pages  pertaining  to  mesopotamia,  hDp://www.cavemanart.com/osroene/mesopotamia.htm.      

•  Here  is  a  website  where  you  can  get  info  for  making  a  Ameline  to  use  in  your  lapbook,  hDp://www.mce.k12tn.net/world_history/mesopotamia_Ameline.htm  

•  Some  more  acAviAes.  hDp://www.liDlehistorians.com/ancientmesopotamia.htm.    I  printed  out  these  crossword  puzzles,  etc  and  put  them  in  the  Mesopotamia  Quizes  SecAon  of  the  Lapbook.  

•  You  can  also  make  your  own  drawings,  but  we  are  not  very  arAsAcally  inclined  so  prefer  to  cut  and  paste  something  already  made.    Your  kids  can  also  write  a  lot  more  by  not  using  all  the  text  I  put  and  instead  using  the  blank  scroll  pictures.  

•  Last  but  not  least,  We’ve  finished  this  project  and  I  put  pictures  of  our  lapbook  to  give  you  ideas!  

•  Have  fun!!    -­‐Alicia  from  Chile  

The  arrows  show  which  way  to  open  or  liW  

Assyria Babylon Sumer

The Land between the Rivers Front  page  1  

Mesopotamia: "

A nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there!!

Front  page  2  

•  W o m e n   i n   a n c i e n t  Mesopotamia  were  not  equal  to   men,   but   they   did   have  rights.  

•  They   could   freely   go   to   the  marketplace,   buy   and   sell  goods,   handle   legal   issues,  own  property,  and  start  their  own  business.    

•  Upper   class   women,   like  members   of   the   royal   family  and  those  who  gave  their  life  to   the   temple  as  priestesses,  could   learn   how   to   read   and  write.   Some   women   even  had  jobs  running  parts  of  the  t own   o r   j o b s   i n   c i t y  government.      Women in

Mesopotamia

Letter to Father

WriAng  1  

(write  using  cuneiform  key  on  next  page)  

The  ancient  Sumerians  believed  in  educaAon.  Record  keeping  was  very  important  to  them.  They  wanted  their  sons  to  learn  how  to  read  and  write.    Their  wriDen  language  began  as  pictographs,  pictures  of  things  that  acted  as  words.  Pictographs  worked,  but  they  were  rather  cumbersome.    Soon,  the  clever  ancient  Sumerians  started  to  use  wedge-­‐shaped  symbols  for  objects  and  ideas  instead  of  pictures.  Today,  we  call  this  wriDen  language  of  wedge-­‐shaped  symbols  cuneiform.  

WriAng  2  

Number 60 They  invented  a    

system  of  mathemaAcs  based  on  the  number  60.  Today,  we  divide  an  hour  into  60  minutes,  and  a  

minute  into  60  seconds.  That  comes  from  the  ancient  

Mesopotamians.  

The Wheel

Sailboat

Cylinder Seal

First Harp

Ziggurat

Cunieform

Legend of Gilgamesh •  The  ancient  Sumerians  were  great  

story  tellers,  perhaps  not  as  good  as  the  Greeks  -­‐  but  sAll,  very  good.  Thousands  of  years  ago,  they  created  the  story  of  Gilgamesh.    

•  Gilgamesh  is  one  of  the  oldest  recorded  stories  in  the  world.  It's  about  an  ancient  King  of  Uruk  who  may  have  actually  existed  and  whose  name  -­‐  Gilgamesh  -­‐  is  on  the  Sumerian  King  List.      

•  According  to  the  story,  Gilgamesh  was  not  just  a  hero,  they  thought  he  was  a    a  superhero,  was  part  god  and  part  human  and  that  he  had  many  powers.    

Farming in Mesopotamia

It  did  not  rain  much  in  the  desert,  but  the  early  seDlers  soon  learned  that  if  you  irrigated  the  land,  crops  grew  quickly.  These  early  people  built  canals  to  bring  water  to  the  land  from  the  rivers.  They  planted  wheat,  barley,  dates,  and  vegetables  including  cucumbers,  onions,  apples,  and  spices.      When  there  was  a  surplus  of  food,  there  was  a  division  of  labor  and  people  started  working  in  other  professions.        

Hanging Gardens of Babylon     •  Legend  says  ...  The  Hanging  Gardens  of  

Babylon  were  built  by  King  Nebuchadnezzar  so  that  the  queen,  his  wife,  would  have  a  lovely,  private,  terraced  garden  to  enjoy.      

•  There  were  paths  and  steps  and  fountains  and  gorgeous  flowers,  all  build  to  make  a  homesick  queen  feel  welcomed  and  loved.    

•  It  was  supposedly  built  around  600  BCE,  along  the  bank  of  the  Euphrates  River  (south  of  the  modern  day  city  of  Baghdad,  Iraq.)    

•  No  one  knows  if  the  gardens  actually  existed  in  Babylon,  but  the  legend  is  a  lovely  one.    

(one of the seven wonders of the ancient world)

Zig

gu

ra

ts

Ziggurats  w

ere  temples.    

Like  m

any  ancien

t  peo

ple,  th

e  ancien

t  Sumerians  believed  that  pow

erful  god

s  lived

 in  th

e  skies.    Religious  cerem

onies  

were  he

ld  at  the

 very  top  that  were  

preD

y  ho

rrible.  

All  year  lon

g,  peo

ple  leW  off

erings  of  foo

d  and  wine  on

 the  step

s  of  the

 ziggurats.  

The  priests  e

njoyed

 these  off

erings,  as  

the  gods  cou

ld  not  eat  fo

r  the

mselves.  

The  Ziggurat  was  built  in  th

e  center  of  

town.  It  was  th

e  center  of  d

aily  life.  

Except  fo

r  fesAvals,  which,  for  th

e  most  

part,  w

ere  gloo

my  things,  the

 Ziggurat  

courtyard  was  gay  and

 lively.  You

 might  

see  an  arAst  painA

ng,  a  boy  ra

cing  by  on

 his  w

ay  to

 scho

ol,  som

eone

 milking  a  

cow  or  m

aking  a  basket.      

•  Who was Nebuchadnezzar II? Abraham´s Journey

Print  out  the  4  acAviAes  on  the  LiDle  Historians  Website  menAoned  at  the  beginning  of  this  presentaAon.  hDp://www.liDlehistorians.com/ancientmesopotamia.htm    

Extra  stuff  for  filling  in  spaces