SOCIAL STUDIES FOR 10 T H E .G.B.TEACHER: MAURICIO TORRES

Sumerian Achievements

Background

Sumerians were not just advanced in government and religion issues; they also developed many other things, that are part of our daily life today.

Writing

Maybe the most important development in human History.

They developed cuneiform, the world’s first writing system.

They used sharp tools called styluses to make symbols on clay tablets.

Elements of Writing

Pictographs used to be the way humans kept “written” records. They were picture symbols.

In cuneiform, they added representations of syllables, in that way, it enriched writing.

Scribes, were specialized people that were hired to write.

The first stories were written, they were called Epics. Long poems that tell stories of heroes:

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Technical Advances

The Wheel. They were the first to build

wheeled vehicles. They also created a device

that spins clay, so that a craftsperson can shape it: potter’s wheel.

The Plow Pulled by oxen, the plows

broke through the soil to prepare it for farming.

Water Clock

Technical Advances

Sewers

Makeup

Jewelry

Bronze tools

Math & Sciences

Math system based on the number 60 That is why we divide the circle into 360º Dividing the year into 12 months.

GeometryStudied the natural world

Inventories of names of thousands of plants, animals and minerals.

Medicine Ingredients from plants, animals and minerals to

produce healing drugs. They even catalogued treatments and symptoms!

Architechture

Architecture The science of building. People lived in small one story houses, made of mud bricks. Rulers lived in large palaces. Temples were the largest and most impressive buildings: they

were called, ziggurats. They were pyramid shaped temple towers.

Arts

Sumerian sculptors produced many statues of gods. They used wood, ivory and pottery. Their pottery was really bad!

Jewelry They used gold, silver and gems.

Cylinder Seals They were small stone cylinder

engraved with works of art.Music

Reed pipes, drums, tambourines and lyres.

Ask Yourself

Recall: What was the center of most Sumerian cities? What was one of the most important technical

development of Sumer?Summarize:

What different types of art did the Sumerians create?Describe:

What Sumerian advance in mathematics do we use everyday when we look at the calendar?

How did Sumerians write?Draw Conclusions:

How was cuneiform used to express complex ideas?

Optional Task #1

Find out the meaning of all the words in this slide show, that are in this color.

Search for their meaning, in order to be better prepared for your test!

Optional Task #2

Get some clay!Use a stick or something

similar as a stylus.Draw some pictographs and

try to write a sentence!Bring it to school and show

it to your friends, and have them try to guess what it means.

Involve your parents and ask them to help you out!

Bibliography

Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H. McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Images taken from Google and “Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids” http://mesopotamia.mrdonn.org/.