sumerian achievements class
TRANSCRIPT
SOCIAL STUDIES FOR 8 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?
Extra 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!
Extra 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/.