1. Happy Wednesday, Please Do Now:
Write in agenda and put it away
Take out:
“How was Sumer a Civilization” W/S (if you didn’t turn it in already)
Page 71 Questions
Make sure your name is on it!
Make two separate piles
Take out a PENCIL
Listen for directions

2. What is a civilization? Religion Social Structure Government
Stable Food Supply
Written Language
Technology
Culture (Arts)

3. How was Sumer an advanced civilization?

4. Writing
Cuneiform:
The world’s first system of writing that uses wedge-shaped symbols to represent sounds, ideas and objects.
cuneiform tablet

5. What types of things would people want to write down?
Writing
What types of things would people want to write down?
Uses of cuneiform:
Trade
Record keeping: taxes, births, deaths, important events.
Creative works: stories, wise sayings, songs and poems about the gods or military victories.
Think/Pair/Share: What types of things would people find important enough to write down? What would you write down?

6. Writing
Cuneiform symbols could represent syllables.
The earliest form of cuneiform was pictographs.

7. Writing
Scribe:
A professional writer who kept records and copied records and official documents.
Scribes could move up in social class.
Top: A stylus made of reed is used to inscribe cuneiform on a clay tablet.
Right: A stone carving of a scribe holding a stylus and clay tablet.

8. Writing
The first written story in the world was about a legendary Sumerian king and hero named Gilgamesh.
He travels through Mesopotamia on his quests; meeting gods and goddesses, fighting monsters, and searching for immortality.
Gilgamesh’s supposed historical reign is believed to have been approximately 2700 BCE

9. Writing Epic: long poems that tell stories of heroes. Did you know?
The Epic of Gilgamesh featured a story about a flood sent by the gods to wipe out mankind. A man was spared and he built an ark to save the animals.
Gilgamesh Epic Tablet The earliest Sumerian Gilgamesh poems date from as early as the Third dynasty of Ur (2100–2000 BCE)
The Epic of Gilgamesh contains a “flood story” that predates the Hebrew Old Testament story of Noah by at least 2000 years. It was written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script.

10. Text Yourself!!! Skip a line in your notes, then do the following...
Write a 3 sentence summary about the previous section as a text.
Cuneiform was...
Text
Yourself!!!
Skip a line in your notes, then do the following...

12. II. Technology Medicine
Sumerians invented medicines for healing and wrote down their medical knowledge.
They catalogued the names of plants, animals, and minerals

13. II. Technology Plow A farming tool used to till the earth.
The invention of the plow increased farm production.

14. II. Technology Wheel The wheel was a major Sumerian achievement.
The wheel was used for carts, wagons, and the potter’s wheel.

15. II. Technology
Sewers Sumerians built sewers under city streets

16. II. Technology Mathematics
They invented a number system based on the number 60.
For fun!
Write the date of your birth using this chart.

17. Please Do Now: Write in agenda and put it away Take out:
Notes from yesterday
Pen or Pencil
Highlighter
Listen for directions

18. Slogan Slingers
Pick an invention from the previous section and create a catchy slogan for it. You may design a logo afterwards.
The Plow
“I’m diggin’ it!”

19. III. Culture & Religion
Engraved cylinder seals are Sumer’s most famous type of art.
Used to:
Show ownership
Decorate clay walls and tablets
Show battle scenes

20. III. Culture & Religion
Sumerians had forms of entertainment like music and board games.

21. III. Culture & Religion Sumerians were skilled in metalworking.
They created beautiful pieces of jewelry and apparel out of gold, silver, and gems.

22. III. Culture & Religion Sumerians created many sculptures.
Most sculptures during this time were made for religious reasons.
Small statues were placed in the temples to pray for the person who donated them.

23. III. Culture & Religion Ziggurat:
Ziggurats…
Were built in the center of a city.
Most likely had a religious purpose.
May have been where the government stored their surplus of grain
Had a shrine to the city’s god or goddess at the very top.
Ziggurat:
A stepped tower with many levels, shaped like a pyramid.
“Mountain of the gods”
Ziggurats were built in the center of the city. Judging by its central location and impressive architecture, how important were the gods to the Sumerians?

24. III. Culture & Religion
The largest and best-preserved ziggurat is the Ziggurat of Ur in modern day Iraq.
The shrine at the top did not survive.
Turn & Talk:
Judging by its size and central location, how important were the gods to the ancient Sumerians?
“Mountain of the gods”
Ziggurats were built in the center of the city. Judging by its central location and impressive architecture, how important were the gods to the Sumerians?

25. III. Culture & Religion
Priest- a person who performs religious ceremonies.
They made offerings to the gods and interpreted their wishes.
Deity- a god or goddess
Polytheism- the belief in many gods
There were hundreds of gods who were responsible for everything in the world.
Gods have enormous power, sometimes natural occurrences and disasters are attributed to them.
Priests interpret wishes of gods
Everyone must serve and worship the gods in order to achieve peace and prosperity
The people of Mesopotamia believed that their world was controlled by gods and goddesses, demons and monsters.
Each city was protected by its own special god or goddess and their family. Large temples were built in the centre of the city for these gods to live in. Priests looked after the gods with special rituals.

26. III. Culture & Religion King Priests & scribes Craftsmen & merchants
Social hierarchy- the division of society by rank or class
King
Priests & scribes
Craftsmen & merchants
Farmers & laborers
(gods)
Kings
Priests
Skilled caftsmen, merchants, and traders
Laborers and farmers
Slaves
Slaves

27. How was Sumer an advanced civilization?
Today’s Highlights!
Read through your notes with a highlighter. Highlight at least 5 things that help you answer the Essential Question:
How was Sumer an advanced civilization?
Next, write a 4-5 sentence summary that answers the essential question, using 3-4 of the points you highlighted
HW: Write a summary of the notes. You should include the information you highlighted and the summary must answer the essential question.