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Introduction
You are an archaeological historian and are about to embark on a fantastic journey into the past to discover the mysteries of ancient Mesopotamia. Your goal is to achieve an understanding of what life was like, what the culture consisted of, how the government developed, details about the religious beliefs, the development of trade, the development of specialization and social classes, and how the first written language looked. You will discover that much of what we in the twenty-first century take for granted in our civilization has roots in the Mesopotamia of 5000 years ago. You will be asked to explore a number of web sites and will be asked to complete a variety of tasks.
These will be completed in your IN on the next available left side. Title it "Webquest" add to your TOC.
Label each Task as you complete them.
Task 1 - "Cuneiform"
Read the story about the development of writing from the British Museum (Links to an external site.).
Answer the following questions in your IN on the left side. Use "quanswers" when appropriate (Be sure to restate the question with your answer so that it makes sense to someone who hasn't read the questions.)
1. What time period did people start to record the amounts of different crops?
2. Draw the symbol for barley.
3. What was usually next to the barley sign?
4. What is the Sumerian word for fig cakes?
5. Beside business and trade, what was cuneiform used for?
6. Cuneiform script was used to write what other languages?
7. Write your name in cuneiform using the following website.http://www.penn.museum/cgi/cuneiform.php (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Task 2 - "Firsts"
In this article are a number of “firsts” that Mesopotamians achieved. Select two of these and design a visual that depicts the achievements. Describe how each achievement could have been used during this time. Your visual should have labels and be accurate.
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/science_and_technology.php (Links to an external site.)
Task 3 - "Gods and Demons"
Go to http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html (Links to an external site.)
Read Gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia
Create a two column chart titled “Gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia.” In the left column, list the following gods and goddesses names: Enki, Gula, Isthar, Ninurta, and Anu. In the right column, explain who they were and what their power was.
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/enki/
Task 4 - "Ziggurats"
Read the article about ziggurats and answer the following questions.
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/ziggurats.php (Links to an external site.)
8. What did ziggurats look like?
9. How big were they?
10. What were they used for?
Task 5 – "The Royal Tombs of Ur"
Click on the Royal tombs of Ur. http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/tombs/index.html
What was the name of the scientist who found the tomb and what did he find?
1. Scientist - _______________________________________________________
2. What he found - __________________________________________________
EXPLORE tomb number 800 or 779. List and describe three things you found in either tomb.
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
Task 6 -
"The Code of Hammurabi"
Go to the Code of Hammurabi page.
On the Code of Hammurabi page are the laws of Hammurabi as translated from cuneiform. Select four laws and write them out. After each law, explain in your own words what the law means in today’s world. Do you know if there are simliar laws we have today.
Also go to the page “Hammurabi Situations”. These are situations Hammurabi faced. Decide what you think to be a fair way to deal with the problem. You may complete 5 out of the 8 Problems for full credit. (today only do 3)
Other sites to explore: (if time)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/05-06/mesopotamia-ur-royal-tombs/
http://sumerianshakespeare.com/117701/index.html
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/where-sumerian-rulers-lie-royal-tombs-ur-007294
https://www.penn.museum/sites/iraq/?page_id=26
http://www.ur-online.org/
You are an archaeological historian and are about to embark on a fantastic journey into the past to discover the mysteries of ancient Mesopotamia. Your goal is to achieve an understanding of what life was like, what the culture consisted of, how the government developed, details about the religious beliefs, the development of trade, the development of specialization and social classes, and how the first written language looked. You will discover that much of what we in the twenty-first century take for granted in our civilization has roots in the Mesopotamia of 5000 years ago. You will be asked to explore a number of web sites and will be asked to complete a variety of tasks.
These will be completed in your IN on the next available left side. Title it "Webquest" add to your TOC.
Label each Task as you complete them.
Task 1 - "Cuneiform"
Read the story about the development of writing from the British Museum (Links to an external site.).
Answer the following questions in your IN on the left side. Use "quanswers" when appropriate (Be sure to restate the question with your answer so that it makes sense to someone who hasn't read the questions.)
1. What time period did people start to record the amounts of different crops?
2. Draw the symbol for barley.
3. What was usually next to the barley sign?
4. What is the Sumerian word for fig cakes?
5. Beside business and trade, what was cuneiform used for?
6. Cuneiform script was used to write what other languages?
7. Write your name in cuneiform using the following website.http://www.penn.museum/cgi/cuneiform.php (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.)
Task 2 - "Firsts"
In this article are a number of “firsts” that Mesopotamians achieved. Select two of these and design a visual that depicts the achievements. Describe how each achievement could have been used during this time. Your visual should have labels and be accurate.
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/science_and_technology.php (Links to an external site.)
Task 3 - "Gods and Demons"
Go to http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html (Links to an external site.)
Read Gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia
Create a two column chart titled “Gods and Demons of Ancient Mesopotamia.” In the left column, list the following gods and goddesses names: Enki, Gula, Isthar, Ninurta, and Anu. In the right column, explain who they were and what their power was.
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/enki/
Task 4 - "Ziggurats"
Read the article about ziggurats and answer the following questions.
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/ziggurats.php (Links to an external site.)
8. What did ziggurats look like?
9. How big were they?
10. What were they used for?
Task 5 – "The Royal Tombs of Ur"
Click on the Royal tombs of Ur. http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/tombs/index.html
What was the name of the scientist who found the tomb and what did he find?
1. Scientist - _______________________________________________________
2. What he found - __________________________________________________
EXPLORE tomb number 800 or 779. List and describe three things you found in either tomb.
1. _____________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________
Task 6 -
"The Code of Hammurabi"
Go to the Code of Hammurabi page.
On the Code of Hammurabi page are the laws of Hammurabi as translated from cuneiform. Select four laws and write them out. After each law, explain in your own words what the law means in today’s world. Do you know if there are simliar laws we have today.
Also go to the page “Hammurabi Situations”. These are situations Hammurabi faced. Decide what you think to be a fair way to deal with the problem. You may complete 5 out of the 8 Problems for full credit. (today only do 3)
Other sites to explore: (if time)
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2016/05-06/mesopotamia-ur-royal-tombs/
http://sumerianshakespeare.com/117701/index.html
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-asia/where-sumerian-rulers-lie-royal-tombs-ur-007294
https://www.penn.museum/sites/iraq/?page_id=26
http://www.ur-online.org/
