Log in to “Cuneiform Writing ppt” You will need headphones

1. Log in to “Cuneiform Writing ppt” You will need headphones Standard 6.11 Essential Question:  How do new ideas change the way Sumerians lived? p. 37

2. Success Criteria:  Cuneiform Writing 18. Who were scribes? • What is the name of the Mesopotamian writing system? • Who were the first to invent a writing system? 21. Why was the writing system invented? 22. Draw a pic and describe the Cuneiform writing. Vocabulary:  •  Scribes • Cuneiform • Clay tablets • Wedged shapes • Gilgamesh What does the writing look like? -- DO NOT Define it!

3. Think back:Why were writing systems invented? While Watching: (click the pic ~ 7 mins ) Explain why cuneiform became wedge shapes in the clay tablets.

4. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer:

5. Library of Ashurbanipal = First Library The tablets were discovered in the ruins of the city-state of Nineveh (northern Mesopotamia), once capital of the mighty Assyrian empire, ruled by King Ashurbanipal from 669–c. 631 BC. Nineveh was consumed by fire in around 612 BC. But while paper books are destroyed by fire, the clay tablets were in most cases baked harder, making them among the best preserved documents from thousands of years of Mesopotamian history. Some of the cuneiform tablets on display in the British Museum today. https://blog.britishmuseum.org/a-library-fit-for-a-king/

6. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer:

7. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer: 

8. This tablet has an account in Sumerian cuneiform describing the contract of buying oxen • The ruins of Uruk and other Mesopotamian city-states were littered with cuneiform tablets

9. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer: 

10. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the OLDEST WRITTEN EPICs.  We will be studying it more in a later lesson. • It was written about 4,000 years ago in Sumer. Like most epics, the first stories of Gilgamesh began as oral fables handed down by word of mouth. • Hundreds of years after the poets first spoke of Gilgamesh, the legends were collected and recorded on 12 clay tablets and stored in the first libraries. 

11. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer:  Oldest written epic

12. Cylinder seals rolled on to clay tablets recorded the King’s signature • On contracts, treaties, or agreements with other civilizations • Confirming the receipt of taxes collected Cylinder Seals

13. 10 Facts about Cuneiform Writing in Mesopotamia & Sumer:  Oldest written epic

14. So, the invention of cuneiform led to the creation of: • Records • Taxes • Libraries • Signatures • Contracts • Treaties/agreements • Laws • The specialized job of scribes.

15. Turn and Talk: Which of the following is NOT true about Mesopotamia’s writing system and economy? 6.11 • The priests and kings collected taxes of grain. Scribes counted the grain on clay tablets using cuneiform, then stored it in the ziggurat to be distributed later. • Farmers stored the grain and kept records for the king • The invention of cuneiform led to the creation records, taxes, libraries, signatures, contracts, treaties, and laws • Cuneiform created a new specialized job called scribes

16. Sum it up:  A. Who were scribes? ______________________________________________________________  B. What is the name of the Mesopotamian writing system?  _______________________________  C. Who were the first to invent writing? ________________________________ D. Which of the following is true about Cuneiform?  Circle all that are true.  Cuneiform is an alphabet written on paper         Cuneiform is drawings on papyrus called hieroglyphics  Cuneiform has wedge shapes on clay tablets      Cuneiform was first used for record keeping in Sumer  E. How did this new idea of cuneiform writing change the way the Sumerians lived? ____________List between 4 – 5 ways _________________________________________ F. Use the Cuneiform slide to translate your name into Cuneiform in the space below.   On the next slide

17. Notice what the writing LOOKS like – Wedge Shapes – is how you would describe it Translate your name in Cuneiform at the bottom of your paper. 

18. Success Criteria:  Cuneiform Writing 18. Who were scribes? • What is the name of the Mesopotamian writing system? • Who were the first to invent a writing system? 21. Why was the writing system invented? 22. Draw a pic and describe the Cuneiform writing. Vocabulary:  •  Scribes • Cuneiform • Clay tablets • Wedged shapes • Gilgamesh What does the writing look like? -- DO NOT Define it!