This week I am supposed to be discussing Assyrians or shepherding 3000 years ago.
However, I am going to do early Mesopotamia and Hammurabi instead. I think that will be an interesting study. I need to find out some weird facts about Hammurabi.
Right now the older class is going to be:
reading a one page intro to Mesopotamian culture
writing a “postcard” about it
creating a ziggurat out of legos
The younger class is going to be:
coloring Mesopotamian puppets
making a pop-up ziggurat card
creating ziggurats out of legos
I don’t really have much to say ready for the discussion however. I need to work on that.
Mesopotamia: The land now known as Iraq.
Sumerians (3000-2340 BC)
city-states
spoke a Semitic language related to Hebrew
first known users of the wheel
had a number system based on 60-
This system is where we get minutes (60 in an hour) and seconds (60 in a minute.)
discovered the moon months and a yearly cycle
cuneiform- writing system, adapted by other languages
Note: Hebrew and Arabic can be read by each other, even though they don’t understand the spoken language because they use a similar script.
wrote on clay tablets with a wedge shaped stylus- later similar to Roman writing utensil
built canals, dams, and dikes for irrigation
built ziggurats (?)
Sumerian rule at Ur ended around 1900 BC when Amorites and Elamites invaded.
Babylonians ( maybe 2000-1200 BC)
Babylon in decline in 12th century BC
Babylon, the city, sacked by Assyrians 689 BC
Regrouped 620s BC
Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel in 586 BC
Persian armies of Cyrus defeated BAbylon (538 BC)
During the time that Babylon was an empire, however, had some wild stuff.
Hammurabi (sometime between 1800 and 1700 BC)
in 31 years united all of Mesopotamia
created a bureaucracy to help him rule
wrote neighboring kings and told them how much he liked them-
then attacked
constructed highways
created a postal service
improved canal system
created written laws
wanted people to know the laws, so he had them carved in stone
placed stone in public place
“Ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
in 1901 archaeologists found the stone with his laws carved into it
Update: We actually did Sargon the Great and the early period. I think it is interesting that Sargon was found floating down the river in a basket. Either women were dumping children in baskets a lot, doubtful, or Jochabed had heard of Sargon and thought it might save Moses.
This next week we will do Hammurabi. And probably work on Nebuchanezzar and Darius, even though that will take us out of time order.