Mr. BurtonWorld History

3.3Bell-Ringer: Without looking in your notes: what were the two civilizations we discussed yesterday in class that ruled Mesopotamia?

Sumerian Achievements• Cuneiform• Wheel• Plow• Sewer• Bronze tools• Makeup • Glass Jewelry• Math• Medicine• Architecture • Cylinder Seals

Cuneiform Writing

•The world’s (happy Joybeth?!?!?) ;) first system of writing.

•Used styluses to make wedge shaped symbols on clay tablets. They did not use pens, pencils, or paper to write.

Cuneiform continued

•Used pictographs.

•Scribes were used to keep business records. This was also a way to improve in the social class.

•Cuneiform was also used in what we do today: (Math, English, etc.)

•Most important thing was writing epics (poems).

Technical Advances•The invention of the wheel. It allowed people

to make carts and wagons, along with potter’s wheel which helped shaped bowls.

•The plow allowed Sumerians more production on farms.

•Sumerians created sewer systems which helped out cities (most times people would use the RR in specific places or on the streets).

Math and Science•Based math on numbers of 60. Created 360

degrees, 12 month calendar, and developed areas of rectangles and triangles.

•Scribes allowed us to keep a history on a written tablet of many animals, plants, and minerals.

•With these (animals, plants, and minerals) we were able to create medicine that helped improve societies.

Architecture• Were “known” for developing architecture.

• Most Sumerians lived in one story houses with 6-7 rooms with a small courtyard in the middle.

• If you were rich, you lived in a two-story house with multiple rooms.

• They developed ziggurats: a temple that rose above each city.

• Most famous work of art are the Sumerian cylinder seals: they could engrave signs, battles, or other items which you choose.

Epic of Gilgamesh

•We will act this out