1. Mesopotamia’s Contributions

2. On your map list the following...
Mesopotamia
Taurus Mountains
Zargos Mountains
Arabian Desert
Syrian Desert
Nile River
Tigris River
Euphrates
Mediterranean Sea
Black Sea
Persian Gulf
Caspian Sea

4. Cuneiform
Making rebuses was an important step in the history of writing. The ancient Sumerians developed a system of writing with pictographs called cuneiform
They drew pictures to represent things that they wanted to keep records of. The Sumerians started using pictures to make readers think of a sound, rather than an object.

5. Ancient Writing
Can you tell what this rebus puzzle below says?

6. the world’s first system of writing
Sumerians first used cuneiform to keep records for agriculture and taxes. Simple pictographs turned into more complex symbols that represented basic parts of words. Writing was taught in schools. If you became a writer or scribe, you moved up in social class.

7. The Wheel The Wheel How did the wheel improve farm production?
The Sumerians were the first to build wheeled vehicles like carts and wagons. They invented the potter’s wheel and the ox-drawn plow. Before the wheel, people used different ways to move things.
The Wheel

8. Lets Think
What are some of the ways that modern society would be different without the use of the wheel?