How many characters the alphabet was eventually pared down to. Then find 3 different people who can translate it without the chart. This printable is a worksheet for students to become familiar with the general look of cuneiform writing. Cuneiform writing hammurabis laws kudurru pottery the akkadian empire trade ur reunites mesopotamia ziggurats permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use. Compare and contrast the civilization of ancient sumer with the modern united states. The geography of knowledge in assyria and babylonia.
This lesson plan is designed to help students appreciate the parallel development and increasing complexity of writing. Chapter 3 section 1 the civilization of sumer cuneiform web quest and activity as you have learned from your textbook, the ancient sumerians developed an intricate writing system known as cuneiform over several thousand years ago. Mesopotamia cuneiform activity historys historiesyou. Download hd images and pictures of the cuneiform alphabet chart from our website for free. Find cuneiform writing lesson plans and teaching resources. Describe the geographic features of the fertile crescent. That writing system, invented by the sumerians, emerged in mesopotamia around 3500 bce. Cuneiform was the most widespread and historically significant writing system in.
This system of communication was later adopted and used as part of the babylonian dialect. It began as a system of simple pictographs images that represented a single word. D is for drawing words cuneiform writing for kids to the moon and back language that dauntless used to use. Youll answer study questions on topics like what cuneiform is and the location of mesopotamia in todays world. If your classroom copy of the lesson already has the answers underlined or highlighted, you are off to a great start building. Learn about cuneiform writing and what sumerian cuneiform is. If you want to download you have to send your own contributions. Like in many languages, there isnt just one type of cuneiform here are some different ones.
Use the cuneiform decoder below to get some practice translating ancient sumerian writing. Image of a cuneiform alphabet with a space for students to try writing their names or something below. Free download cuneiform alphabet quote images hd free. Create a cuneiform alphabet out of only lines, curves and dots. The worlds first written language and over 5,000 years old. For a period of about 3000 years, cuneiform was the dominant writing system of the ancient near east, with a rich literary tradition in several languages, and an extensive amount of texts. They also developed the earliest system of writing, cuneiform script. Cuneiform, or sumeroakkadian cuneiform, was one of the earliest systems of writing, invented by sumerians in ancient mesopotamia. Comments are turned off autoplay when autoplay is enabled, a suggested video will automatically play next. The story was told in pictures, in cuneiform, and in another writing similar to an east indian language that henry rawlinson already could read and write. This began as a pictographic system in which each cuneiform sign represented a word. This discussion came up after visiting the british museum and seeing cuneiform writing and the famous rosetta stone.
Cuneiform the first known system of writing is sumerian cuneiform, which dates back to c. The cuneiform was one of the earliest forms used to record writing. Sumerian scribes invented the practice of writing in cuneiform on clay tablets sometime around 3400 b. The language that they spoke, sumerian, is known to us through a large body of texts and. The name, a coinage from latin and middle french roots meaning wedgeshaped, has been the modern designation from the early 18th century onward. O ver time the, civilizations grew larger and better organized. Reading the assyrianbabylonian cuneiform characters, however, is a difficult job, even to specialists, and both the layman and the professional scholar have to settle for a critical edition made by someone who has meticulously studied the tablet. It was thought to be developed in mesopotamia, modern day iran, in the fourth millennium bc. Cuneiform writing the sumerians were accomplished traders and businessmen. The final assessment can be drawn on paper or pressed into clay. Cut the name and alphabet apart to use again and again.
See your monogram in cuneiform, the way an ancient babylonian might have written it. It is distinguished by its wedgeshaped marks on clay tablets, made by means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The term cuneiform comes from cuneus, latin for wedge. Write your name in cuneiform just like a mesapotamian. Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient sumerians of mesopotamia c. They use the cuneiform alphabet to decode the message. Cuneiform is noted as the first writing system ever recorded. Orthography the fully developed writing system employs logograms word signs, syllabic signs sound values derived from word signs, and determinatives unpronounced logograms which help the reader choose from among the different logographic values of polyvalent signs to reproduce the spoken language. Use the cuneiform alphabet to write your first name in cuneiform writing with pictographs use the chart below to write a message in ancient pictographs about mesopotamia.
The first cuneiform writings were pictographssymbols that represented an entire word. Education world grants users permission to reproduce this worksheet for educational purposes only. This 4 page worksheet has students analyze the culture of ancient sumer through examining some of their physical artifacts and acting as archaeologists. The first language represented by cuneiform writing. Worksheets are, mesopotamia cuneiform activity, ancient sumer, babylonian maths, babylonian mathematics, babylonian maths, the sumerians, mmeessooppoottaammiiaa.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. As their business dealings became more complex, they needed a way to keep track of their goods and payments. Copy this onto cardstock and use it as a name tent in your classroom with the english letters below the cuneiform drawings. The same story was told in three different ways so that most probably, in ancient times, everyone could understand it. You can use this site to write your monogram or initials in cuneiform. Place the following labels appropriately along the. Illustrate the primary features of sumerian civilization. The cuneiform writing system 30 person sixth grade class 2 common core standard that is addressed. The sumerian cuneiform writing miniproject is designed as an extension activity to reinforce lessons taught in class. Mesopotamia cuneiform activity reading comprehension. In this ancient mesopotamia lesson, students analyze the cuneiform writing system. Microsoft word internet scavenger hunt cuneiform writing. Cuneiform script is one of the oldest known writing forms.
The script emerged from 30th century bc and was used simply to write the sumerian language. Cuneiform, system of writing used in the ancient middle east. Remember that language consists of arbitrary signs no numbers, letters or almostletters, pictures, etc. Eventually, the sumerians added abstract symbols or signs to represent specific letters, numbers, and parts of a word. Prealphabetic writing the alphabet is everywhere you look in modern western life which makes it hard to remember that it was once invented by someone somewhere but its not even as organic as counting in tens writing in the west began with cuneiform and hieroglyphic pictographs. Displaying all worksheets related to cuneiform alphabet. The cuneiform writing system in ancient mesopotamia. This worksheet quiz combo covers ancient cuneiform.
Worksheets are, mesopotamia cuneiform activity, early forms of writing cuneiform, farsi alphabet learn farsi farsi pronunciation farsi, cuneiform alphabet, lesson 2 early mesopotamia, the babylonian number system, garvy oi lesson plan final. Welcome to esl printables, the website where english language teachers exchange resources. Write your name in cuneiform in todays literacy, we will be looking at cuneiform, an ancient form of writing from mesapotamia now iraq. Cuneiform translation cuneiform your job is to translate this ancient language to discover some famous people and places in ancient mesopotamia. Cuneiform writing activity having begun our studies in mesopotamia we took a slight detour to understand the history of writing. The message says, the sumerians invented cuneiform. It emerged in sumer and is also known as the sumerian cuneiform. Sumerian cuneiform writing miniproject directions and alphabet. Pdf worksheets links to online web pages, for which internet access is.
Ancient sumer this teachers pack has been created to encourage and enable teachers of children at key. The site includes pages concerning cuneiform writing, its decipherment, the writing media used by the assyrians and various teaching resources for the study of the assyrian empire of the first millennium bc. The ancient sumerians of west asia are credited with. They developed the first known written language, called cuneiform, to keep business records and accounts. Early societies developed governments, agriculture, writing, and new technologies. Write an advertisement for the ancient times newspaper that convinces people in other parts of the world to move to ancient mesopotamia. For instance, the early pictograph for a duck might be a small image. Click on popout icon or print icon to worksheet to print or download. The earliest writing systems evolved independently and at roughly the same time in egypt and mesopotamia, but current scholarship suggests that mesopotamias writing appeared first.