Ever wonder when the first written records appeared, when the wheel was invented, or where our modern counting system came from? Believe it or not, these and many other innovations – like glass, farming, complex legal systems, and basic astronomy – came from one civilization, the very first: Mesopotamia.
For kids who want to discover the roots of modern–day life, this issue is key. What most people don’t know is that Mesopotamia includes the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, which followed one after another, from 3500 B.C. to 612 B.C., and all failed for different reasons.
But in the meantime, Mesopotamia was a hotbed of invention and innovation: Artisans, politicians, and priests produced an incredible number of scientific advances and new ways of thinking that continue to shape our lives today. In Mesopotamia, kids can investigate how the religious beliefs, myths, and temples of the time – like the famed Tower of Babel, are mirrored in other histories of the period, like the Bible. The development of writing in Mesopotamia, for kids, is also covered in detail, from the clay invoices and cuneiform alphabet used during the Sumer regime to the sophisticated library system created by the Assyrians. Lastly, kids will see how Mesopotamia was unearthed by intrepid explorers and archaeologists, who brought all the wonders of this region, now part of modern Iraq, to light.
7 Topics in this unit
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Cradle of Civilization
In the heart of modern-day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, lies a dry, flat ...
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Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and More
The history of Mesopotamia is measured in millennia rather than centuries.
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Day-to-Day Life
The ruins of Mesopotamia reveal more about kings and battles than about the ordinary citiz ...
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Gods and Demons
Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians shared the same basic religious beliefs and the same ...
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Accomplishments of the Mesopotamians
Long before the modern world ever knew about the splendors of Mesopotamia, it had benefite ...
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The Legendary Gilgamesh and the Origins of Writing
Little is known about the historical Sumerian Gilgamesh, who ruled the city-state of Uruk, ...
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How We Know What We Know
When Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus in 539 B.C., Mesopotamia’s glory days ca ...
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