Informational Text • Informational

Grade 5 Word Count 1,448

Lexile 970L Multi-level W Z Z1
Learning A–Z level Z

Refer to the Focus Question on page 2 of this title to guide

Ancient
discussion and support additional learning connected to the text.

Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is one of the most fascinating and earliest
examples of civilized society. Ancient Mesopotamia
offers a detailed look at the history and influence of this
ancient part of the world.

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www.learninga-z.com Written by
Susan Lennox
© Learning A–Z, all rights reserved.
 Ancient Focus Question

Mesopotamia What were the important features

of ancient Mesopotamia?

Words to Know
alloy nomadic
city-states phonologic
civilizations pictographs
commerce smelted
cuneiform stele
demigod ziggurat

Connections
Writing
Write an essay describing the significance of the area
between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers where the
Above: A sculpture of a lion-headed eagle was discovered at an ancient
Sumerian archaeological site. ancient Mesopotamians settled.
Cover: An ornate bull’s head decorates a harp owned by a Sumerian
princess of Ur. Social Studies
Name one important contribution of the Sumerians.
Written by Susan Lennox
Write a script for a commercial to advertise this new
technology. Present it to your class.
 Ancient Mesopotamia 5000–2150 bce
BLACK SEA
CASPIAN
SEA

FERTILE
CR
ES
Euphrate AKKAD
CE
NT

T i g ve r
s

Ri
River

ris
Mari
Babylon
Umma
Lagash
Uruk
MEDITERRANEAN Ur
SEA EUROPE

AFRICA

A clay tablet was used to record rations and goods. The images were The name Mesopotamia means “the land between two rivers,” referring
inscribed using a sharp instrument. to its location between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Introduction
Table of Contents
People began forming the first civilizations
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
about 6,000 years ago . In a civilization, at least
The Ubaid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 some of the people live in cities and do specialized
jobs . Civilizations have governments and often
Uruk, the First Known City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
have writing, arts, science, trade, and monuments .
Warring City-States . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
One of the earliest examples of a civilization
Prosperity and Advancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 was found in ancient Mesopotamia . Mesopotamia
was located where Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Kuwait
Fall of an Empire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
are now . Many historians say this “land between
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 two rivers” was the birthplace of civilization .

Ancient Mesopotamia 3 4
 The Ubaid The Ubaid were the first people to settle the
The heart of ancient Mesopotamian civilization land known as Sumer . Before the Ubaid formed
was between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers . settlements, they and other Sumerian tribes
That land came to be known as the Fertile were nomadic hunters and gatherers . They moved
Crescent . The first people to live in Mesopotamia from place to place in search of food and water .
settled the southernmost region of the crescent . In time, the Ubaid found ways to live in one place .
Today, this area is Iraq and Kuwait . They drained marshes and grew crops in
Modern archaeologists came across ancient the rich soil . They built irrigation canals to bring
stone tools, bricks, and pottery near the Euphrates water to drier areas . In addition, they made
River . These artifacts told stories about the lives pottery from river clay and wove baskets from
of these ancient people . The items show that reeds that grew in shallow water .
farming settlements existed as early as 5000 bce . The river’s riches not only met their personal
Researchers named these early settlers the Ubaid needs but also provided goods for trade with
after the site where the artifacts were found . travelers . Major
trade routes from
Asia and Europe
went through
the rich plains
of Sumeria . Items
that the Ubaid
could not grow or
make themselves
were obtained
from traders .

Copper lion heads were commonly

A small mosaic box thought to be a case for a musical instrument depicts life used as protective guardian figures
in early Mesopotamia. on Mesopotamian structures.

Ancient Mesopotamia 5 6
 Uruk, the First Known City
Over the years, more Sumerian settlements
sprang up in the Fertile Crescent . Some grew
to become true cities and eventually city-states .
Most important was the city of Uruk (modern-day
Warka, Iraq) . From 4100 through 3000 bce, Uruk
was the area’s center of authority and trade .
At one point, Uruk had up to eighty thousand
residents . The city covered more than 2 .6 square
kilometers (1 sq . mi .) and had huge buildings
made of mud bricks . A multilevel ziggurat, or
temple, served as a center of worship and sacrifice
of animals and crops .

An account of monthly grain rations was written in cuneiform script on a clay

tablet around 2350 bce.

Uruk was where Mesopotamian pictographs

first appeared . Pictographs are symbols used in
writing . This early written language grew out
of Uruk’s role as a center of trade and business .
Simple images were marked on clay tablets to
add up workers’ rations and as a record of goods .
Over time, pictographs changed into a system of
writing known as cuneiform . Symbols stood for
sounds rather than objects . These sound symbols
A drawing (top) shows a ziggurat from ancient Mesopotamia. The stone base of
Uruk’s ziggurat (bottom) still sits at its original site.
could be used to write in any language .

Ancient Mesopotamia 7 8
 This phonologic system had several advantages One of the most famous and celebrated rulers
over a pictographic system . Since the same set was King Gilgamesh (Bilgames in Sumerian) .
of symbols could be shuffled to form different Gilgamesh is believed to have ruled Uruk
words, fewer symbols were needed . The system around 2700 bce during the Early Dynastic
also made it easier to express abstract concepts Period (2900–2350 bce) . He became an epic hero
that would be difficult to show as pictures . of song and legend . Poems were written about
his 126-year reign . He was said to be a demigod,
Clay tablets marked with wedge-shaped
the son of King Lugalbanda and the Sumerian
cuneiform symbols provide information about
mother-goddess Ninsumun . Gilgamesh is credited
Sumerian life during that era . Residents of Uruk
with building the massive wall that protected
and other city-states within Sumeria lived in
Uruk . That wall still stands today .
structured societies . At the highest level was a
priest-king . That person led various other ranking In 2003, German scientists found a tomb in
officials, such as a leader of the plow, leader of the a Euphrates riverbed that they thought belonged
law, and so on . to Gilgamesh . It was quite similar to the tomb
described in the epic .
Mesopotamian society was divided into three
main classes: free people, semi-free people, and
enslaved people . Little is known about the lives The Epic of
of people in the lower classes of Sumer . Most Gilgamesh
Sumerian women were wives and mothers taking The Epic of Gilgamesh is a
collection of ancient Mesopotamian
care of their homes and families . Most girls poems that tell of the exciting
did not go to school unless they came from a adventures of an ancient
wealthy family . However, Sumerian women had king’s battles, struggles, and
more rights than women of later Mesopotamian achievements as he strives to attain
cultures . They could own property, run businesses, immortality. It is also believed to be
the oldest surviving literary work in
act as judges and witnesses in court, and become history. Stone tablets inscribed with
priestesses, scribes, and physicians . The epic tale describes
individual poems date back to about Gilgamesh wearing the skins
2100 bce. of lions he slew.

Ancient Mesopotamia 9 10
 Sargon’s Akkadian Empire
Warring City-States
As the Sumerian city-states expanded and EM CASPIAN SEA
PIR
thrived, they began to fight with each other E O
F S
for control of the region . War became more and Syria A RG
MEDITERRANEAN ON
more common . The earliest detailed record of SEA Akkad
Sumerian warfare shows a battle between the
Egypt
Mesopotamian city-states of Lagash and Umma
in 2525 bce . Figures and writing on an upright
stone column called a stele (STEE-lee) show
soldiers carrying swords, spears, and shields into The Sumerians’ fighting came to an end when
battle . Military leaders rode in wheeled carts pulled King Sargon of Akkad took control of the region
by pairs of onagers, a native species of donkey . in about 2340 bce . He united the city-states into
the Akkadian Empire . Sargon maintained control
Trade routes supplied the materials needed by placing key trusted allies in positions of power .
to craft the tools of warfare . Blacksmiths had The Akkadian Empire lasted until 2150 bce . At
discovered that two soft metals, copper and its peak, it stretched from the Mediterranean Sea
tin, could be smelted together to make a harder in the west and Arabia in the south to Iran in the
substance . This alloy, known as bronze, was used east and the Anatolian Peninsula in the north .
for making swords and spear tips . Tin, however,
was rare . It could only be obtained from traders The Akkadians did not speak Sumerian .
from central Asia or Europe . Disrupting trade However, they adapted the Sumerian cuneiform
routes was a way to keep script to write in their own language . The
weapons out of the hands Sumerian languages were only used in official
of an opposing army . and religious ceremonies . The earliest poet in the
history of the world whose name is known was
This fragment from a stele
Enheduanna, Sargon’s daughter . She served as
is one of the oldest known high priestess in the city of Ur . Among her poems
historical documents. It
describes the war between
were many verses praising the goddess Inanna,
Lagash and Umma. the most popular deity in Mesopotamia .

Ancient Mesopotamia 11 12
 Prosperity and Advancement
Peace during the Akkadian Empire brought
change to Mesopotamia . Mesopotamia created
the first postal system . Clay tablets were inscribed
with cuneiform messages, then wrapped in clay
envelopes . An envelope was marked with the seal
of the sender and the name and address of the
recipient . No one but the recipient could read
the message because the clay envelope had to
be broken in order to get to what was inside .

A central government enforced laws and

regulations . Trade networks expanded, and
The earliest pottery wheels and wheels for transportation have been found
commerce boomed . Business was conducted using in Sumer. Wheels are still an important part of modern life.
cylinder seals—carved tubes that were pressed
into clay . Pressing one’s seal into the clay was like Around 3500 bce, the Sumerians began using a
signing one’s name today . round, flat mechanical device to make clay bowls .
The potter’s wheel sat horizontally on an axis and,
The Mesopotamians also developed the idea of
when spun, allowed the potter to make a bowl
numerical place value . The way we measure time
with even edges and surfaces . Three hundred
uses this same system from long ago .
years later, Sumerians began to use wheels as a
way to easily move objects and transport people .
A System of Sixty
After much experimenting, the Sumerians tried
We use numerical base systems when
we count certain objects. For example, attaching one wheel to each side of a single axle .
when counting dozens of eggs, we use base The result was a device that made it easy to carry
twelve: twelve eggs equal one dozen. loads . The cart rolled across the ground with
When we count time, we use a system devised by minimal effort . Other civilizations may have
the ancient Mesopotamians—base sixty. There are sixty copied the design, and wheels were soon used
seconds in one minute and sixty minutes in one hour.
across the world .

Ancient Mesopotamia 13 14
 Fall of an Empire Glossary
The Akkadian Empire ended in about 2150 bce alloy (n.) page 11 nomadic (adj.) page 6
after a severe drought and an invasion by the a metal that is a moving from place
combination of two to place without a
Gutians (GOO-tee-uhnz) . The Gutians were
or more metals permanent home
nomads from the mountains to the north . Gutian
war parties made regular raids on the outer city-states (n.) page 7 phonologic (adj.) page 9
reaches of the kingdom . As a result, trade slowed cities or urban areas of or relating to the study
and fields lay untended . Eventually, the Gutian that act as independent of speech sounds within
countries or among languages
nomads took over Akkad,
and the Akkadian Empire civilizations (n.) page 4 pictographs (n.) page 8
collapsed . organized societies that symbols or pictures that
have a stable food supply, represent words or ideas
The Gutians had little government, social
smelted (v.) page 11
experience running such a structure, culture, written
melted or fused using
complex society . They let the language, and religion
extreme heat
canal network fall apart and commerce (n.) page 13
brought on a terrible famine . stele (n.) page 11
the buying and selling of
Their 125-year rule of Sumer a large, upright slab or
goods; business or trade
column of rock, usually
led to what came to be
cuneiform (n.) page 8 inscribed with designs or
known as the Dark Age
a system of writing made words that commemorate
of Mesopotamia . It was up of wedge-shaped something or someone;
not until the seventeenth characters, used in parts stela
century bce under the reign of the ancient Middle East
ziggurat (n.) page 7
of King Hammurabi that
demigod (n.) page 10 a rectangular structure
Mesopotamia would return a being from mythology in ancient Mesopotamia
as a thriving empire called who is part human and with steps up the sides
Babylonia . part god and a temple at the top
A statue shows Gudea, a Gutian
prince who ruled Lagash
between 2144 and 2124 bce.

Ancient Mesopotamia 15 16