Cuneiform Reflection

Cuneiform Reflection





I found this activity lots of fun! The sentence that I made was, Sumerians went to ziggurats. It was actually longer at first but then I made it smaller because it took forever to draw. But What I really find interesting about cuneiform is the fact that compared to other languages in the world, cuneiform was writing that actually standed for the actual letters in the English alphabet. And also cuneiform like it was only for writing where as compared with other languages with the writing the words you make is what you say when you speak. Like Japanese the different letters is how you pronounce it too. I found some letters harder to write than others but it seemed pretty easy.

Enheduana of Sumer

Enheduana of Sumer

From Outrageous Women of Ancient Times
By: Vicki Leon

There are very few women in Ancient times who are the first to do things. But who would have thought that a women would be the first author in ancient times. Sargon was the greatest of all the Akkadian kings. But he did not start out as apart of wealthy and Royal, he was a boy from a family of farmers. Then he slowly rised to the top and became a cupbearer for king Kish, and the throne was then passed on to him. But no one knows how he got the throne. He had two twin sons and a daughter named Enheduana. Enheduana learned to read and write, and she was able to have this privilage and ability because she was apart of the royal family.

Hammurabi's Code

Hammurabi's Code




What is Hammurabi's code? Why did he make these laws? These are the questions that we wonder. When Hammurabi was on the throne Babylonia was making great progress. Agriculture and trade was very strong. On the Euphrates river the capital city of Babylonia became a trade center. Babylonia went to Syria and other places in the south to trade with other cities, for example grain for cloth, or wood for furniture and ships. They also returned with gold, silver, gems, and livestock. The good trade market made the economy grow. The Economy had a big group of crafts people, metal workers, carpenters, leather workers, and even jewelry makers. Ornaments were needed in special temples and other places in Babylonia.

Kings, high priests, wealthy families, and even some government officials had very nice homes and wore the best clothes. Mearchants and craft workers lived in twisted streets and rows, usually 7 rooms and a court yard. Slaves were the lowest, but if they finished all the duties that there master has given them then they can go to other places and work. They were also allowed to own properties and money. Hammurabi said that he was told by the gods to write down laws, to make the city stronger and bring justice. He wrote 280 laws for different things like, trade, wages, farmer labors, penalties for destroying property or selling, renting, family, for example marrige and divorce, and even selling slaves. Some of these laws I think are fair but others I feel are a bit unfair. Some things I think are a bit to over the top for example the law: If a son strikes his father, his hand may be cut off. I think this law might be to harsh. Where as other laws you can see why the consequences would be that for example: If a wife's poor behavior publicly disgraces her husband, he can be rid of her with no penalty to himself. However, he must first prove his claim in court. Once his claim is recognized, he can either divorce her or marry another woman, reducing the status of his first wife to that of household slave girl. So this is Hammurabi's code and this is why he has made these laws.

A Day and A Life of a Bronze Age Trader

A Day and a Life of A Bronze Age Trader
(Perspective of a little girl in Sumer)

Hello my name is Lila, I am 11 years old and I live in the city of Bulaba in Sumer. I am not very rich but I still have quite a nice life. My mother is a merchant trader, she sells some of the most wonderful things! She makes beautiful pottery, jewelry, and also sells tools that my father makes. My father is a goldsmith, he makes bronze, he uses it to make tools, weapons it so cool! My father told me that a long time ago we use to use stone but now we have found bronze which is better because its stronger and longer lasting. And the last member of my family is my brother Aran, he goes to school and learns how to write! Oneday he wants to become a scribe. Isn't that so cool! I wish I could go to school but girls are not allowed to. Our city has a ruler King Hiragua, he seems like a nice man but really I have no clue. My family and I are not the poorest people, in my opinion I guess we are higher than other people in society. Farmers are below us, they susally live out in the villages near by. Even though they are a low class they are still important becasue they produce all the crops for us to eat and make food out of. But below them is servants probably some of the servants serve the king! But slaves are the lowest people, sometimes I see them they look like they are not really having a good time. Well any way when I am older I want to be a potter and jewerly maker like my mother, I guess she is sort of my role model. I love her, i love all my family. Living in the city of Bulaba is lots of fun!

The Begining of Civilization

The Beginnings of Civilization

How did civilization start? How did we get from settling and farming to these big huge cities?Farming was very hard work, but people were able to produce there own food and have a good supply for almost all year-round. So this means people did not have to travel from place to place because they had enough food to last for a long time. When you have a big supply of food it is called surplus. If there is lots of food surplus then that means the population will grow. If you had only a hunting a gathering life you could not have many children because you cannot take care of them all if you can only get so much in a day. But if you have a food surplus you could have have quite a few children and you could feed them all and still have lots of food left. 10,000 years ago there was about a population of 5 million because people were still only hunters and gatherers. But then 7,000 years ago when people started to settle and farm the population went up to 20,000 million. As the population increased settlements grew into towns, and because of food surplus people did not have to spend all there time producing food, they could do other things for example some people became artisans, and made baskets, leather goods, tools, pottery etc. Cities were more likely to develop in places with rich soil and good supply of food. You would also need a good supply of watter and materials to build shelters. Most cities were built near rivers, for example the Huang river in China. Cities were differnt from farming, they were much bigger and had large public building. Buildings for woreship, storing food, and selling goods. If you were working in a village you were usually a farmer but working in a city you had a wide variety of occupations.

As the populations of cities grew government fored, they provided services and order in society. The New Stone Age grew into societies of civilization. They had leaders, ad workers for differnt jobs. In 6600 B.C. in Europe and Asia they discovered bronze. This was useful because it was harder than copper, and longer lasting. They used it for weapons, tools etc. Traders took valuable items like pottery, tools, weapons, baskets, and spices and traded them with other places. For example in China they went along the silk road to trade things like silk, jade,and pottery with other countries in Europe. In 3500B.C. they invented the wheel and axle and this made it easier because they could carry more things. Social classes is a group of people having similar backround, incomes, and ways of living. In most large cities the king is the most powerful person. Under the kind you have the next class the priests for the city's religion and nobles who are government officials. The third class is artisans, small traders, and merchants. After you have farmers and workers, and the lowest are slaves who are owned by other people. This is how civilization started.

Lat Human Standing

The big question is why are we the only species of humans here on earth? how come we don't see the Neanderthals standing next to us today? Why did they die out? We have about 20 different human ancestors. 50,000 years ago there were about 4 different types of human living at the same time. But today we are just one species. So when Homo sapiens moved into the Middle East Homo erects died out. And when Homo sapiens moved into Europe the Neanderthals died out, but why? Neanderthals had bigger brains than ours they were the more advanced humans until we arrived. People use to think that neanderthals did not looked like us and were not very smart. Some archaeologists have found the bones of a neanderthal boy. They thought he was around 11 or 12 years old when he died but really he was only 8. Here we can see that he grew up quicker but had less time for the brain to develop. Parts of the neanderthal brain was smallr and they had limited thinking power. Also neaderthals were carnivors so they rarley ate any plants. Another way we can see how our thinking have evolved is if we look at some of tools for example the neanderthals had heavy spears so they could not carry that many and it would be very hard for them to throw it. But Homo sapiens had light spears so they could carry many and they could get a good throw. Europe also had very wild climates so it was very hard for the neanderthals to survive. When Homo sapiens came some of them lived by the sea, archaeologists believe that could have changed them. By looking at their diet they could see they collected selfish, differnt fruits, and plants. They also made different types of tools which helped them get more out of their environment. This is why we are not with neanderthals or Homo erectus today, climates, tools, diet all explain how we evolved and why we are the last human's standing.


"Last Human Stnading ." Becoming Huamn. PBS NOVA. 31 Aug. 2011. Television.

From Grunts to Grammar

From Grunts to Grammar:
They Evolution of Language



English speakers understand language by the order they are in. Grammar in writing makes it easier for us to explain things. But the big question is how did humans learn to talk this way? The earliest human is Homo habilis. Around 2 and a half years ago we started to use speech. For us to have the development in changes of voice is in the larynx (voice box). It has vocal cords that let us make sound form our throats. Most mammals they have their larynx high so their range of sound is limited. Also most mammals are nose breathers. but we can also breath through our mouths. When they chased animals it was easy for them to keep on running and not lose breath because when they breathed through their mouths to let more air in and out of the lungs. So for us to start being able to develop language all the pieces in the brain and throat were put together.

Paleoantlropologists need to look for signs of communication because we cannot find evidence of language back then. So how can we find information on how they communicated to other members of the tribe? First we would not start using full language for making tools because if you look at chimpanzees' they picked leaves off sticks then stuck the stick down a ant hill and then stick it in their mouths and they got a nice tasty snack and they didn't have to use language to do that. But then some tools had certain steps which would maybe require language. We communicated in three different ways sound, hand motions, and facial expressions. And we still all use these today for example people that are deaf they use hand motions to communicate. So if we know how they communitcated then when did they start to communicate? From a small population in Africa, Homo sapiens spreaded out into the world. When they migrated to Asia it was probably around 60,000 t0 80,000 years ago. But migrating to there probably did not need t0 much language. But when they went to Australia, at some point there was water they would need to cross so to cross it they would have to make some type of boat and to do that you would need to use language. So this shows how language started and how it has changed over time.

Bibliography

Miller, Jeanne. "From Grunts to Grammar." Odyssey: Adventures in Science  Oct. 2009 : 34, 35, 36 . 

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