Early World Civilizations: Supplemental Guide 1A | A Father and His Son in Mesopotamia 25Presenting the Read-Aloud 15 minutes
A Father and His Son in Mesopotamia
Show image 1A-3: Warad and Iddin walking on banks of Euphrates
Almost four thousand years ago, a father and a son were
walking together on the banks of a great river, close to what was
then possibly the biggest city in the world: Babylon.^1 The father,
whose name was Warad (WAH-red), said to his son Iddin (ID-din),
“See, my son: the great Euphrates (you-FRAY-teez) River. If this river
did not fl ow, 2 there would be no wonderful city of Babylon, no
palaces, no gardens, not even any houses.”
Iddin said, “But I don’t understand, Father. Did all these things
appear out of the water?”
Show image 1A-4: Warad and Iddin sitting on a bench
“No,” his father laughed. “No one just fl oated the palaces down
here or pulled them from the water. Let me explain, Iddin.” They
sat down on a bench overlooking the wide river, which rolled
before them, refl ecting the palaces and religious temples that rose
high on both banks of the river.
Show image 1A-5: First people farming
“The fi rst people who lived along this river realized that the
land surrounding the river had rich soil for planting crops, like
wheat and barley for bread. These people settled^3 along the river
because the land farther away from the river was desert and the
desert is not a very good place to grow crops.^4 So, these people
built their homes along the river so that they could grow crops to
feed themselves and their families.
“Now, let me ask you a question, Iddin. Why do you think
people built our city right here?”
“Because of the water?”
“Yes, the river water kept alive the plants that were grown for
food. Now look around.”1 The banks are the ground on the
sides of the river. [Point to the bank
in the image.] The word banks can
also refer to places where people
keep money.
2 or move continuously
3 or decided to live
4 Why is the desert not a good place
to grow crops?