Early World Civilizations: Supplemental Guide 1A | A Father and His Son in Mesopotamia 27river. Then farmers could grow crops even where the rivers didn’t
fl ow.”^12
“Our great king, Hammurabi (hah-moo-RAH-bee), did the same
thing. He had canals dug to move water all over our country
from the two great rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. And King
Hammurabi and his helpers used an ancient way to collect rain
water. When the winter rains come, the water doesn’t just wash
away downstream. They made the waters run into a reservoir, so
that after the rains stopped, there would be water for drinking or
for watering crops.^13 Once this was done, people could stay in
one place near the river, and make that place better and better,
until fi nally we had.. .”
Show image 1A-9: Warad and Iddin walking on street
“Babylon!” exclaimed Iddin. “Our king, Hammurabi, must be the
best king of all, father.”
Warad agreed, “He is, indeed, a great king. And now I think it is
time for us to head home, my son.”
Note: Remind students that the fi ctional characters—Warad and
Iddin—are made-up but King Hammurabi was a real king long, long
ago in Mesopotamia.Discussing the Read-Aloud 15 minutes
Comprehension Questions 10 minutes
If students have diffi culty responding to questions, reread pertinent
passages of the read-aloud and/or refer to specifi c images. If
students give one-word answers and/or fail to use read-aloud
or domain vocabulary in their responses, acknowledge correct
responses by expanding the students’ responses using richer
and more complex language. Ask students to answer in complete
sentences by having them restate the question in their responses.- Literal [Have two students locate the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers on a world map or globe.] On what continent are these
rivers located? (Asia)
13 A reservoir is similar to a lake. It’s
a place where water is stored for
future use.
12 How do you think the canals
enabled the farmers to grow crops
even where there were no rivers?