Early World Civilizations: Supplemental Guide 2A | Writing in Mesopotamia 43Vocabulary Preview 5 minutes
Cuneiform Show image 2A-2: Cuneiform
- In today’s story Warad shows Iddin and Amur cuneiform
written on a tablet. - Say the word cuneiform with me three times.
- Cuneiform is writing that was used in Mesopotamia.
Cuneiform is made by drawing lines and wedges—or shapes
that look like triangles.
[Show students different images of cuneiform.] - Warad wrote information down on a clay tablet using
cuneiform. - [Invite students to point to the lines and wedges of the
cuneiform.]
Laws/Code of Hammurabi - Today you will hear about laws called the Code of Hammurabi.
- Say the word laws with me three times.
Say the words Code of Hammurabi with me three times. - Laws are rules made by the leaders of a city, state, or country.
People need to follow the laws. One of the fi rst laws ever
written down is called the Code of Hammurabi, created
by King Hammurabi. There are 282 laws in the Code of
Hammurabi. - The people who visited Mesopotamia also needed to follow
the laws of Mesopotamia called the Code of Hammurabi. The
laws were written down on clay tablets so that everyone could
see them. - Let’s review the rules of our classroom, or the Code of
[Room #].
[At a later time, you may wish to talk about some of the
laws in the Code of Hammurabi. You may wish to use this
opportunity to review and update your classroom rules.]