Hands-On Activity · Lesson 1.1
The Excavation
The Anatomy of a Civilization
You have been given scattered evidence from a single Sumerian city. Your job is to sort it, connect it, and rebuild the system it belonged to.
Sort, connect, rebuild, defend.
A civilization rests on four pillars: surplus, memory (writing), belief, and rule. Use the Evidence Cards to show how the pillars hold each other up.
Evidence Cards
Eight pieces of evidence dug up from one Sumerian city. Each card fits best under one pillar, but some could fit under two. Decide where each one belongs.
An Irrigation Canal
A ditch dug from the Euphrates River carried water into fields far from the riverbank, so farmers could grow crops even in dry months.
A Wooden Plow
Sumerian farmers used plows pulled by animals to break up the soil, letting a few farmers plant much more land.
Storerooms of Extra Grain
Large storerooms held more barley than the farmers' families could eat, enough to feed people who grew no food at all.
A Clay Tablet
A reed stylus pressed wedge-shaped marks into wet clay to record grain totals and temple deliveries. This writing is called cuneiform.
About 3000 BCEA Stepped Temple
A tall, stepped temple called a ziggurat rose above the city, where priests cared for the city's god.
A Priest's Offering Bowl
Priests brought food and gifts to the city's god, believing a well-cared-for god would guarantee a good harvest.
A War Leader's Helmet
When cities fought over farmland and water, a war leader called a lugal led the army. Many lugals kept their power after the fighting ended and became kings.
A Craftsworker's Tools
Full-time artisans made pottery, metal tools, and jewelry. They could do this work because surplus food fed them.
Where Sumer Grew
Sumer sat in southern Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Rebuild the city.
Fill in each part on screen, or print the page and write by hand.
Sort the evidence into four pillars.
Write each card's number and name under the pillar it fits best.
Surplus
Memory
Belief
Rule
Link each pile to a different pillar.
One sentence per pile.
| Pile | Linked pillar | How they connect |
|---|---|---|
| Surplus | ||
| Memory | ||
| Belief | ||
| Rule |
Diagram of a working city
In each box, list the card numbers in that pillar and write how it supports the city. Draw arrows between boxes on your printed copy.
Defend one connection.
Write two sentences. Name the two pillars and use at least one card number as evidence.
Record what you found.
Your Evidence Log entry and checklist are part of your lesson points.
Evidence Log
Accountability Checklist
Use today's vocabulary.
Use at least two of these words in your writing.
Surplus
Farmland productive enough to feed people who do not farm. Without it, no settlement can grow past a village.
Cuneiform
Sumer's wedge-shaped writing system, pressed into wet clay. The first known way to make language outlast a conversation.
Ziggurat
A stepped temple built to house a city's god. A well-tended temple was believed to keep the gods, and the harvest, on the city's side.
Lugal
Sumerian for "big man," the title given to the war leaders who became the first kings of the city-states.