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It also covers writing and cuneiform, learning and science such as astronomy, crafts like pottery and glass, and religious beliefs centered on temples, priests, and festivals.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/","Religion & Spirituality",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mesopotamia-visit-resource-for-teachers-key-stage-2/412088/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mesopotamia-visit-resource-for-teachers-key-stage-2/412088.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Sarah ","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-17","2026-09-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What geographical feature shaped Mesopotamia’s early settlement and farming?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Frequent flooding of the Euphrates and Tigris left layers of silt, creating fertile soil near the rivers, which supported farming and growing food crops.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How did writing develop in Mesopotamia?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Sumerians began using pictograms around 3200 BC, which were gradually simplified into wedge-shaped cuneiform symbols used to represent syllables and words.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What knowledge and learning were associated with Mesopotamian cities?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Mesopotamian cities functioned as learning centres; the Sumerians used number systems and multiplication tables, while Babylonian astronomers recorded the moon and planets.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},412088,1791031325,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,110,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":116,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":127,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},962085320529,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc","Mesopotamia  \nhe 'Ram in a Thicket'rom Ur, southern Iraq, 600-2400 BC  \nVisit resource for teachers Key Stage 2  \nContents  \nBefore your visit  \nBackground information Resources  \nGallery information Preliminary activities  \nDuring your visit  \nGallery activities: introduction for teachers Gallery activities: briefings for adult helpers  \nGallery activity: Animals  \nGallery activity: Standard of Ur  \nGallery activity: Jewellery  \nGallery activity: People of Sumer  \nAfter your visit  \nFollow-up activities  \nBefore your visit  \nBackground information  \nMesopotamia is the area of land between the River Euphrates and the River Tigris. In ancient times, both rivers frequently flooded the surrounding land. Each time the floodwater receded , it left behind a layer of silt, creating a fertile area of soil near the rivers. The first people to live in Mesopotamia led a nomadic life. Then around 6000 BC people began to keep animals and grow their own food crops on the fertile river soil in northern Mesopotamia. In the south, where there was less natural rainfall, they built canals to bring water from the river to water the fields. These first farmers settled in one place and lived in small villages. Some of these villages grew into towns, and in turn some of the towns grew into cities. The cities grew wealthy from agriculture and trade. Across Mesopotamia, different groups of people settled , based around particular cities. The Sumerians were to be found in southern Mesopotamia, the Akkadians, and then the Babylonians, in central Mesopotamia and the Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia. Sometimes, the whole of Mesopotamia was ruled by one of these groups of people. Sometimes, it was ruled by people who came from outside Mesopotamia. Nowadays, most of Mesopotamia is the country of Iraq with its capital city at Baghdad, in central Mesopotamia.  \nMesopotamian cities were centres of knowledge and learning. The Sumerians developed a number system based on 60. The Assyrians occasionally used a system based on 10. To help with mathematical calculations, people used multiplication tables written on clay tablets. Babylonian astronomers studied the night sky and recorded the movement of the moon and planets. The Sumerians started to write down stories about their kings and gods from about 2500 BC. Cuneiform tablets were kept in the royal palaces and temples. The Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668 to 631 BC) collected a library of about  \n25,000 clay tablets at his palace at Nineveh. The tablets included letters, legends, dictionaries and histories, mathematical and medical texts. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II (reigned 605 to 562 BC) started a museum in Babylon, which contained objects, statues and clay tablets, some of which dated back to Sumerian times.  \nWriting began in the Sumerian cities around 3200 BC. This writing was used to record the collection and distribution of food supplies in the cities. The first Sumerian writing used pictograms; simple pictures which represent objects. Gradually, these pictograms were simplified into a form of writing which used wedge-shapes. This writing is known as cuneiform. Cuneiform symbols represented syllables which could be combined to make a word, or used by themselves to represent a complete word. Eventually, there were more than 600 cuneiform symbols. The first cuneiform represented the Sumerian language. Later, the Assyrians and Babylonians wrote down their language using cuneiform. Most of the writing from Mesopotamia is on small clay tablets. Damp clay was formed into a flat tablet, which could be held in one hand. The writer pressed a stylus made from reed, wood or ivory into the clay to make the cuneiform symbols then left the tablet in the sun to harden. From about 2000 BC ivory tablets covered with a layer of wax were also used for writing. These could be reused, since the wax could be smoothed over ready for the next piece of writing. Cuneiform signs were also carved onto stone. Early ","cbCaiiLE2CfE0Mb2","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiLE2CfE0Mb2","pdf",238438,"English","# Before your visit\n## Background information\n# During your visit\n## Gallery activities: introduction for teachers\n## Gallery activities: briefings for adult helpers\n## Gallery activity: Animals\n## Gallery activity: Standard of Ur\n## Gallery activity: Jewellery\n## Gallery activity: People of Sumer\n# After your visit\n## Follow-up activities","[{\"question\":\"What geographical feature shaped Mesopotamia’s early settlement and farming?\",\"answer\":\"Frequent flooding of the Euphrates and Tigris left layers of silt, creating fertile soil near the rivers, which supported farming and growing food crops.\"},{\"question\":\"How did writing develop in Mesopotamia?\",\"answer\":\"Sumerians began using pictograms around 3200 BC, which were gradually simplified into wedge-shaped cuneiform symbols used to represent syllables and words.\"},{\"question\":\"What knowledge and learning were associated with Mesopotamian cities?\",\"answer\":\"Mesopotamian cities functioned as learning centres; the Sumerians used number systems and multiplication tables, while Babylonian astronomers recorded the moon and planets.\"}]","Mesopotamia - Visit resource for teachers Key Stage 2 | PDF",1790590450,48]