Mesopotamia// Mesopotamia

Denne teksten Mespoptamia finnes på flere språk. Teksten er hentet fra Zmekk.no. Den er tilpasset og oversatt til flere språk av morsmål.no etter avtale med Bergen kommune. Tanken er at teksten skal være et supplement til andre læremidler og andre aktiviteter i opplæringen. Det er altså ikke meningen at disse ressursene skal stå alene, men at de kan brukes i innledning til arbeid med temaet.

Teksten kan, for eksempel, brukes sammen med tospråklig lærer for å aktivere elevenes kunnskaper om temaet, og å bidra til at eleven lærer fagspråk.

Scroll nedover for å finne flere ressurser.

The rivers Euphrates and Tigris are located today in the countries of Turkey, Iraq and Syria. 6,000 years ago, the large parts of these areas were simply called Mesopotamia, which means “the land between the rivers”.

The map shows where Mesopotamia was located in relation to today’s area.

The climate in the area has always been warm and good, but also very dry. However, much of the fruit sold in Norway comes from this area. The area is fertile. How can it be so dry, and at the same time so fertile?

As you have probably guessed, the rivers are the explanation. Without the big rivers, the area would have been more desert, and for that reason almost nothing would grow there.

Illuastrasjon som viser det en bygning, ørken og dyrket området ved eb elv. Skal illustrere en bygning og dets plassering i datidens mesopotomia — _{The rivers gave the possibility to cultivate the land and harvest good crops.}

In the spring, when the snow in the mountains melted, the rivers were flooded. The water rose and overflowed its banks. When the water receded and the rivers were back to their normal width, fertile mud was left on the fields. This sludge contained good and nutritious soil.

The people of Mesopotamia developed many good techniques and tools to utilise the water in the best possible way. With all the water they had, they could make the soil fertile and grow almost anything they wanted. In addition, there were many fish in the rivers.

The first farmers

The people who lived in Mesopotamia were the first farmers. They were the first to start growing wheat. By ploughing, watering and fertilising the soil, they discovered that the soil became very fertile. This resulted to that they could harvest wheat grains several times within a year. Larger crops and more food resulted to that they could collect as well as store the food for later use. To help them with their work, they used animals such as oxen and horses. The people of Mesopotamia were the first to start with livestock.

Bilde av hvete korn — The people who lived in Mesopotamia were the first farmers.

Bilde av en Ziggurat, et tempeltårn i Ikrak — The people who lived in Mesopotamia were the first farmers.

There was a lot to live off in Mesopotamia, which led many to move there. This is how the world’s first cities emerged. This was many thousands of years ago. Eventually the cities became well organised. They also had schools and a military. Mesopotamia is known for its temples called ziggurats, and other amazing structures. People had several different occupations. Some call the people of Mesopotamia the first cultured people.

Inventions

In the very south of Mesopotamia was the country of Sumer. The Sumerians made several important inventions, such as in mathematics and geometry. They created a number system using 60 as the base number. We use part of it today. An hour has 60 minutes and a minute has 60 seconds. We divide the circle into 360 degrees.

Bilde som viser urgammel kileskrift fra Meopotamia — Number system with 60 as base number.

Between 3500 and 3000 BC In the fourth century B.C. they developed a writing system called cuneiform. Cuneiform was originally pictorial writing. It was eventually simplified and images were replaced by characters. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets and in stone. The art of writing spread eastwards and westwards, including as far as Egypt. Other inventions is for example the wheel and the plow. They also put keels on their boats so they wouldn’t capsize easily, and they started using sails so they didn’t have to constantly row.

Cities

The Sumerians built large cities. The largest city of Sumer was called Uruk. The city of Ur was another important trading city with connections to the sea. Each city was often its own state with its own king. The kings had great power as they were also religious leaders. The king, his servants, the priests and the craftsmen lived in the cities.

There were often walls round the entire city to protect them from the enemies. The farmers who lived around the city had to pay taxes to the king in the form of grain, meat, fish and vegetables. The Sumerians did not use money to purchase goods. They traded for goods they needed. Merchants sailed abroad and traded copper and gold. The artisans traded food for goods such as ceramics, jewellery and clothing, as well as various utility items.

Important words in the text

to organise

means to arrange something so that it forms a natural (appropriate?) totality.

to collect

means to put together, gather, pick for a certain purpose.

to store or to save

means to keep for later use

to simplify

means to make something easier.

to arise

means that something comes into existence, begins or emerges.

to exploit

means to benefit from something, use it for something that gives you something

to grow

means to produce something such as plants.

to trade

means to give something and get something else instead.

to harvest

means to take in the crop which has been grown.

to flood

means to put under water, the water overflows

to rise / to recede

to rise means that something increases or goes up. To recede means that something decreases or goes down.

to fertilise

means adding substances with high nutritional value to the soil so that the plants grow better.

A film about life in Mesopotamia

_{Ilustrasjon1: Karl Musser, translated labels by User:Mathias-S, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons}

Du vil kanskje også like:
Samfunnsfag