Alabama Social Studies SS24.7.6c
The Standard
- SS24.7.6
- Explain how technological innovations and the geographic features of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers contributed to the development of civilization in the Fertile Crescent.
Summarize the cultural and political innovations of Mesopotamia, including The Epic of Gilgamesh and Hammurabi's Code.
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain how Mesopotamians used writing to record stories and laws. They summarize what Gilgamesh shows about beliefs and how Hammurabi's Code supported a ruler's authority.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student identifies cuneiform as a writing system and explains how Gilgamesh explores kingship and death. They describe how Hammurabi's written laws set penalties, including different penalties for people of different social ranks.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat Gilgamesh as a factual record or confuse him with Hammurabi. They may assume Hammurabi invented laws or that his code punished everyone equally.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: What does Gilgamesh show about Mesopotamian beliefs about death? How did Hammurabi's written laws help a king govern?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Press wedge marks into clay using a cuneiform sign chart, then label how writing helped preserve stories and laws.
Read a short passage about Gilgamesh mourning Enkidu, then ask, "What does his reaction suggest about Mesopotamian views of death?"
Sort short Gilgamesh passages and paraphrased Hammurabi laws into story and law piles, then explain what each pile tells us about Mesopotamia.
Compare a school rule about damaged property with a paraphrased Hammurabi property law, noting who sets penalties and whether status changes them.
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Related Standards
- SS24.7.15d
Summarize the influence of Roman legal and political systems on later societies.
- SS24.7.6a
Describe how agriculture, domestication of animals, inventions, irrigation, metalsmithing, and mining contributed to the settlement and growth of Mesopotamian c...
- SS24.7.6
Explain how technological innovations and the geographic features of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers contributed to the development of civilization in the Ferti...
- SS24.7.6b
Analyze how advancements in agriculture in Sumer led to economic growth, expansion of trade and transportation, and the emergence of independent city-states.
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