Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Over the weekend a great new and extraordinary new civilization was discovered. Nothing has yet been published about this civilization except for the fact that it does meet all the characteristics of a civilization. It is said to be more advanced even than the Mesopotamian
Empires such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians. It is your responsibilities as historians to present this new civilization to the world. This presentation will describe each of the characteristics, their location in the world, the time they existed in comparison to other civilizations and much more. This news-breaking presentation will be done on Wednesday, January 30, 2013. You have little time and much to do, so focus!
Requirements: On a poster that will be provided the following must be included

Name of Civilization

Years of Existence on a Timeline

Location of the Civilization

Population Size

A description of each of the characteristics (additional artifacts may be included)

A comparison and contrast of your civilization with that of an Ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

At least one of the additional items o Flag o Map of the capital city o The money the civilization used o Another idea that is approved by Mr. Spalding
In addition each member of your group will be responsible for one of your civilization’s characteristics and will be expected to compare and contrast this characteristic with the same characteristic of another Mesopotamian Empire.

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
You must first record the main responsibility of each group member below
Project Leader: __________________
Ensures that all tasks are being completed and that all students are on task. Asks the teacher group questions and voices the groups concerns
Presentation Editor:_______________
Makes sure that the presentation is organized neat and accurate and includes all of the requirements. Has a list of all members and when they will present.
Chief Historian:_______________
Makes sure that all aspects of the presentation are historically accurate. Supports other group members in their compare/contrast paragraphs.
Materials Manager:_______________
Makes sure that all materials are used correctly and are collected and put away. Is in charge of receiving and returning all materials.
Artist:_______________
Makes sure that the presentation is creative and takes the lead in the artistic portions of the project. Leads in completing the additional one item (flag, money, etc.)
Timekeeper :_______________
Makes sure that the group members are aware of the time and that the group will meet the deadlines set. Works with the project leader to make sure that all tasks are completed on time
Please write the name of the group member next to the characteristic they will create, research and write about.
__________________________a. Art
__________________________b. Technology
__________________________c. Stable food supply
__________________________d. Writing
__________________________e. Government
__________________________f. Social Structure
__________________________g. Religion

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations

Name of Civilization:_________________________________________

Years of Existence on a Timeline: When did it exist compared to other Mesopotamian
Empires? (For now make it simple, but when you create the poster, it should be neat.)

Location of the Civilization: You can pick any place on Earth, but make sure that you can explain how it helps to develop the civilization:
Location:
1.
What is the geography of the area like?
2.
How will this location be good for growing crops and livestock?
3.
How will this location be helpful for defense against attacks?

Population Size: (Between 500 and 10,000 is a good size)

Choose at least one of the additional items o Flag o Map of the capital city o The money the civilization used o Another idea that is approved by Mr. Spalding

Laws of the society –(See sheet in folder and complete)
To be completed tomorrow

A description/example/image of each of the characteristics

A comparison and contrast of your civilization with that of an Ancient Mesopotamian civilization.
Now that we know the characteristics of a civilization, it’s time to create our very own civilizations. Your group is going to create your own civilization from the ground up. Please

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations use your history alive text, your notes, and www.historylink101.com/ancient_mesopotamia.htm as references to check the accuracy of your information.
Additional Item Suggestions
*Map - Map out your territory. You should draw an aerial map of your civilization that shows where the following things are:
1. market
2. temple
3. town square
4. villages (houses)
5. farmland (see stable food supply for specifics)
6. roads
7. government buildings (palace, court, capital)
*Flag - Design a flag that your civilization could carry into battle. Your flag can be drawn on paper or you could chose to make it from cloth.
*Money – Create an example of your people’s money. It could be coins or cloth, or clay, with anything from only the worth to an image of a person or place and the name.
*National Anthem – Create the lyrics to your nation’s national anthem. They could include important aspects of your civilization, including the stable food supply, geography, etc. If you are feeling especially creative, make a tune that goes with the lyrics!
*If you have other ideas for a creative piece to your project that represents your civilization you must speak to Mr. Spalding

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Below are the explanations for each of the characteristics. When you create your characteristic for your civilization you must follow the instructions below, but you may be creative and I encourage you to provide as much detail as possible.
Each characteristic must either have a detailed description, image with labels or item of the characteristic with a label. The characteristic will be described in the presentation. You will provide additional detail in writing for your characteristic comparison and contrast paragraphs.
1) Art - Develop a sophisticated culture: Choose a type of art such as sculptures, painting, plays, music, dance, architecture or another type and either create an actual example write a paragraph, or draw a basic example of the art. You must include labels to identify these important areas a.
Include within the artwork at least 3 important pieces of your civilization such as
-name of civilization
-population
-geography
-names of some crops
-names of some animals
-type of government—important people
-names of gods
-laws
2) Technology – Remember that technology becomes more advanced in order to solve problems.
What are three technologies that came out of the civilization? They can be technologies that exist already and after discovering this new society it is found that this is the first civilization that invented it. Each technology must have a.
a reason for being invented/created b.
explain how it was used in the civilization. c.
Create a chart that has the three technologies, the 3 problems and how they were solved
(explanation of technology)
3) Stable food supply - Stable food supply - name and describe or draw at least 3 crops you are going to grow and at least 2 animals that you are going to raise. Also include how they are eaten, who eats them, and who eats how much.
4) Writing - When we practiced briefly with cuneiform, you learned that sometimes you can explain main ideas without words like ‘the, a, and, is’ and others. The power words are what tell the story. At the same time you learned that it could also be difficult to be clear and detailed and quick with a pictographic writing system. You may either create a simple pictographic system that has at least 30 words or a phonetic writing system with images representing sounds (phonetic writing) with 26 or more “letters.” You must also write at least two sentences with this writing system.

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
5) Government – you need to decide what type of government your civilization will be using. You have 4 choices: a.
Monarchy-government in which a royal family rules the nation (King-Queen) b.
c.
Oligarchy-government in which a small group of “important” people rule a nation
Democracy-government in which people make important decisions for their own nation; this is usually done through representatives d.
Theocracy-government in which a God or gods rule through people because the whole country shares the same religion; this is usually done through priests.
After choosing a form of government answer these questions in complete sentences:
1. Why did you choose this type of government?
2. How will the government run in a way that helps the civilization?
6) Social Structure - Create a flow chart that illustrates the social classes of your civilization.
You can divide it up by jobs, age, or any other way a society might be subdivided. You need at least 3 different tiers in your flow chart. Your flow chart will also explain why you put each group in their position.
7) Religion – Mesopotamians worshipped gods based on what they could do for them. In other words, the sun brought light and helped things grow…pretty important. When uncovering the new civilizations religion, it is likely that it will be based on what was important to them. Please determine (decide) if it is monotheistic or polytheistic and who the civilization worshipped.

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
When writing compare and contrast paragraphs, there are two easy way to organize your paragraphs. After writing an introduction sentence and before your very last sentence, you can divide the paragraphs into

A similarities paragraph and a differences paragraph
OR

A paragraph on one subject (The Mesopotamian Empire) and a paragraph on the other subject (The newly discovered empire)
When beginning the writing, start by using one of the following suggestions

Say whether they are more similar or different

State the way they are most similar

Provide an interesting or unusual similarity or difference

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Below write a rough draft of your compare and contrast paragraphs. Use the Venn diagram to help you. Use as much detail as possible, organize the paragraphs in one of the two ways described, and include both an introduction and a concluding sentence.
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Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Grading Rubric
Polytheism
Ziggurat
4
“Gods” are logically chosen, described in great detail and substantial supporting evidence is provided
3 2 1
“Gods” are logical and show a clear understanding of a polytheistic religion
“Gods” are somewhat logically chosen but understanding of polytheism is unclear
Clearly struggles with concept and offers little to no detail in form of supporting evidence
Planning and presentation goes above and beyond an understanding of tiers and necessary creativity
Presentation shows research of proper construction of the structure as well as attention to detail
Presentation does not show understanding of the structure and is not given proper detail
Quickly thrown together – does not present clear understanding of importance
Code of Law
Situations are detailed, wellorganized, extremely creative and show logical situations that may arise in society
Writing
System
Situations are detailed, organized and show logical situations that may arise in a society
Details are lacking and punishments slightly unclear but logical situations are addressed
Lacks detail, logical situations and is extremely unclear
Story is detailed in picture so well that it should be displayed in a
“museum”
Pictograph story clearly depicts the end of the world in a way that could be understood by historians
Pictures are detailed and well organized but the message of the story is not completely clear
Pictures are poorly created and do not offer a clear story of how this society came to be
Writing and
Grammar
N/A
Written portions have excellent grammar, are
Written portions struggle in grammar and
Grammar and lack of detail make

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations completely coherent and show mastery of
Common Core
Standards
Common Core
Standards but comprehension is solid comprehension and understanding very difficult
Standards assessed
3. Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies.
4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as used in text, including vocabulary specific to history/social studies.
5. Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
7. Integrate visual information (e.g., charts, photographs, videos, maps) with information in print and digital texts.
7.7 On a historical map, locate the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and identify Sumer, Babylon, and
Assyria as empires in this region, and explain why the region called "the Fertile Crescent." On a modern map of Asia, identify modern countries in the region (Iraq, Iran, and Turkey).
7.8 Identify polytheism (belief that there are many gods) as the religious belief Mesopotamian civilizations.
7.9 Describe how irrigation, metalsmithing, slavery, the domestication of animals, and inventions such as the wheel, the sail, and the plow contributed to the growth of Mesopotamian civilizations. (H, E)
7.10 Describe the important achievements of Mesopotamian civilization. (H, C, E) a. its system of writing (and its importance in record keeping and tax collection) b. monumental architecture (the ziggurat) c. art (large relief sculpture, mosaics, and cylinder seals)
7.11 Describe who Hammurabi was and explain the basic principle of justice in Hammurabi's
Code ("eye for an eye").

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Polytheistic Religion
Babylonians and the Assyrians worshipped gods based on what they could do for them. In other words, the sun brought light and helped things grow…pretty important. As a historians you are now studying the new civilization. Determine, based on what you found, what “Gods” they worshipped.
Below you will choose Gods that the people worshipped. You can discover what the people worshipped by determining what was important to the people. For example if the river was important, than Flusse,
God of the rivers, will be a God as the rivers were very important to the people and provided food and away to cleanse as seen on murals.
1) Why do historians think this god was worshipped?
2) Why do historians think this god was worshipped?
3)
4)
Why do historians think this god was worshipped?
Why do historians think this god was worshipped?
Were there more? Write more on the back.

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
You will decide on 6 situations that may have existed and the consequences that came out of them. You’ll explain the crime - how it would happen and what the punishment is for the offense. Make the ‘crimes’ appropriate, but also make it fun.
Ex. Crime: A member of another village stole paintbrushes from the village where you now live.
Punishment: That person will be forced to repaint the government building with their hands tied behind their back using only the smallest of paintbrushes.
1) Crime:
Punishment:
2) Crime:
Punishment:
3) Crime:

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
Punishment:
4) Crime:
Punishment:
5) Crime:
Punishment:
6) Crime:
Punishment:
How will the laws be communicated to the people so they know what the laws are?

Name:_____________________ Group Members:____________________________ Date:_____________
Ancient Civilizations
You are almost ready to present the extraordinary new civilization that has been discovered. You must make sure that the presentation includes all of the requirements so that the world will believe that this civilization actually existed. Show the world how it is more advanced than the
Mesopotamian Empires such as the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Neo-
Babylonians even though it existed at a similar time. This presentation will describe each of the characteristics, their location in the world, the time they existed in comparison to other civilizations and much more.
Requirements: On a poster that will be provided the following must be included

Name of Civilization

Years of Existence on a Timeline

Location of the Civilization

Population Size

A description of each of the characteristics (additional artifacts may be included) o Make sure that all 7 are included!

At least one of the additional items o Flag o Map of the capital city o The money the civilization used o Laws from the civilization
Today you are also expected to pass in the two paragraph compare and contrast paragraphs and the answers to all questions for you civilization (if not on the poster)

A comparison and contrast of your civilization with that of an Ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

Any additional requirements for your characteristic