Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit analyses the similarities and differences between early civilisations. Pupils learn about Mesopotamia as a 'cradle of civilisation' and compare it to other civilisations, such as the Shang and the Indus Valley civilisations.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to explain how farming in Mesopotamia led to the growth of trade, writing and building.

Key Notes

• Mesopotamian civilisations like the Sumerians were able to trade their extra food with people who lived far away.
• Archaeologists think that as these civilisations traded more they needed a way of recording what was being traded.
• They began to write down and count what they were giving and receiving in a special writing called cuneiform.
• Because their farming was productive, they could stay in one place, and so they built cities with large stone buildings.
• Some of the biggest of these stone buildings were called ziggurats, which were large, stepped religious buildings.

Vocabulary To Learn

• trade: people trade by buying or selling items they need or want
• record: people write or draw to record ideas, events and memories
• cuneiform: a type of ancient writing invented in Sumer was called cuneiform
• ziggurat: a ziggurat is a large religious building made from stone during Mesopotamian civilisations

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Writing is only created with pens or pencils.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Comparing the earliest civilisations Study Guide
• Mesopotamia, the land 'between two rivers' Study Guide
• Other 'cradles of civilisation' Study Guide
• Similarities between the earliest civilisations Study Guide
• The art and artefacts of the earliest civilisations Study Guide