We learned that all the city states in the Fertile Crescent fought with one another, but were unified from time to time by various rulers. The first of these was Sargon, the military dictator.
My favorite section was on Hammurabi and his code of laws; we discussed why they were considered fair for the time and what about them was not so fair (ie: the rich only had to pay in many circumstances, but the poor had no money and would have to face more severe punishments). Afterward, the kids came up with a few rules of their own and had to explain why they thought they were fair.
We listened to stories about Mesopotamian gods and built a ziggurat out of Legos.
We compared Hammurabi to Shamshi-Adad, King of the Whole World, who did not follow the same laws he put out for his people.
We read a condensed version of the epic of Gilgamesh and drew pictures of what we think Enkidu might look like and other exciting moments in the story.
We discussed Ashurbanipal's wish to be immortal and his decision to be remembered forever by building a library at Nineveh. Also the kiddoes tried to imagine how much work it would be to gather clay tablets from all across the region together.
We built siege towers out of Legos.
We learned about how Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and drew our own pictures of what we thought they might look like.
And of course we listened to "The Mesopotamians" by We Might Be Giants . . . a lot. lol The kids still ask to hear this song on a regular basis and were able to easily remember most of the rulers in Mesopotamia from the chorus.
Honestly, I loved learning about this area's history; I do not remember learning much about it when I was in school, so going through it with the kiddoes was a great learning experience for me as well. I find myself learning along with them quite often, even when we're reviewing things I have studied before, which makes our experiences doubly rewarding.
--Little Miss Crazy
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