Sumer and Babylon: city-states, irrigation, cuneiform and written law

Grade 6 Social Studies Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Ideas from Mesopotamia

   Idea	How it worked	When
   Cuneiform	signs pressed into clay tablets with a sharpened reed	developed in the late 4th millennium BCE (3500–3001 BCE)
   Counting in sixties	numbers grouped in 60s; a talent was 60 minas, and a mina was 60 shekels	from the 3rd millennium BCE (3000–2001 BCE)
   Clay tokens and envelopes	small clay shapes standing for amounts of goods, sealed in clay envelopes	before writing began

2. 1.

   How was cuneiform written, Milo asks?

   • Ink brushed onto paper
   • Small clay shapes sealed in envelopes
   • Signs pressed into clay with a sharpened reed
   • Numbers grouped in 60s
3. 2.

   The cell marked ? is blank. Noah's chart has a blank: when was cuneiform developed?

   • The 4th millennium CE, far in the future
   • The late 4th millennium BCE
   • The 3rd millennium BCE
   • Before writing began

4. Ideas from Mesopotamia

   Idea	How it worked	When
   Cuneiform	signs pressed into clay tablets with a sharpened reed	developed in the late 4th millennium BCE (3500–3001 BCE)
   Counting in sixties	numbers grouped in 60s; a talent was 60 minas, and a mina was 60 shekels	from the 3rd millennium BCE (3000–2001 BCE)
   Clay tokens and envelopes	small clay shapes standing for amounts of goods, sealed in clay envelopes	before writing began

5. 3.

   Which came first, cuneiform or counting in sixties, Pia asks?

   • Counting in sixties: 3rd comes before 4th
   • Cuneiform, in the 4th millennium BCE
   • Neither: both are CE
   • Both began in the same year
6. 4.

   A talent was 60 minas. How many minas were in 2 talents, Tala asks?

   • 200 minas
   • 62 minas
   • 120 minas
   • 30 minas
7. 5.

   A mina was 60 shekels. How many shekels were in half a mina, Zee asks?

   • 6 shekels
   • 50 shekels
   • 120 shekels
   • 30 shekels
8. 6.

   Ari's chain reads: clay tokens for goods → ? → signs on flat clay tablets. What fills the blank?

   • Paper was invented
   • Tokens pressed onto clay envelopes
   • Numbers were grouped in 60s
   • Tablets were made first
9. 7.

   What was cuneiform first used for, Bo asks?

   • Writing long stories
   • Keeping accounts of goods
   • Painting pictures on walls
   • Measuring floods
10. 8.

    Cuneiform signs are made of wedge-shaped marks. Where does the name cuneiform come from, Esme asks?

    • The Latin word for wedge
    • The Greek word for river
    • The word for clay tablet
    • The name of a king
11. 9.

    Cuneiform developed in the late 4th millennium BCE. About how long ago is that, Jun asks?

    • About 3,000 years ago or a little less
    • About 500 years ago
    • About 50,000 years ago
    • More than 5,000 years ago
12. 10.

    Where else is counting in sixties still used today, Kira asks?

    • Measuring rain
    • Prices in a shop
    • Counting people
    • Angles and map coordinates