Eighth Grade's Ancestry Tablets

As part of Ms. Shrier’s 8th grade’s unit on the civilizations of Southwest Asia, they have been looking in depth at the geography, natural resources, innovations, language and ways of life of the Sumerians of Mesopotamia. After studying what constitutes a civilization and what differentiates it from an agricultural society, students began looking at Cuneiform and its many iterations.

“In an effort to connect our earlier unit on identity with our current unit, our students created ‘ancestry tablets’,” says Ms. Shrier. “They formed tablets out of terra cotta clay and inscribed them, in Cuneiform, with the text, ‘I am (name) the son/daughter of (name). As the final step of the project, our students created an original seal, reminiscent of cylinder seals that were used around 3,000 BCE. Many of our students were quite creative with their original stamps and seals!”