Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What was the food of Mesopotamia?
Do Now: Quiz
Notes:
Food of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was one of the earliest centers of urban civilization in the area of modern Iraq and eastern Syria between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia is Greek for "Between the rivers." Their region developed the first writing, the first calendar, and the first wheel. One cause of this amazing progress was its abundance of food.
Mesopotamia's richness in food always attracted its poorer neighbors. Mesopotamia has a very rough history, one that is in a pattern of penetration and invasion. Mesopotamia, even though one of the most advanced areas of the time, was very susceptible to the power of its enemies. The river valleys and plains of Mesopotamia were open to attack from the rivers, the northern and eastern hills, and the Arabian Desert and Syrian steppe to the west. Despite all of the troubles and challenges that Mesopotamia faced, it was strong and prevailed through the many hard times that it faced for many centuries.
A common crop that was grown annually in Mesopotamia was flax. Flax was used by the Mesopotamians in the production of nets, cloth, linseed oil, meal, and even many pharmaceuticals. Flax played a very important role in Mesopotamian agriculture and commerce as a result of its many uses. Another very popular food source for the Mesopotamians were the two rivers that surrounded the ancient land. From the Tigris and Euphrates the Mesopotamians were able to pull many different types of fish and other aquatic animals, and wildfowl of all sorts could be found in the wet marshes that bordered both of the rivers.
Date palms were also a very important food source to the Mesopotamians. These palms grew in southern Mesopotamia by the river marshes and supplied fibers, fodder, wood, and rich food. Products from these palms were very important to Mesopotamian trade and help make Mesopotamia a very rich and powerful leader in international trade.
Even though Mesopotamia was for the most part very dry and hot, the Tigris and the Euphrates irrigated the soil on its banks and produced a lot of very fertile soil that was used to grow many other types of crops. Some of these other crops included leeks, onions, lentils, wheat, and barley. Each of these crops were readily available to the Mesopotamians and were consumed at a very common rate. As well as leeks, lentils, and other types of crops, many spices, herbs, and fruits such as the fig were available. Grapes were also very important to the Mesopotamians and were used in the production of wine. The olive tree, which was native to the Mesopotamian area, was very useful as well. It was valued throughout Mesopotamia and its surrounding areas for its oil which was used to make medicines, perfume bases, lamp fuel, and most of all for cooking.
The Mesopotamians made good use of the resources that were available to them and were very productive. The growth and trade of the food in the area contributed a lot to this productiveness and help Mesopotamia to become a very powerful leader.
Notes:
Food of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was one of the earliest centers of urban civilization in the area of modern Iraq and eastern Syria between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia is Greek for "Between the rivers." Their region developed the first writing, the first calendar, and the first wheel. One cause of this amazing progress was its abundance of food.
Mesopotamia's richness in food always attracted its poorer neighbors. Mesopotamia has a very rough history, one that is in a pattern of penetration and invasion. Mesopotamia, even though one of the most advanced areas of the time, was very susceptible to the power of its enemies. The river valleys and plains of Mesopotamia were open to attack from the rivers, the northern and eastern hills, and the Arabian Desert and Syrian steppe to the west. Despite all of the troubles and challenges that Mesopotamia faced, it was strong and prevailed through the many hard times that it faced for many centuries.
A common crop that was grown annually in Mesopotamia was flax. Flax was used by the Mesopotamians in the production of nets, cloth, linseed oil, meal, and even many pharmaceuticals. Flax played a very important role in Mesopotamian agriculture and commerce as a result of its many uses. Another very popular food source for the Mesopotamians were the two rivers that surrounded the ancient land. From the Tigris and Euphrates the Mesopotamians were able to pull many different types of fish and other aquatic animals, and wildfowl of all sorts could be found in the wet marshes that bordered both of the rivers.
Date palms were also a very important food source to the Mesopotamians. These palms grew in southern Mesopotamia by the river marshes and supplied fibers, fodder, wood, and rich food. Products from these palms were very important to Mesopotamian trade and help make Mesopotamia a very rich and powerful leader in international trade.
Even though Mesopotamia was for the most part very dry and hot, the Tigris and the Euphrates irrigated the soil on its banks and produced a lot of very fertile soil that was used to grow many other types of crops. Some of these other crops included leeks, onions, lentils, wheat, and barley. Each of these crops were readily available to the Mesopotamians and were consumed at a very common rate. As well as leeks, lentils, and other types of crops, many spices, herbs, and fruits such as the fig were available. Grapes were also very important to the Mesopotamians and were used in the production of wine. The olive tree, which was native to the Mesopotamian area, was very useful as well. It was valued throughout Mesopotamia and its surrounding areas for its oil which was used to make medicines, perfume bases, lamp fuel, and most of all for cooking.
The Mesopotamians made good use of the resources that were available to them and were very productive. The growth and trade of the food in the area contributed a lot to this productiveness and help Mesopotamia to become a very powerful leader.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Aim: What made Sumer a great civilization?
Do Now: List four facts about the Neolithic Revolution
1.
2.
3.
4.
Notes:
1. City States- cities and the surrounding territories
2. Artisans - Skilled workers
3. Ziggurats- Mesopotamian temples
4. Cuniform- Sumerian writing made up of wedge -shaped sign
5. Scribe - sumerian writer
6. Priest King- Sumerian governmental and religious leader
1.
2.
3.
4.
Notes:
1. City States- cities and the surrounding territories
2. Artisans - Skilled workers
3. Ziggurats- Mesopotamian temples
4. Cuniform- Sumerian writing made up of wedge -shaped sign
5. Scribe - sumerian writer
6. Priest King- Sumerian governmental and religious leader
DBQ Food of Mesopotamia
Name:______________________ Date:____/_____/_____
Document 1.
"The raw materials of the Sumerian diet...were barley, wheat and millet; chick peas, lentils and beans; onions, garlic and leeks; cucumbers, cress, mustard and fresh green lettuce. By the time Sumer was succeeded by Babylon a special delicacy had been discovered that was dispatched to the royal palace by the basketful. Truffles. Everyday meals probably consisted of barley paste or barley cake, accompanied by onions or a handful of beans and washed down with barley ale, but the fish that swarmed in the rivers of Mesopotamia were a not-too-rare luxury. Over fifty different types are mentioned in texts dating before 2300 BC, and although the number of types had diminished in Babylonian times, the fried-fish vendors still did a thriving trade in the narrow, winding streets of Ur. Onions, cucumbers, freshly grilled goat, mutton and pork (not yet taboo in the Near East) were to be had from other food stalls. Meat was commoner in the cities than in the more sparsely populated countryside, since it spoiled so quickly in the heat, but beef and veal were everywhere popular with people who could afford them...although most beef is likely to have been tough and stringy. Cattle were not usually slaughtered until the end of their working lives...Probably tenderer and certainly more common was mutton. The incomers who had first put the Sumerian state on its feet were originally sheep herders..."---Food in History, Reay Tannahill [Three Rivers:New York] 1988 (p. 47)
What were the main ingredients in the Sumerian diet?
What was the everyday meal of the average Mesopotamian?
What reason is given for the beef being so tough and stringy?
Document 2
"Mesopotamian food is known from archaeology and written records on cuneiform tablets, including bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian word lists. These sources indicate the importance of barley bread, of which many kinds are named, and barley and wheat cakes, and grain and legume soups; of onions, leeks and garlic; of vegetables including chate melon, and of fruits including apple, fig and grape; of honey and cheese; of several culinary herbs; and of butter and vegetable oil. Sumerians drank beer often, wine seldom if at all; wine was better known in northern Mesopotamia and in later items. Animal foods included pork, mutton, beef, fowl including ducks and pigeons, and many kinds of fish. Meats were salted; fruits were conserved in honey; various foods, including apples, were dried. A kind of fermented cause is identified in Akkadian texts."---Food in the Ancient World From A-Z, Andrew Dalby [Routledge:London] 2003 (p. 216)
1. What did the Mesopotamians use to sweeten their food?
2. How did the Sumerians preserve their food? Why did they need to preserve the food they grew or slaughtered?
Document 3
"The staple crop of ancient farmers around the world was always grain...In Mesopotamia, the chief crop was barley. Rice and corn were unknown, and wheat flourished on a soil less saline than exists in most of Mesopotamia. Thus barley, and the bread baked from its flour, became the staff of life. Mesopotamian bread was ordinarily coarse, flat, and unleavened, but a more expensive bread could be baked from finer flour. Pieces of just such a bread were...found in the tomb of Queen Puabi of Ur, stored there to provide her spirit with sustenance in the afterlife. Bread could also be enriched with animal and vegetable fat; milk, butter, and cheese; fruit and fruit juice; and sesame seeds....The gardens of Mesopotamia, watered by irrigation canals, were lush with fruits and vegetables...Among the fruits were apples, apricots, cherries, figs, melons, mulberries, pears, plums, pomegranates, and quinces. The most important fruit crop, especially in southern Mesopotamia, was the date. Rich in sugar and iron, dates were easily preserved. Like barley, the date-palm thrived on relatively saline soil and was one of the first plants farmers domesticated...As for vegetables, the onion was king, along with its cousin, garlic. Other vegetables included lettuce, cabbage, and cucumbers; carrots and radishes; beets and turnips; and a variety of legumes, including beans, peas, and chickpeas...Curiously, two mainstays of the Mediterranean diet--olives and grapes...were seldom found in Mesopotamian cuisine...to appreciate Mesopotamian daily life our imagination must breath in the pungent aroma of the seasonings that once rose from ancient stoves and filled the air...Coriander, cress, and sumin; fennel, fenugrek, and leek; marjoram, mint, and mustard; rosemary and rue; saffrom and thyme...Cumin...Sheep played an important role in the Mesopotamian economy...Like goats and cows, ewes produced milk that was converted into butter and cheese, but sheep were also slaughtered for meat. Beef was in short supply...pork from pigs [supplemented]...Game birds, deer, and gazelle were hunted as well. On farms, domesticated geese and ducks supplied eggs...and from canals and private ponds, came some 50 types of fish, a staple of the Mesopotamian diet. Generally, meats were either dried, smoked, or salted for safekeeping, or they were cooked by roasting, boiling, broiling, or barbecuing."---Handbook of Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Stephen Bertman [Facts on File:New York NY] 2003 (p. 291-293)
What herbs were used by the Mesopotamians?
What were the major vegetables of the Mesopotamians?
Why were these vegetable and legumes used?
Document 1.
"The raw materials of the Sumerian diet...were barley, wheat and millet; chick peas, lentils and beans; onions, garlic and leeks; cucumbers, cress, mustard and fresh green lettuce. By the time Sumer was succeeded by Babylon a special delicacy had been discovered that was dispatched to the royal palace by the basketful. Truffles. Everyday meals probably consisted of barley paste or barley cake, accompanied by onions or a handful of beans and washed down with barley ale, but the fish that swarmed in the rivers of Mesopotamia were a not-too-rare luxury. Over fifty different types are mentioned in texts dating before 2300 BC, and although the number of types had diminished in Babylonian times, the fried-fish vendors still did a thriving trade in the narrow, winding streets of Ur. Onions, cucumbers, freshly grilled goat, mutton and pork (not yet taboo in the Near East) were to be had from other food stalls. Meat was commoner in the cities than in the more sparsely populated countryside, since it spoiled so quickly in the heat, but beef and veal were everywhere popular with people who could afford them...although most beef is likely to have been tough and stringy. Cattle were not usually slaughtered until the end of their working lives...Probably tenderer and certainly more common was mutton. The incomers who had first put the Sumerian state on its feet were originally sheep herders..."---Food in History, Reay Tannahill [Three Rivers:New York] 1988 (p. 47)
What were the main ingredients in the Sumerian diet?
What was the everyday meal of the average Mesopotamian?
What reason is given for the beef being so tough and stringy?
Document 2
"Mesopotamian food is known from archaeology and written records on cuneiform tablets, including bilingual Sumerian-Akkadian word lists. These sources indicate the importance of barley bread, of which many kinds are named, and barley and wheat cakes, and grain and legume soups; of onions, leeks and garlic; of vegetables including chate melon, and of fruits including apple, fig and grape; of honey and cheese; of several culinary herbs; and of butter and vegetable oil. Sumerians drank beer often, wine seldom if at all; wine was better known in northern Mesopotamia and in later items. Animal foods included pork, mutton, beef, fowl including ducks and pigeons, and many kinds of fish. Meats were salted; fruits were conserved in honey; various foods, including apples, were dried. A kind of fermented cause is identified in Akkadian texts."---Food in the Ancient World From A-Z, Andrew Dalby [Routledge:London] 2003 (p. 216)
1. What did the Mesopotamians use to sweeten their food?
2. How did the Sumerians preserve their food? Why did they need to preserve the food they grew or slaughtered?
Document 3
"The staple crop of ancient farmers around the world was always grain...In Mesopotamia, the chief crop was barley. Rice and corn were unknown, and wheat flourished on a soil less saline than exists in most of Mesopotamia. Thus barley, and the bread baked from its flour, became the staff of life. Mesopotamian bread was ordinarily coarse, flat, and unleavened, but a more expensive bread could be baked from finer flour. Pieces of just such a bread were...found in the tomb of Queen Puabi of Ur, stored there to provide her spirit with sustenance in the afterlife. Bread could also be enriched with animal and vegetable fat; milk, butter, and cheese; fruit and fruit juice; and sesame seeds....The gardens of Mesopotamia, watered by irrigation canals, were lush with fruits and vegetables...Among the fruits were apples, apricots, cherries, figs, melons, mulberries, pears, plums, pomegranates, and quinces. The most important fruit crop, especially in southern Mesopotamia, was the date. Rich in sugar and iron, dates were easily preserved. Like barley, the date-palm thrived on relatively saline soil and was one of the first plants farmers domesticated...As for vegetables, the onion was king, along with its cousin, garlic. Other vegetables included lettuce, cabbage, and cucumbers; carrots and radishes; beets and turnips; and a variety of legumes, including beans, peas, and chickpeas...Curiously, two mainstays of the Mediterranean diet--olives and grapes...were seldom found in Mesopotamian cuisine...to appreciate Mesopotamian daily life our imagination must breath in the pungent aroma of the seasonings that once rose from ancient stoves and filled the air...Coriander, cress, and sumin; fennel, fenugrek, and leek; marjoram, mint, and mustard; rosemary and rue; saffrom and thyme...Cumin...Sheep played an important role in the Mesopotamian economy...Like goats and cows, ewes produced milk that was converted into butter and cheese, but sheep were also slaughtered for meat. Beef was in short supply...pork from pigs [supplemented]...Game birds, deer, and gazelle were hunted as well. On farms, domesticated geese and ducks supplied eggs...and from canals and private ponds, came some 50 types of fish, a staple of the Mesopotamian diet. Generally, meats were either dried, smoked, or salted for safekeeping, or they were cooked by roasting, boiling, broiling, or barbecuing."---Handbook of Life in Ancient Mesopotamia, Stephen Bertman [Facts on File:New York NY] 2003 (p. 291-293)
What herbs were used by the Mesopotamians?
What were the major vegetables of the Mesopotamians?
Why were these vegetable and legumes used?
Six criteria in order to be considered for domestication:
Animals
According to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond, animal species must meet six criteria in order to be considered for domestication:
Hereford cattle, domesticated for beef production.
1. Flexible diet — Creatures that are willing to consume a wide variety of food sources and can live off less cumulative food from the food pyramid (such as corn or wheat), particularly food that is not utilized by humans (such as grass and forage) are less expensive to keep in captivity. Carnivores by their very nature only feed on meat, which requires the expenditure of many animals, though they may feed on sources of meat not utilized by humans, such as scraps and vermin.
2. Reasonably fast growth rate — Fast maturity rate compared to the human life span allows breeding intervention and makes the animal useful within an acceptable duration of caretaking. Large animals such as elephants require many years before they reach a useful size.
3. Ability to be bred in captivity — Creatures that are reluctant to breed when kept in captivity do not produce useful offspring, and instead are limited to capture in their wild state. Creatures such as the panda, antelope and giant forest hogs are territorial when breeding and cannot be maintained in crowded enclosures in captivity.
4. Pleasant disposition — Large creatures that are aggressive toward humans are dangerous to keep in captivity. The African buffalo has an unpredictable nature and is highly dangerous to humans. Although similar to domesticated pigs in many ways, American peccaries and Africa's warthogs and bushpigs are also dangerous in captivity.
5. Temperament which makes it unlikely to panic — A creature with a nervous disposition is difficult to keep in captivity as they will attempt to flee whenever they are startled. The gazelle is very flighty and it has a powerful leap that allows it to escape an enclosed pen. Some animals, such as Domestic sheep, still have a strong tendency to panic when their flight zone is crossed. However, most sheep also show a flocking instinct, whereby they stay close together when pressed. Livestock with such an instinct may be herded by people and dogs.
6. Modifiable social hierarchy — Social creatures that recognize a hierarchy of dominance can be raised to recognize a human as the pack leader.
According to evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond, animal species must meet six criteria in order to be considered for domestication:
Hereford cattle, domesticated for beef production.
1. Flexible diet — Creatures that are willing to consume a wide variety of food sources and can live off less cumulative food from the food pyramid (such as corn or wheat), particularly food that is not utilized by humans (such as grass and forage) are less expensive to keep in captivity. Carnivores by their very nature only feed on meat, which requires the expenditure of many animals, though they may feed on sources of meat not utilized by humans, such as scraps and vermin.
2. Reasonably fast growth rate — Fast maturity rate compared to the human life span allows breeding intervention and makes the animal useful within an acceptable duration of caretaking. Large animals such as elephants require many years before they reach a useful size.
3. Ability to be bred in captivity — Creatures that are reluctant to breed when kept in captivity do not produce useful offspring, and instead are limited to capture in their wild state. Creatures such as the panda, antelope and giant forest hogs are territorial when breeding and cannot be maintained in crowded enclosures in captivity.
4. Pleasant disposition — Large creatures that are aggressive toward humans are dangerous to keep in captivity. The African buffalo has an unpredictable nature and is highly dangerous to humans. Although similar to domesticated pigs in many ways, American peccaries and Africa's warthogs and bushpigs are also dangerous in captivity.
5. Temperament which makes it unlikely to panic — A creature with a nervous disposition is difficult to keep in captivity as they will attempt to flee whenever they are startled. The gazelle is very flighty and it has a powerful leap that allows it to escape an enclosed pen. Some animals, such as Domestic sheep, still have a strong tendency to panic when their flight zone is crossed. However, most sheep also show a flocking instinct, whereby they stay close together when pressed. Livestock with such an instinct may be herded by people and dogs.
6. Modifiable social hierarchy — Social creatures that recognize a hierarchy of dominance can be raised to recognize a human as the pack leader.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Aim: What changes marked the Neolithic Revolution?
Do Now: Read the Dawn of History worksheet. Highlight 5 important facts. Circle the answers to the questions.
Notes:
Specialization: development of occupations.
Neolithic Age: The "New Stone Age" when people changed from food gatherers to food producers.
Domesticated: tamed
Revolution: change
Neolithic Revolution: two important discoveries were growing foods and herding animals.
Notes:
Specialization: development of occupations.
Neolithic Age: The "New Stone Age" when people changed from food gatherers to food producers.
Domesticated: tamed
Revolution: change
Neolithic Revolution: two important discoveries were growing foods and herding animals.
HW # 7
Which role or job would you prefer in Old Stone Age society: hunter or gatherer? Explain your choice. Please use at least 5 complete sentences.
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