Building the World's First Empire: Sargon


Today we talked about several different topics, including:
  1. Ancient Mesopotamian religion
  2. Differences and similarities between Ur and Charlottesville
  3. Interesting details about Sargon's life
Several students pointed out that Ur and Charlottesville both have places of worship, but the temples in Ur (known as ziggurats) were open only to the priests and appear kind of intimidating.  The students said that the places of worship in Charlottesville tend to be more welcoming and inviting.

There were lots of great questions today, including:

Priya: Did women get to have any say in the decisions in ancient Mesopotamia? Were women allowed to fight in the army, if they wanted to fight?

Charlotte: How was Sargon chosen as leader?

Gracie: Did all of the Sumerians truly believe in the gods like Utu and Nanna? Or were they forced to believe in the gods?

Brehanu: They had a great irrigation system, but how did they clean their water for drinking and bathing?  (Answer: They didn't! This is part of the reason that ancient people did not live very long; they had not yet realized the importance of purifying water before drinking it.)

Tabitha and Celia Belle: The reading says that Sargon gained loyalty by eating with his soldiers. How does eating with people make them more loyal to you?

Hudson: Did ancient Mesopotamians eat bagels? (I think Hudson may been getting hungry when he posed this question!)

This is a picture of an ancient ziggurat that is still standing.

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