The Ancient Mesopotamians: The City of Ur

Last week we learned that ancient hunter-gatherers were nomadic and lived in small groups, whereas people who lived in the first civilizations (like Mesopotamia) began to live in much larger groups.

These permanent settlements -- with houses, shops, streets, and organized systems of government -- were (and are) known as cities (notice that the word "civilization" has the same root as the word "city").

One of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia was Ur (which Mr. Richmond likes to pronounce as "Urrrr"). Tomorrow in class, we will talk about ways that Ur was similar to -- and different from -- Charlottesville.

Also today, William, Jack. C., Hunter and Hudson had an excellent discussion about when and where grappling hooks were first invented. William was curious about whether a grappling hook could be used to attack the walls of Ur.