Mesopotamia and the wheel

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 20 minutes

Read together

Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers”. It lay between the Tigris and the Euphrates.

People there built cities, wrote on clay and used wheels.

Do it

1. Find the two rivers on a map or globe. The region is in today's Iraq and nearby lands.
2. Press a stick into soft clay or play dough to make wedge marks, like cuneiform writing.
3. Roll a round object and a square block. Which moves easily? Why is a wheel useful?
4. Talk about how rivers helped people grow food.

Talk about it

• Why did people settle by rivers?
• What was written on clay?

For the grown-up

Mesopotamia is the setting for much early history, and Abraham's family is placed there in Genesis. Early cuneiform writing and clay tablets are well attested. The earliest wheel dates are debated by scholars, so say 'about five thousand years ago'.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• Postgate, J. N., Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History (Routledge, 1992)
• The British Museum, collection and learning pages on Mesopotamia and cuneiform
• Anthony, D. W., The Horse, the Wheel, and Language (Princeton University Press, 2007)

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.