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Scheme of Work: Comparing Ancient Civilisations
Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
What do all the Ancient Civilisations have in common?
This enquiry provides an overview of the Ancient Civilisations of Egypt, Sumer, Indus Valley and Shang, showing where and when they developed, the similarities between them and how they relate to a broadly based chronological understanding of the past. It provides a...
Scheme of Work: Comparing Ancient Civilisations
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So was everyone an ancient Egyptian?
Developing an understanding of the world in ancient times
I will be honest – no child has actually asked me if the world was ever full of Ancient Egyptians! Having said that, by focusing on one part of the world, children are left with either this impression or the idea that nothing was happening elsewhere in the world. Clearly,...
So was everyone an ancient Egyptian?
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Ancient Sumer
Primary History article
For many teachers and children alike, Ancient Sumer will be completely new. Although Sumer has always been an option for teaching about Early Civilisations, the fame of Ancient Egypt, as well as being a tried-and-tested topic, has meant that Sumer has perhaps been overlooked. There is little danger of failing...
Ancient Sumer
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Mesopotamia: Making a picture of Mesopotamia in our heads
Article
Working in a small rural primary school in North Gloucestershire I was inspired by national news reports from Iraq to change the focus of our Ancient History study from Ancient Egypt to Mesopotamia, ‘the land between the rivers'. A study of this region of the Middle East fulfilled so many...
Mesopotamia: Making a picture of Mesopotamia in our heads
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Diagrams in History
Historian article
One of the gifts of the social sciences to history is the use of expository diagrams; but attention is rarely given to the history of diagrams. Maps - schematized representations of locations in spatial relation to one another - can be dated back to Babylonia in the late third millennium...
Diagrams in History
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Scheme of Work: Ancient Sumer
Primary Scheme of Work, Key Stage 2 History (unresourced)
Ancient Sumer is often called 'the Cradle of Civilisation'. The Ancient Greeks called it Mesopotamia - the land between two rivers. It is where cities first developed, agriculture began and writing first appeared. One eminent historian records 39 'firsts' for Sumer! Most of this was lost until the 20th century,...
Scheme of Work: Ancient Sumer
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Ancient Sumer: the cradle of civilisation
Primary History article
In 1936 the next eagerly awaited Agatha Christie novel had just been published and readers were transported to a region that, from 1922 had been named Iraq, but through history had been part of Mesopotamia. The plot focuses on an archaeological dig that was taking place there, the victim is...
Ancient Sumer: the cradle of civilisation
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‘Miss, did the Romans build pyramids?’
Primary History article
Miss, did the Romans build pyramids? No Johnny, I think you are confusing the Romans with the Egyptians. Actually, Miss, the Romans did build pyramids – well, at least one – and you can still see it in Rome today!
The pyramid, which is 37 metres [or 125 Roman feet]...
‘Miss, did the Romans build pyramids?’
