Mesopotamian Clay Tablets

Mesopotamian Clay Tablets

After investigating cuneiform writing from ancient Mesopotamia, students engrave their intials in a slab of clay.

 

Materials

  • Crayola Model Magic or other self-hardening clay. I like Model Magic because it's lightweight and air-dries, usually within 24 hours. Once dry, Model Magic can be colored with paint or markers. It won’t crumble or cling to skin or clothing so cleanup is easy! I try to use white Model Magic, but the color doesn't really matter, because it's going to be painted.
  • brown and black tempera paint
  • toothpicks, popsicle sticks, or chopsticks
  • scratch paper
  • pencils

Directions

  1. Discuss the development of cuneiform writing in ancient Mesopotamia. Over five thousand years ago, people living in Mesopotamia developed a form of writing to record and communicate different types of information. As the Sumerian city-states' wealth increased, government officials realized that an efficient method of keeping records had to be developed. They started by drawing "word-pictures" on clay tablets using a pointed instrument called a stylus. These "word-pictures" then developed into wedge-shaped signs. This type of script was called cuneiform (from the Latin word cuneus which means wedge).

Cuneiform writing was made up of hundreds of word signs that were "wedge-shaped" due to the triangular shaped reed pen, or stylus, that was used. The marks represented the tens of thousands of words in their language. Not everyone learned to read and write. People who learned to write were called scribes. Boys that were chosen to become scribes began to study at the age of 8. They finished when they were 20 years old.

The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets that would either be dried in the sun or fired in kilns to make the writing permanent.

  1. Give each student an example of their initials in cuneiform. Practice writing the initials using scratch paper and pencils.

  2. Give each student a small amount of Model Magic. Form the Model Magic into a flat oval shape. Use the toothpick, popsicle stick, or chopstick to press the cuneiform symbols into the clay.

  3. When the Model Magic is dry, paint the clay tablets with brown paint. Don't forget to paint the edges, too.

  4. Let the brown paint dry slightly, and the use a paint brush to dab black paint into all of the indentations of the cuneiform letters. Use a paper towel to wipe off most of the black paint. Some of the black paint will smear across the brown areas, but that's OK if it mixes with the brown. Keep wiping off the black paint until most of the black is wiped off of the high areas.
  5. Use a permanent marker to write your name on the back of the clay tablet!