Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: Assyrians

Teacher guide prepared by: Colleen Snyder, a graduate of the University of Buffalo and post-graduate student.
Vocabulary

Match each vocabulary word with its definition.

1. ____ cuneiform	A. a giant stone block or column that usually combines artwork and text
2. ____ apkallu	B. a carved image that projects slightly from the background
3. ____ bas-relief	C. a brief section at the end of a tablet providing information about when, where, why, and by whom it was copied
4. ____ rosette	D. a winged creature with the head of an eagle
5. ____ lamassati	E. a high-ranking government official
6. ____ annexed	F. a wedge-shaped script named from the Latin word cuneus
7. ____ vizier	G. an instrument used to write inscriptions, usually made from reeds
8. ____ stele	H. giant, human-headed guardian figures with the body of a lion or bull
9. ____ colophon	I. a flower design seen frequently in Assyrian art
10.____ stylus	J. incorporating into a country, state, or region the territory of another country, state, or region

Writing Activity

Go to the University of Pennsylvania website to see how cuneiform developed from simple pictures into wedge-shaped writing: www.upenn.edu/museum/Games/cuneiform.html.

You can buy bakeable clay and make your own cuneiform tablets by taking thin wooden dowels and shaping the end into a triangle shape. Press it into the clay to create cuneiform words. Try writing the cuneiform for "Ashurnasirpal."

A variation on this activity would be to design a cylinder seal. Cylinder seals were designed especially for their owner and often served as a kind of signature on important documents. They often included pictures of gods or illustrations from myths. Have children make a simple design in a clay cylinder that represents themselves. Afterwards, bake them until hard according to instructions, and roll over soft clay to imprint the design. Students will have to be careful and think backwards when making them, because the reverse will appear when imprinted on the clay.

Discuss the importance of these clay tablets and seals to archaeologists today. They are what allow us today to understand much of Assyrian life. Imagine many of the Assyrian artifacts and bas-reliefs without writing and records. For example, how would scholars have determined that the tombs at Nimrud (p 9) belonged to the queens of Assyria? Since women are almost never pictured in Assyrian art, studying the magnificent finds in these tombs has been invaluable to learning about the lives of these important ladies.

Have students research one of the following Ancient Near Eastern archaeologists and give a short presentation. They can even dress up like their character!

• Sir Austen Henry Layard
• Sir Leonard Woolley
• Max Mallowan (married to Agatha Christie)
• Kathleen Kenyon (worked in Jordan)

Think about the name "Ashurnasirpal." It contains the name of the god, "Ashur," in it, meaning that Ashur gave the king the right to rule Assyria. This was used as propaganda when Ashurnasirpal assumed the throne and built his new capital.

People's names today are still chosen for their meanings. Explore some of the meanings of names in the classroom. Was anyone named for a specific reason or event? (Example: a parent may name their son Matthew, meaning "gift of God" or a daughter Sarah, meaning "princess.")

Visit the Virtual Palace at www.learningsites.com. Click on "Site Directory" then "Explore by Location." Then click "Assyrian Sites" and "Nimrud Northwest Palace."

Students can tour the Virtual Northwest Palace with Netscape and the proper downloads, or view pictures of the palace and how the reconstruction was done.

Virtual Activities

1. Have students tour the palace and inspect the reliefs. Have them imagine they are a visiting dignitary from an annexed state or country:

   If you were a visitor to the palace, how would you feel looking at the reliefs of the throne room? How would you feel seeing the apkallu and lamassati surrounding you on the walls? (The visitor would probably fear and respect the king after being led down a hall filled with pictures of his many military victories and the deadly results of those who dared to challenge him. Assyrian methods of deterring future resistance included impaling - placing a rod through the body - and flaying - removing the skin of the enemy while alive. The visitor would also know that there were many protective spirits in the palace to guard the king. Visiting dignitaries might also be in awe of the king because of the many reliefs showing him slaying lions - this was a ritual killing to show the power of the king - and because of the reliefs on the walls of the courtyard portraying other visiting officials bringing tribute. You can tell they are foreigners by their different costumes, for example, shoes, headdresses, and beard styles.)

2. Discuss the men with the monkeys, also seen on page 32 of CALLIOPE. Why are the men bringing monkeys to the king? (The kings of Assyria were fond of and amused by foreign animals just as we are today. In fact, they even had zoos of animals!)
   
   Do the monkeys look a little funny? (Perhaps it is because the man who carved the relief had never seen a monkey himself and was simply using his imagination based on a description. Students may notice the almost-human hands and faces on the animals and the scaly bodies.)
   
   Try putting students in pairs and have one describe an imaginary animal to another who will draw it. Does the picture turn out the way the first student had thought of it?
   
   For comparison, look at Albrecht Durer's woodcut of a rhinoceros from 1515 at www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2003-02-durer-rhinoceros.html. Does it really look like a rhinoceros? Why not?



3. Sir Austen Henry Layard was a British archaeologist who began excavating the Northwest Palace in 1845. He commissioned a drawing based on what he believed the palace would have originally looked like: http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/Assyria_Subartu.html. Then look at the links below for pictures of archaeological sites like Ashur and Nineveh.
   
   Look at "How We Build a Rendered 3D Model" at www.learningsites.com/NWPalace/RenderProcess.htm. Discuss how archaeologists are able to look at the archaeological sites and combine them with artifacts and information, such as that from cuneiform tablets, to re-create the palace.
   
   Some of the details in the illustration from Sir Austen Henry Layard are now considered wrong. Compare the Virtual Palace and the drawing to see what those differences are. (The lamassati are at the entrances rather than inside, there is no skylight, etc.) What technologies do we have today to help us reform our ideas about the past? (Conservators can test reliefs for traces of paint to help determine how the stones were originally colored, scholars can read more cuneiform than they could in the 1800s, archaeology has become more of an exact science with better techniques of recording such as cameras, video recorders, computers, etc.)
   
   Check out a video from Discovery Canada about the creation of the Virtual Palace and how it is used to educate students: http://exn.ca/Stories/2002/10/15/54.asp.

Check out the British Museum's webpage at www.mesopotamia.co.uk.

There, students can read inscriptions, explore each room of the Northwest Palace, and put broken cuneiform tablets back together.

1. F
2. D
3. B
4. I
5. H
6. J
7. E
8. A
9. C
10. G

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Updated: 9/2/10 11:30 am
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