Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History

"The story of ancient Mesopotamia is the story of humankind, and it is in this spirit that we developed the online resource, Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History. The Mesopotamian collection of the Oriental Institute Museum was unearthed in archaeological excavations conducted by the University of Chicago over the past century. The purpose of this website is to disseminate knowledge and awareness of this ancient civilization that will lead to a better understanding of ourselves, others, and of current events for the K-12 community, hence the project''s title, Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History.Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History was developed in collaboration with a team of Chicago Public School teachers. They selected key artifacts from the Oriental Institute Museum’s Mesopotamian collection to create a Learning Collection for this project. These artifacts shed light on many aspects of the everyday lives of the people who lived long ago in the area now called Iraq. With this resource teachers and students are able to examine artifacts up close and use the teacher-developed questions to drive individual research or classroom discussions. Students can also go on a virtual archaeological dig in Iraq and examine an online collection of significant artifacts from the Oriental Institute Museum with the interactive Dig Into History. Finally, for teachers who wish to learn more about Mesopotamia and earn graduate credit, the Oriental Institute Museum offers an in-depth eight-week Online Course..."