Sumerian Cuneiform on Clay Tablets

"Mama is Queen"

I think it was especially fitting to learn about the first writing this week as last Friday Builder Boy finished the last letter in his handwriting book. I have been looking forwards to this activity for months now (I love codes) and I think I may have had a tiny bit more fun than Builder Boy did. After reading Chapter Three: The First Writing (Story of the World: Ancient Times) and doing the narration we wrote with cuneiform on "tablets" made from air-drying clay. I would recommend making the tablets on wax paper to make them easier to move. Also, folding over extra wax paper on the top and using a rolling pin to flatten it worked really well and I wish I'd thought of it for the first two tablets (we made three.) We used a craft/popsicle stick to make the marks (a flat-head screw driver was suggested.)

I had Builder Boy pick what he wanted to write and wrote it down to make the process easier. He wanted "Mama next queen." I convinced him to add in "is the" to make it a complete sentence, but it got shortened to "Mama is queen" as the tablet wasn't big enough. I can't stop beaming from him choosing that of all things to write. I think he got the queen thing from the Kings and Queens of England song he and Early Bird are trying to memorize (on their own initiative.) He also drew a picture of me, a chair (not a throne, I asked,) and himself.

The Scribe

"[Builder Boy] the Great can write"

I made a tablet as well as we are going to be doing the activity that puts a clay tablet and a paper scroll through different conditions to see which holds up better. Then Builder Boy made another tablet with his name and a picture of all of us. I used a straw to poke two holes in the top and when it dries in a few days I will put a string through it and hang it in his room.

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The idea for this activity as well as the cuneiform alphabet came from the Story of the World Activity Book: Ancient Times.

  Check out our "Clay Tablet or Paper: Which Lasts Longer?" investigation.

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