Learn & Play
A corner for students, children and teachers: write your name in cuneiform, test yourself, and spend a day in Ur.
Write your name in cuneiform
Your name as a scribe might have written it
An approximate, educational rendering: each letter maps to a cuneiform syllable with a similar sound. Not a scholarly transliteration.
Test yourself
How much do you know about Sumer?
Ten light questions for students and children, each answer with its source.
Mini dictionary
Sumerian and Akkadian words alive in Iraqi Arabic
Only words cited by academic researchers, each with its source.
| Iraqi word | Meaning | Origin | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| تنّور | clay bread oven | Akkadian tinūru (oven), reaching Arabic through Aramaic tannūrā | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
| قُفّة | round reed boat coated with bitumen (coracle); basket | Akkadian quppu (wicker basket, box), through Aramaic quppā | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
| كَلَك | raft floated on inflated skins | Akkadian kalakku (raft on inflated skins), through Syriac kalkā | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
| زبيل | carrying basket | Akkadian zabbīlu / zanbīlu (carrying basket), from zabālu 'to carry', through Aramaic zabbīlā | Heinrich Zimmern, Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (Leip |
| إسكافي | shoemaker, cobbler | Akkadian aškāpu (leather-worker), from Sumerian AŠGAB, through Syriac eškāpā | Heinrich Zimmern, Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (Leip |
| سوگ (سوق) | market | Akkadian sūqu (street), through Aramaic šūqā | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
| كورة (كور) | kiln, furnace (e.g. a brick kiln) | Akkadian kūru (kiln, furnace), probably through Aramaic | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
| هَيكل | temple, large building; frame | Akkadian ēkallu (palace), from Sumerian é-gal 'big house', through Aramaic haykəlā | Stephen A. Kaufman, The Akkadian Influences on Aramaic (Assyriological Studies 19, Univers |
For children
Colouring pages
Print and colour: simple drawings from the land of Sumer.
Ziggurat of Ur
Reed mudhif
Mashoof boat in the marshes
Lyre of Ur (simplified)
Royal Game of UrFor teachers
A worksheet for every site
Printable worksheets (PDF, in Arabic) for each site, with a summary, questions and a drawing activity.