Neolithic · About 9000-6000 BC

Jericho and Çatalhöyük: the first towns

A stone tower by a spring in the Jordan valley, and a town of thousands with no streets on the plain of Anatolia. Students visit two of the oldest towns in the world and ask what makes a town a town.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, 8000 BC to 7000 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

A stone tower by a spring in the Jordan valley, and a town of thousands with no streets on the plain of Anatolia. Students visit two of the oldest towns in the world and ask what makes a town a town.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Jericho and Çatalhöyük and explain why people settled there.
  • Describe daily life in Çatalhöyük using evidence from its houses.
  • Explain the difference between a village and a town using both sites.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

8000 BC

An oasis by the Jordan

Open the map in 8000 BC and zoom in on the Jordan valley just north of the Dead Sea. Jericho grew here beside a strong spring, about 250 m below sea level. Why would a spring in a dry valley draw people?

Open this view on the map
b

7000 BC

The Konya plain

Jump to 7000 BC and travel to the plain of Konya in central Anatolia, where Çatalhöyük stood. Look east to the volcanoes of Cappadocia: its people got obsidian, a black volcanic glass, there.

Open this view on the map
c

7000 BC

Neighbors in time

Zoom out until you see both towns. How far apart are they? Which seas, mountains and deserts lie between them?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Jericho built a stone wall and tower around 8000 BC. Historians disagree whether they were for defense, floods or prestige. What do you think?
  2. At Çatalhöyük people entered their houses through the roof. What could be the advantages?
  3. Houses at Çatalhöyük were similar in size, and no palace has been found. What might that say about how people lived together?
  4. People in both towns buried their dead under or near their homes. Why might they want their ancestors close?
  5. What makes a place a town rather than a village? Use Jericho and Çatalhöyük as examples.
4

Game round

9 min

No Rule History ruler lived this early. Play one round as Hatshepsut, the earliest, and notice that every decision assumes a state with a ruler. Then discuss: Çatalhöyük housed thousands of people with no known palace or ruler. How might such a town have settled disputes?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.