Mesopotamia's diverse contributions in writing, mathematics, literature, and law come alive again in Discover Babylon, a joint project of the Federation of American Scientists Learning Technologies Project, UCLA's Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, Escape Hatch Entertainment, and the Walters Art Museum. Located in what is now modern Iraq, Mesopotamia was the birthplace of written language, the first cities, the concept of the 360° circle and the 24-hour day, and a great deal more, yet its contributions are not well known to many Americans.
The game opens with a cataclysmic event—an earthquake in Baltimore. The player quickly learns that this event is caused by an ingenious archaeologist named Dexter who has figured out how to travel back in time, accidentally and unknowingly wreaking havoc with the fabric of time.
Game Trailer:
The storyline then unfolds, compelling the player to go on a series of missions to ancient Iraq to find Dex and restore the fabric of time. The player travels back in time, ‘leaping’ into the body of several historically attested characters. In the first level, the player assumes the character of Taribi, a 12 year old boy studying to be a scribe. Living a day in Taribi’s life, the player is challenged to learn what he would have learned in school. Players are encouraged to learn by discovery and to experience one of the earliest cities, Uruk ca. 3100 BC.
Features:
Accurate historical and scientific information
3D photo-realistic simulations of temple complexes that will allow the user open-ended exploration and discovery
Contextualization of museum artifacts used by avatars in the virtual environment
Multi-player game technology
Question & answer management tools to stimulate learning
Compelling, age-appropriate challenges and assignments for the player
Mesopotamia's diverse contributions in writing, mathematics, literature, and law come alive again in Discover Babylon, a joint project of the Federation of American Scientists Learning Technologies Project, UCLA's Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, Escape Hatch Entertainment, and the Walters Art Museum. Located in what is now modern Iraq, Mesopotamia was the birthplace of written language, the first cities, the concept of the 360° circle and the 24-hour day, and a great deal more, yet its contributions are not well known to many Americans.
Discover Babylon© facilitates public understanding of the significance of this material for world culture, science and mathematics. It explores new ways to reassemble and restore the material culture now spread across many different museum and library collections, contributes new research on information management, and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration.
