Topic 1- A Civilization Emerges in Sumer

Question 1

Where is the Tigris-Euphrates Valley located?

Answer 1

Eastern end of the Fertile Crescent.

Question 2

What is the Fertile Crescent?

Answer 2

An area that stretches in an arc from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.

Question 3

What attracted Stone Age Farmers to the Tigris-Euphrates Valley?

Answer 3

Fertile soil for crops.

Question 4

What did ancient Greeks call the Tigris-Euphrates Valley?

Answer 4

Mesopotamia, which means “between the rivers”.

Question 5

When did the world’s first civilization develop in southeastern Mesopotamia?

Answer 5

Around 3300 B.C.

Question 6

What was the region in which the world’s first civilization developed in southeastern Mesopotamia?

Answer 6

Sumer

Question 7

Where does the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow from?

Answer 7

The highlands of modern day Turkey through Iraq into the Persian Gulf.

Question 8

What would cause the Tigris-Euphrates rivers to overflow?

Answer 8

Melting snows from the mountains (during spring/early summer).

Question 9

What made the soil fertile?

Answer 9

Silt left behind from floodwaters.

Question 10

What did good soil mean?

Answer 10

People in Mesopotamia could rely on stable food supply.

Question 11

What was the Fertile Crescent called? Why?

Answer 11

The crossroads of the world because it allowed access to three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. This allowed it to also become the crossroads where people and ideas met and mingled.

Question 12

What would happen when the rivers (Tigris-Euphrates) rose in terrifying floods?

Answer 12

It would wash away topsoil and destroyed mud-brick villages.

Question 13

What was the long narrative poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh about?

Answer 13

It describes a great flood that destroys the world.

Question 14

In addition to floods, what else did lower Mesopotamia suffer?

Answer 14

Summer droughts and hot winds, which could turn fertile soil to dust, shrivel crops and cause famine.

Question 15

To survive the floods, what did early farming communities build?

Answer 15

Dykes, dams, and irrigation systems.

Question 16

What inspired the rise of an elaborate, well- run government?

Answer 16

The construction and upkeep of increasingly complex irrigation systems.

Question 17

Who provided the leadership in Mesopotamia?

Answer 17

Temple priests and then later it was royal officials.

Question 18

What made the Sumerian civilization successful?

Answer 18

Successful farming communities in Mesopotamia, which grew into cities.

Question 19

What were the elements that helped the Sumerian civilization thrive?

Answer 19

Fertile soil, water, the complex organization of gov., religion, and specialized classes.

Question 20

By 3000 B.C., Sumerians were building cities. What materials did they lack and what materials did they use instead?

Answer 20

They lacked building materials such as timer or stone, so they built with clay and water. They used clay to make bricks, which they shaped in wooden molds and dried in the sun.

Question 21

What brought riches to Sumerian cities?

Answer 21

Trade.

Question 22

How did traders get to distant regions?

Answer 22

They sailed along rivers or risked the dangers of desert travel to carry goods.

Question 23

Which invention did Sumerians receive credit for?

Answer 23

Sumerians may have invented the first wheeled vehicles.

Question 24

What were the largest buildings in Sumerian cities called?

Answer 24

Ziggurats, pyramid-temples. On top of each stood a shrine to a particular god/goddess.

Question 25

Sumerian cities had it’s own chief god or goddess, but it might have several ziggurats honoring other gods. (True or False)

Answer 25

True.

Question 26

What did rival city-states battle for?

Answer 26

Control of land and water.

Question 27

For protection of rival cities, who did people turn to?

Answer 27

War leaders.

Question 28

What did war leaders become over time?

Answer 28

Hereditary rulers, leading to the rise of monarchies.

Question 29

What is a monarchy?

Answer 29

It’s a form of government in which one person, such as a king or queen, has complete authority.

Question 30

What was each ruler responsible for in each city-state?

Answer 30

Maintaining city walls, irrigation systems, lead armies in war and enforced laws.

Question 31

What were scribes employed to do?

Answer 31

Collect taxes and keep records.

Question 32

Rulers were considered priest-kings. What is a priest-king?

Answer 32

Seen as the chief servants of the gods and led ceremonies meant to please them.

Question 33

In Sumer, goddesses were highly honored in religious practice. ( True or False)

Answer 33

True.

Question 34

In Sumer, women held a higher social standing than in other civilizations of the region. (True or False)

Answer 34

True.

Question 35

Sumerian women held legal rights equal to those of men. (True or False)

Answer 35

False.

Question 36

Were Sumerians polytheistic or monotheistic?

Answer 36

Polytheistic.

Question 37

What does polytheistic mean?

Answer 37

Worshiping many gods.

Question 38

Each city-state had its own special god, what types of sacrifices were given to them?

Answer 38

Animals, grains, wine.

Question 39

What is cuneiform?

Answer 39

The earliest known writing invented by Sumerians. From the Latin word cuneus for “wedge”, because scribes wrote by making wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Question 40

What type of technology did Sumerians use?

Answer 40

• Wheeled carts/wagons
• Potter’s wheel
• Bronze to make tools
• Looms to weave cloth
• Technology and engineering skills to build irrigation systems and flood control projects