Sumerian Vocabulary

The curving strip of good farmland located near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

• Irrigation
• ziggurat
• Fertile Crescent

Fine particles of fertile soil.

• epic
• silt
• irrigation

A system for watering crops that supplies dry land with water through ditches, pipes, and streams.

• irrigation
• surplus
• cuneiform

An extra amount that is left over after a need has been met.

• scribe
• silt
• surplus

A city that governs itself and has political and economic control over the surrounding area.

• ziggurat
• Mesopotamia
• city state

Worshipping many gods and goddesses.

• polytheism
• scribe
• cuneiform

A pyramid shaped building with a temple at the top.

• ziggurat
• city state
• polytheism

A system of writing developed by the Sumerians that used wedge shaped marks made in soft clay.

• epic
• ziggurat
• cuneiform

A person who keeps copies or writes out documents; often a record keeper.

• scribe
• surplus
• epic

A long poem that records the deeds of a legendary or real hero.

• polytheism
• epic
• ziggurat