Land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

people who specialized in writing and record keeping

belief in many gods and goddesses

political unit made up of a city and its surrounding lands

fine, fertile soil carried by rivers and deposited on nearby lands

helps to move boats that are traveling down river.

amount produced in excess of what is needed

temple built atop a series of increasingly smaller platforms

pictures or drawings that represent a word or an idea

advanced form of culture that developed in cities

highest-ranking leader of a group of people

writing system, which used wedge-shaped symbols

climate type marked by hot summers and limited rainfall

increase in size or volume

A system for watering dry land

The largest most important structure in a Sumerian city

At first these showed actual objects, but later stood for ideas and sounds.

People who specialized in writing

early inventions of the Sumerians

Sumerian number system was based on

The cuneiform writing system contained