WorksheetsRise of the Sumerian City States
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 8mins
The word Mesopotamia means
the land between two rivers
a region of many conflicts
a place of the earliest cities
in the foothill mountains
What was the major problem with population growth in the foothills?
competition for land
lack of job opportunities
crowded living conditions
food shortages
The environment in Sumer was
thickly forested with heavy storms
high and cold with sharp mountain peaks
low and flat, with little rain
hilly and dry, with many stones
The earliest settlements in Mesopotamia were called
nations
city-states
vassal-states
fiefdoms
How did the people of the Zagros mountains fix the problem of food shortages?
They moved south.
They joined villages together.
They constructed reservoirs.
They built terraces.
How did Sumerian farmers control the water supply?
They built levees to prevent flooding.
They dug canals.
They built reservoirs to store water for later use.
All of the above.
Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
Heavy rain fell throughout the area.
Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began.
Ice that formed the rivers broke into bits.
Strong winds blew from the Persian Gulf.
Why did farmers clean canals regularly?
An unsanitary canal would make villagers ill.
A dirty canal was bad for the tourist industry.
A clogged canal could spoil the entire system.
All of the above.
What was the chief purpose of the dams and reservoirs?
To store water for later use.
To allow travel by boat.
To make it easier to fish.
To protect villages from attack.
Why was silt a problem for the people of Sumer?
It dried up the rivers.
It crumbled the city walls.
It clogged the irrigation canals.
It ruined the soil for planting.
How did the Sumerian city walls relate to the environment?
The walls were made of wood cut from the trees of the footlhills.
The walls were made of steel through trade from Egypt.
The walls were made of stones from a quarry in the Zagros Mountains.
The walls were made of bricks using local mud.
What made Mesopotamia a difficult environment to live in?
The daily rain showers made the soil soggy and unworkable.
The short growing seasons made it hard to grow food.
The sun was hot, and there was very little rain.
Farmland was scarce because of the dense forests.
Why did the villages of Sumer depend on one another?
They cooperated to keep the water systems working.
They formed caravans to safely visit the mountains.
They exchanged different kinds of natural resources.
They had to fight off attacks from empires to the east.
The people of Sumer constructed moats to:
get crops to grow better
make villagers work together
bring drinking water into towns
protect cities from attack
What was the key to successful farming in Sumer?
hiring workers from nearby communities
controlling the water supply
planting crops before the floods came
growing crops in the foothills and not on the plains
