Free Printable The Rise of Sumerian City-States

Worksheets

The Rise of Sumerian City-States

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 8mins

Name

Class

Date

1. The environment of Sumer was

low and flat, with little rain

hilly and dry, with many stones.

thickly forsted, with heavy storms.

2. The name of Mesopotamia comes from its location, which was

between two rivers.

in mountain foothills.

near a region of many conflicts

3. Why were Sumerian communities called city-states?

Each of them kept written records.

They were all of one great empire

Each of them had its own ruler and farmland

4. Which fact allowed Neolithic people to farm in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains?

Goats can live on dry grass.

The region had plenty of rain.

Shallow canals watered the fields.

5. What development caused food shortages in the Zagros foothills?

overuse of the soil

change in the climate

increase in population

6. What solution did people in the Zagros foothills find to fix the problem of food shortages?

building terraces

moving to the south

constructing reservoirs

One factor that made farming difficult in the area of Sumer was

rocky soil

steep killsides

lack of rainfall

8. Why did the rivers flood in the spring?

Strong winds blew from the Persian Gulf

Ice that'd formed on the rivers broke into bits

Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began

9. What was the chief purpose of dams and reservoirs?

to allow travel by boat

to make it easier to fish

to store water for later use

10.

10. If you were in ancient Sumer, you might see a levee beside a river. Why was the levee built?

to irrigate crops

to prevent floods

to control workers

11.

11. Why was silt a problem of the people of Sumer?

It crumbled the city walls.

It ruined the soil for planting.

It clogged the irrigation canals.

12.

12. Why did the villages of Sumer depends each other?

They formed caravans to safely visit the mountains.

They cooperated to keep the water systems working.

They exchanged different kinds of natural resources.

13.

13. Using natural resources found in the environment, Sumerians built strong walls with

bricks made of mud.

logs with pointed tips.

reeds cut near the rivers.

14.

14. The people of Sumer constructed moats to

get crops to grow better.

protect cities from attack.

make villagers work together.

15.

15. Sumerian farming villages ------>(3500-3000 B.C. E.) ---> ?????

self-governing cities

large-scale private estates

bands of hunters and gatherers

100 %

The Rise of Sumerian City-States

Total questions: 15

Worksheet time: 8mins

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