Mesopotamians watered their crops by...

Because of a lack of resources,...

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers were important to Mesopotamia because:

Mesopotamian farmers set up irrigation systems because:

Mesopotamians used their environment to make building materials by utilizing which of the following?

This term is made up of two complete words. The second word comes from the Latin planus, meaning “flat.”

This term comes from the Old English word drugath, which is similar to “dry.”

This term is made up of a prefix meaning “half” and an Old English word meaning “dry.”

This term is made up of a prefix meaning “middle” and a Greek word potamos, meaning “river.”

This term comes from an Old English word syltan, meaning “salt.”

This term comes from two French words meaning “over” and “more.”

Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The floodplain (flat stretch of land) along the rivers contained ________, which was good for growing crops. The supply of water and the fertile soil (good for growing crops) made up for a semiarid (mainly dry) ________.

________ could wash everything in the fields away, while too little water meant crops would die. When crops failed, people starved. Farmers developed a system of irrigation ________ to bring water to their crops.

Mesopotamia had no ________, stone, or minerals, so there were few building materials. Homes or walls made out of mud bricks crumbled easily and had to be fixed often. People in Mesopotamia solved the problem of few ________ by trading surplus (extra) grain for stone, wood, and metal from other regions.

A surplus of food is necessary to have specialized workers because:

Many Sumerian city-states developed near the mouth of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers because:

The people of Sumer chose a powerful leader because:

Write a key term in each blank to help complete the paragraph. The people of (1) ______ believed in four main gods. This belief, called (2) ______, meant that priests had a great deal of power in Sumer until the time when a (3) ______ became a ruler. People paid priests for their services at a (4) ______, a huge structure in Sumerian cities. The early (5) ______ of Sumer contained many political forms of the (6) ______, where large numbers of people lived close to their farmland.

The Sumerians were an ancient civilization. Who were their leaders?

What are the traits of civilization? What kind of religion was practiced in Sumer?

When did Sumer arise? When did Sumer become a kingdom?

Why did people create cities and a civilization?

How were Sumerian city-states arranged?

Use the map to answer these questions. Choose your answer from the word bank below and write it on the blank line. What type of geographic feature are all these cities near?

Use the map to answer these questions. Choose your answer from the word bank below and write it on the blank line. Which city is closest to Heliopolis?

Use the map to answer these questions. Choose your answer from the word bank below and write it on the blank line. Which city on the Euphrates River is farthest away from the Persian Gulf?

Which pairs of cities should have circles around them?

Look at the map, think about where a city’s resources come from, and then explain why Ur and Lagash would be more likely to fight over resources than Susa and Mari.

Which of the following is a reason why modern cities rely on nearby bodies of water?

As cities grew larger and society grew more complex, an advanced form of culture called __________ developed.

The first civilization developed in __________, a region in southern Mesopotamia.

The five traits of civilizations are advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced __________.

Having a __________ allowed some people in a civilization to stop farming and to specialize in other types of work.

Two examples of the complex institutions of the civilization at Sumer are religion and __________.

Sumerians learned to create new tools out of __________.

A __________ was a community that included a city and its nearly farmlands.

The most important building in a Sumerian city was the temple, which was called a __________.

__________ is a belief in many gods and goddesses.

New leaders in Sumer who eventually took full control of the city-states became known as __________.

To what social class did most Sumerians belong?

How did Sumerians use arithmetic?

How did Sumerians use their writing system?

Write the letter of each key term next to its category: a tool.

Write the letter of each key term next to its category: a picture.

Write the letter of each key term next to its category: a material.

Write the letter of each key term next to its category: a worker.

Write the letter of each key term next to its category: a writing system.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. One example is done for you. Main Idea: Sumerian society was divided into several classes with kings at the top and slaves at the bottom. The upper class had kings and __________ at the top, followed by landowners, government officials, and __________.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. One example is done for you. Main Idea: Sumerian society was divided into several classes with kings at the top and slaves at the bottom. The class below the upper class was the __________. It included all free people. Artisans and __________ were in that group.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. One example is done for you. Main Idea: Sumerian society was divided into several classes with kings at the top and slaves at the bottom. At the __________ of society were slaves. Slaves in could carry on business and borrow money, which allowed some to buy their __________.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. One example is done for you. Main Idea: Sumerian society was divided into several classes with kings at the top and slaves at the bottom. __________ were part of all three classes. The most important role for women was the raising of children. But free women sometimes became __________ or worked as merchants and artisans.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. Main Idea: Sumerians invented tools and learned special knowledge to improve their lives. The __________ broke up hard soil, which made planting and watering easier.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. Main Idea: Sumerians invented tools and learned special knowledge to improve their lives. The __________ helped transport goods to market.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. Main Idea: Sumerians invented tools and learned special knowledge to improve their lives. __________ was stronger than copper, so bronze tools lasted longer and stayed sharper.

Choose the term that best fits each blank space. Write that term on the blank line. Main Idea: Sumerians invented tools and learned special knowledge to improve their lives. Sumerians used a __________ based on 60, like the modern number of seconds in a minute and number of minutes in an __________.

Sumerians used a triangle and a __________ __________ to set land boundaries.

They relied on geometric shapes such as __________ and squares to help them make bricks and dig canals.

Sumerians created a written language because they needed to keep track of business dealings such as __________ exchanges.

They used __________ as symbols of specific objects.

They made these symbols with a tool called a __________.

They created a wedge-shaped writing system called __________.

The people whose job it was to keep written records were called __________.

Write the letter of the name or term that matches the description: a belief in many gods and goddesses.

Write the letter of the name or term that matches the description: having more than is needed for oneself.

Write the letter of the name or term that matches the description: a person who specialized in writing.

Write the letter of the name or term that matches the description: an advanced form of culture.

Write the letter of the name or term that matches the description: a period when not enough rain and snow fall.

In the blank, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question: What kind of climate did Mesopotamia have?

In the blank, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question: The most important structure in a Sumerian city was the

In the blank, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question: Sumerians were among the first people to make tools of

In the blank, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question: Who made up the top of the upper classes of Sumer?

In the blank, write the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question: What was the wedge-shaped writing used by the Sumerians called?

Mesopotamia was a good region for farming because:

Which of the following traits helped to make Sumer the world's first civilization?

The Sumerians tried to please their gods and accepted their priests as leaders because:

The plow and the wheel helped to improve the lives of Sumerians by:

Scribes were very respected by the Sumerians because:

How did Sumerians use or change their environment to improve their lives?

Which invention is considered the most important by the Sumerians?

Choose words from the following lists to complete the crossword puzzle below. One word is done for you. Across: - civilization - ziggurat - Mesopotamia - surplus - scribe Down: - bronze - silt - polytheism 1. more than a person needs

3. an advanced form of culture

4. a name that means the land between the rivers

6. a person whose job is record keeper

8. a temple of ancient Sumer

Down: 2. belief in many gods

5. the fine soil deposited (left behind) by rivers

7. a mixture of copper and tin

A climate that has less than 10 inches of rain a year is called _______.

A _______ is a community (place where people live near each other) that includes a city and its nearby farmlands.

The Sumerians invented a type of wedge-shaped writing called _______.