A Difficult Environment
Mesopotamia is located in the modern country of _______.
Iraq
In Neolithic times, the first people to begin farming in Mesopotamia lived in what mountain range?
In the Zagros Mountains
In Sumer, the water supply was _________________.
unreliable. Farmers had either too much water or too little.
Why did farmers clean canals regularly?
A clogged canal could spoil the entire system.
True or False:
Sumerians had massive mountain ranges to protect them from their enemies.
FALSE
Where was the ancient land known as Mesopotamia?
In southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What was the major disadvantage to the rapid population growth in the foothills?
Food shortages
What was the key to successful farming in Sumer?
controlling the water supply
When farmers cleaned the canals, they were working for ______________.
A: the king.
B: their own benefit.
C: a regular paycheck.
D: the common good.
Why did Sumerians build walls around their cities?
to protect themselves against attacking neighbors
The earliest settlements in Mesopotamia were like small, independent countries. They are called ___ - ____.
city-states
What drove people to move out of the foothills to the plains of Sumer?
The need for more food and space to farm
How did Sumerian farmers control the water supply?
A: They built levees to prevent flooding.
B: They dug canals to shape the paths the water took.
C: They built reservoirs to store water for later use.
D: all of the above
What caused Sumerians to build larger communities?
the need to maintain irrigation systems.
How did the Sumerian city walls relate to the environment?
A: The walls were made of wood cut from trees in the foothills.
B: The walls were made of bricks using local mud.
C: The walls were made of stones from a quarry in the Zagros Mountains.
D: The walls were made of steel obtained through trade with Egypt.
What made Mesopotamia a difficult environment to live in?
The sun was hot, and there was little rain.
The foothills provided conditions that were good for farming and building shelters. What conclusion can you draw from this statement?
People settled in one place, and the population grew.
Water is to reservoir as money is to __________.
bank
Suppose you are a Sumerian farmer, and you don’t like having to clean out canals. What might happen if you refused to help?
The system could clog up and ruin everyone’s crops.
What is the major flaw in the Sumerian system of canals that flowed through many different cities?
Cities located upriver could block the water flow for cities downriver