Ancient Sumer

Characteristics of Civilization

100

What is one characteristic that all civilizations must have to ensure the people survive?

(A stable food supply)

200

What did Sumerians build to overcome environmental challenges like flooding?

(Irrigation systems)

300

• 300: Name two of the city-states in Sumer.

(Ur, Lagash, Uruk)

400

• 400: What artistic artifact revealed a lot about Sumerian life?

(The Standard of Ur)

500

• 500: Name at least four characteristics of a civilization according to historians. 

(Stable food supply, social structure, government, religion, arts, technology, writing)

Stable Food Supply

100

• 100: What invention helped Sumerians till the soil?

(The plow)

200

• 200: What were Sumerian irrigation systems made up of?

(Canals, dams, and reservoirs)

300

• 300: What tool did farmers use before the invention of the plow?

(Animal horns or pointed sticks)

400

• 400: What animals did Sumerians use to pull their plows?

 (Oxen)

500

• 500: How did the invention of the plow change Sumerian farming? 

(It sped up the process of preparing land for planting, making farming more efficient.)

Social Structure

100

• 100: Who was at the top of the Sumerian social structure?

(Priests, kings, nobles, government officials)

200

200: Where did the middle class, like merchants and artisans, live in Sumerian cities?

(At the edges of the city)

300

• 300: What material did Sumerians use to make their two-story homes?

(Mud-bricks)

400

• 400: Who made up the bottom of the social structure?

(Enslaved people)

500

500: What were some of the luxury items that skilled metalworkers made?

(Mirrors, jewelry, swords, arrowheads)

Government and Religion

100

100: Who ruled Sumerian city-states?

 (Kings)

200

• 200: What did Sumerians believe about their kings? (Divine)

(That their gods supported the kings)

300

• 300: What large structures were built for religious purposes in Sumer?

(Ziggurats)

400

• 400: What type of soldiers were in Sumerian armies?

(Foot soldiers and chariot drivers)

500

500: What purpose did statues in Sumer often serve?

(They expressed religious devotion, showing people worshipping gods.)

Technology and Writing

100

• 100: What was one of the most important technological advancements in Sumer?

(The wheel)

200

• 200: What form of writing did the Sumerians develop?

(Cuneiform)

300

• 300: What materials were wheels made from?

(Clamped pieces of wood)

400

• 400: What earlier form of writing was cuneiform based on?

(Pictographs)

500

500: What other major architectural innovation, aside from the wheel, did Sumerians develop?

(The arch)