High use Words
Chapter Vocabulary
Section 3: The Development of Writing
Section 2: The Civilization of Sumer
Section 1: The Fertile Crescent
100
method
What is a way of doing something?
100
technology
What is the application of human intelligence to probelms to create new and better ways of doing things?
100
wedge-shaped writing pressed into wet clay, invented by the Sumerians
What is cuneiform?
100
Sumerian priests
Who developed the earliest writing system?
100
Tigris and Euphrates
What were the two rivers that Mesopotamia laid between?
200
achievement
What is something that is done through hard work?
200
scribe
What is a person who was trained to write and keep records in ancient times.
200
The transfer of ideas or customs from one culture to another. The idea of writing may have come to Asia from Mesopotamia.
What is cultural borrowing?
200
mathematics, astronomy, the potter's wheel, glass, bronze,
Which of the following is NOT an example of Sumerian technology? the potter's wheel, glass, paper and pen, bronze,
200
The plow and irrigation.
What were the two techniques that made farming more productive?
300
predict
What is saying in advance something that will happen?
300
law code
What is a written set of laws?
300
SUmerian writing began as ____________, or pictures that represent objects.
What is pictograph?
300
Sumerians believed priests could communicate with the gods.
Why were priests so powerful in Sumerian society?
300
rivers deposited fertile soil for farming and provided water for crops
How did geography influence the growth of early civilizations?
400
series
What is a group of similar events that happen one after the other?
400
kingship
What is a government headed by a king
400
The _________invented the alphabet that looks closest to ours today.
Who are the Romans?
400
ruler, top officials, powerful priests, merchants, large landowners
Who is the Sumerian wealthy class?
400
Villages became cities as agriculture improved, making possible a steady supply of food. This then led to an increase in population.
How did villages in Sumer become cities?
500
occupy
What is to live in and take control of a place?
500
polytheism
What is worshipping many gods?
500
pictograph----> syllables----> alphabet
What is the progression of writing?
500
Gained power by taking over jobs from priests.
What is the Sumerian king?
500
Sumer's city-states did not have many natural resources, such a slumber and metal. They could acquire these goods by trading surplus grain for them.
Why was trade so important to Sumer's city states?
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