The irrigation systems built by the Sumerians required a lot of constant maintenance. What happened next?
Villages began to cooperate in maintaining the irrigation systems, and the unification of villages led to the formation of larger city-states.
100
What is an upright slab of stone engraved with letters and pictures to memorialize important events?
stele (pronounced "stel-ah")
100
The name of the two rivers, between which was where many Sumerian city-states were located. Can you also SPELL them?
Tigris and Euphrates
100
This prefix means "between" or "in the middle"
meso
100
By approximately what year did most Sumerians live behind walled city-states?
by about 3000 B.C.E.
200
There was a food shortage in the foothills of the Zagros Mts. What happened next?
People moved down into the river plains between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
200
These were like small Sumerian countries with their own rulers and their own farmland.
city-states
200
What is the name of the modern day country where Mesopotamia was?
Iraq
200
This is the word for the mud that settled at the bottom of irrigation canals and ditches, clogging them.
silt
200
What is the word for a prolonged dry spell during which there is little if any precipitation? Can you SPELL it?
drought
300
Villages united into city-states in order to maintain their irrigation systems. What happened next?
City-states began to fight for each other's water and farmland.
300
This is the process of bringing water from an outside source into fields to water the crops.
irrigation
300
What is the word for the southern portion of Mesopotamia?
Sumer
300
This is the mound of earth built along river banks to keep the river from flooding adjacent fields.
levee
300
By about what year were villages in the Zagros foothills suffering from food shortages and too many people?
about 5,000 B.C.E.
400
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were often either too dry or were suddenly flooding, making it difficult and dangerous for people to start villages and grow crops. What happened next?
They built irrigation systems consisting of dams, canals, levees and ditches to control and regulate the unpredictable flow of water.
400
This word means "between the rivers".
Mesopotamia
400
What is the word for an agricultural hand tool that was used to cut stalks of grain?
sickle
400
This is the pond or small lake of water that builds up behind dams.
reservoir
400
What is the name for the arc of land stretching from modern day Israel, north and east through Syria and southern Turkey, then down to the south through the center of Iraq? This area is known as the "cradle of western civilization".
Fertile Crescent
500
The city-states began to fight for each other's water and farmland. What happened next?
City-states built defensive walls and moats around their cities.
500
This word means widespread hunger across a large population caused by a major food shortage.
famine
500
What is the word for the papery husks surrounding kernels of grain? This needs to be separated from the grain before the grain can be ground for food.
chaff
500
This is the word for separating kernels of grain from the stalks they grew on. This is done before the kernels of grain are separated from their chaff.
to thresh or threshing
500
Name three contributions of the ancient Sumerians to later generations and cultures.
writing, plow, sickle, irrigation, water screw (pump), beer, the first alphabet (cuneiform), wheel, mud bricks