Sumerian Problems and Solutions
Why did people first leave the foothills of the Zagros Mountains?
Food shortages
Where did humans go after leaving the mountains?
The region of Sumer
What is a dam?
A wall built to hold back water for storage
Sumerians built strong walls using natural resources. What did they build their walls out of?
Mud-bricks
Problem: Too much or too little water
How did they solve it?
Built irrigation systems
What was the environment like in Sumer?
Hot, dry, and flat
What is irrigation?
Supplying land with water
Why was farming difficult before irrigation systems were built?
Lack of rainfall
Uncontrolled water supply, too much or too little water.
Clogged the irrigation canals
What is Mesopotamia?
The land between two rivers
What is Sumer?
The region in southern Mesopotamia where cities first formed
Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
Snow melted from the mountains where the rivers began
Problem: Fought over water (No nature barriers)
How did they solve it?
What was the environment like in Sumer?
Hot, dry, and flat
What is a levee?
A wall of earth built to prevent a river from flooding its banks.
The name Mesopotamia comes from its location. Where is Mesopotamia located?
Between two rivers
Problem: Canals are clogged with silt
How did they solve it?
They worked together to maintain/take care of the canals
Why did the geographic challenges of Mesopotamia shape their civilization?
They created/built inventions to grow their population, which started the first civilizations
What is a city-state?
An independent city with it's own independent laws and government.
Why were Sumerian communities called city-states?