Geography
The region of Mesopotamia is located between these two rivers.
What are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
These nomadic pastoralists moved into Mesopotamia sometime around 5000 BCE and set up the first organized governments.
Who were the Sumerians?
Sumerians worshiped many gods. This vocabulary word describes a person or group of people who believe in multiple gods.
What is polytheistic
This was possibly the world's first writing system
What is cuneiform?
This group of people made up about 40% of the population of Sumer and was at the very bottom of Sumerian society.
What are enslaved peoples? (slaves)
The first humans migrated out of this continent.
What is Africa?
the first rulers of Sumerian societies
Who were priests?
These large monuments, built in honor of the gods, costed Sumerians great time and wealth to construct.
What are ziggurats?
Possibly the world's first written story
What is The Epic of Gilgamesh?
These people were considered to be in the Sumerian low class
Who are hired workers?
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into this body of water.
What is the Persian Gulf?
Kings overtook priests as the most powerful people in Sumerian society for this reason.
What is ...As wars over land and water between city-states increased, the armies of city-states also gained importance. Eventually, war became so important that the leaders of the armies, the kings, became the most important people in Sumer.
The primary focus of Sumerian prayers to the gods? (What were they asking for?)
What is they wanted the floods to come at the right time to water their crops?
The reason why the 12 month calendar was invented by Sumerians.
What is to better predict when the floods would come from the mountains?
These two types of people could be enslaved in Sumer.
Who are foreign prisoners of war and Sumerians who could not pay their debts?
This climate-related event allowed for the Neolithic Revolution to occur.
What is the end of the Ice Age?
To coordinate these (3) large tasks, the first complex governments were formed.
What is to build cities, canals to carry water to fields, and dams to control the rivers' unpredictable flooding?
Three ways the Sumerians aimed to please their gods
What is.. they prayed, made offerings, and built ziggurats?
Name three ways the Sumerian number system still affects us today.
What is..The Sumerian system was based on 60. This helps explain why we have 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle.
The river valley civilization Sumerians did not trade with.
What is Ancient China?
Why do some people consider the land of the Mesopotamia to have been a gift and curse for the Sumerians?
It's rich, fertile soil and abundant rivers made it a great place to farm and start a civilization. However, the land was so attractive that outsiders wanted it for themselves and ended up attacking Sumer to try to overtake the land, leading to its eventual downfall.
The way in which the relationships between Sumerian city-states contributed to Sumer's ultimate decline.
What is.. the city-states had independent governments and were engaged in constant war with each other over land and water. This weakened them and made them more susceptible to attacks from outsiders.
Three primary tasks that the priests were responsible for (outside of worship)
What is managing trade, assigning fields to farmers, and distributing crops?
Explain one positive and one negative effect of the Neolithic Revolution.
Possible positives: ability to stay in one place, more job specialization, ability to build cities, increased population, more opportunity for advancements, steadier food source, etc.
Possible negatives: end of classless societies, war, over-reliance on one crop could lead to starvation if there was a drought or famine, evidence that hunter-gatherers were healthier or had more leisure time or that farming was very hard work, etc.
The ways in which the roles of women were different in hunter-gatherer societies versus in Sumer.
What is..In hunter-gatherer societies women were highly valued. They produced the most food for the society and held equal decision making power with men. In Sumer, women had some freedoms but they could not be educated in schools and did not have the freedom to marry who they chose.