Food Shortages
Which is the best solution for Mesopotamians facing food shortages?
A: Increase the number of times each year that farmers plant their crops
B: Move down to the river plains and try to grow crops there
C: Abandon farming and return to hunting and gathering
D: Attack neighboring villages and steal their food
B: Move down to the river plains and try to grow crops there
One factor that made farming difficult in Sumer was
a lack of rainfall
What was the chief purpose of dams and reservoirs?
To store water for later use
The people of Sumer constructed moats to
protect cities from attack
Mesopotamia is known as the
land between 2 rivers
What area in northern Mesopotamia had good conditions for growing crops?
The Zagros Mountains
The problem Sumerian farmers faced with the water supply was
Farmers either had too much or too little water.
Define Irrigation
A means of supplying land with water.
Why did villages of Sumer depend on each other?
They needed to cooperate to keep their water systems working.
The two largest rivers in Ancient Mesopotamia were
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What caused food shortages in the Zagros foothills?
Increase in population
Why was the levee built?
To prevent floods
What is a levee?
A wall of earth built to prevent a river from flooding its banks
What did Sumerians do to protect themselves against attacking neighbors?
They built walls around their cities.
Using natural resources found in the environment, Sumerians built strong walls made out of
bricks made out of mud
How did people in the Zagros foothills fix their food shortage problem?
They moved to the south.
Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began.
Why was silt a problem for the people in Sumer?
It clogged irrigation canals.
How did conflict over water impact Sumerian life? (2 things)
-People dug moats to prevent enemies from advancing
-Living in city-states became more popular
The environment in Sumer was
low and flat, with little rain
Name the place people moved to grow more food.
Sumer
Sumerians used levees, canals, and dams to
control the amount of water in the valley
What might happen to you if you refused to work together with your neighbors to clean the irrigation system? (3 things)
-the system could clog up and ruin everyone's crops
-people living downstream might not get their water supply
-a clogged canal could ruin the entire system
What caused Sumerians to build larger communities?
the need to maintain irrigation systems
What allowed Neolithic people to farm in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains?
The region had plenty of rain.