Section 1&2 A difficult Environment, Food shortages in the hills
Which Rivers was Mesopotamia between?
Tigris river and the Euphrates river.
What is one challenge that the farmers had when they moved to Sumer?
The uncontrolled water supply.
What was another problem after they created the irrigation systems?
How to maintain the irrigation system with all the other villages.
When Sumer cities grew they started fighting over what?
They started fighting over water.
What forced settlers in Mesopotamia to move down to the foothills?
Food shortages.
What was difficult to find in Mesopotamia?
Building materials
What caused the flood in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
The rain and snow from the mountains.
What clogged the canals?
Silt clogged the canals.
Why was there bloodshed?
The fights over water.
Why did independent city-states fight with each other?
To defend themselves against others.
Was there little or a lot of rain in Mesopotamia?
There is little amount of rain.
Why were farmers struggling to grow their crops?
They had to raise their crops with either little or a lot of water.
Some Sumer cities had populations of what?
Thousands
What did the Sumerians do to defend themselves?
They built walls and moats.
Why were city-states made?
so that they can seek protection behind the walls in case of an attack.
Which mountain is in northern Mesopotamia?
The Zagros mountains.
What 4 things did farmers build to control the water?
They built irrigation systems, canals, dams, and levees.
What did farmers work together?
For the common good.
What did the farmers do when they were attacked?
They fled behind the city's walls.
Why was there not enough food to grow in the Zagros foothills?
This was because there wasn't enough land to grow food.
What happened because they didn't know when floods are going to happen?
Their seeds would be wiped out.
Why did workers scoop water into different reservoirs?
To make sure it was balanced.
What were the walls of Sumer called?
They were called city-states, and they had their own laws and their own ruler.