Geographical Challenges
Which fact allowed Neolithic people to farm in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains?
A. Goats can live on dry grass.
B. The region had plenty of rain.
C. Shallow canals watered the fields.
D. Harsh climates are good for grains.
B. plenty of rain
Why were Sumerian communities called city-states?
A. Each of them kept written records.
B. They were all part of one great empire.
C. They all depended on each other for water.
D. Each of them had its own ruler and farmland.
D. Each of them had its own ruler and farmland
What solution did people in the Zagros foothills find to fix the problem of food shortages?
A. building terraces
B. moving to the south
C. constructing reservoirs
D. joining villages together
B. Moving to the south
If you were in ancient Sumer, you might see a levee beside a river. Why was the levee built?
A. to load barges
B. to irrigate crops
C. to prevent floods
D. to control workers
C. to prevent floods
What was the major disadvantage to the rapid population growth in the foothills?
One factor that made farming difficult in the area of Sumer was
A. rocky soil.
B. steep hillsides.
C. lack of rainfall.
D. growth of weeds.
C. Lack of rainfall
The name of Mesopotamia comes from its location, which was
A. between two rivers.
B. in mountain foothills.
C. near a region of many conflicts.
D. at the site of the earliest cities.
A. Between two rivers
In Sumer, the water supply was..
A. inadequate. Farmers never had enough water.
B. unreliable. Farmers had either too much water or too little.
C. extreme. Farmers had too much water all the time.
D. contaminated. Farmers rarely had enough clean water.
B. unreliable
Mesopotamia is located in the modern day country of?
C. Iraq
What was key to successful farming in Sumer?
A. planting crops before the floods came
B. growing crops in the foothills and not on the plains
C. controlling the water supply
D. hiring workers from nearby communities
C. controlling the water supply
Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
A. Heavy rain fell throughout the area.
B. Strong winds blew from the Persian Gulf.
C. Ice that had formed on the rivers broke into bits.
D. Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began.
D. snow melted
What was the original reason that neighboring villages began attacking one another?
Control of water
The people of Sumer constructed moats to
A. get crops to grow better.
B. protect cities from attack.
C. make villagers work together.
D. bring drinking water into towns.
B. protect cities from attack
What was the chief purpose of dams and reservoirs? A. to allow travel by boat
B. to make it easier to fish
C. to store water for later use
D. to protect villages from attack
C. to store water for later use
Where was the ancient land known as Mesopotamia?
A. in northern Africa near the Nile River
B. in Eastern Europe along the Danube River
C. in central Asia between the Syr Darya and Amu Darya
D. in southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
D. Between the Tigris and Euphrates
The environment of Sumer was
A. low and flat, with little rain
B. hilly and dry, with many stones.
C. thickly forested, with heavy storms
D. high and cold, with sharp mountain peaks.
A- low and flat, with little rain
Sumerian farming cities turned into...
A. self governing cities
B. large-scale private estates
C. bands of hunters and gatherers
D. abandoned archaeological sites
A. self governing cities
Why was silt a problem for the people of Sumer?
A. It dried up the rivers.
B. It crumbled the city walls.
C. It ruined the soil for planting.
D. It clogged the irrigation canals.
D. it clogged the irrigation canals
How did agriculture lead to larger populations of people?
A. More reliable or dependable source of food.
Using natural resources found in the environment, Sumerians built strong walls with
A. bricks made of mud.
B. logs with pointed tips.
C. reeds cut near the rivers.
D. rocks shaped into squares.
A. bricks made of mud
What are the four problems that were presented to Sumerians?
- Food shortages
- Unreliable water
- Clogs in the irrigation systems
- Attacks from neighboring communities
What caused Sumerians to build larger communities?
A. the need to maintain irrigation systems
B. the desire for a more diverse community
C. the hunger for power and authority
D. the need to protect themselves from their enemies
A. the need to maintain irrigation systems
Why did the villages of Sumer depend on each other?
A. They formed caravans to safely visit the mountains.
B. They cooperated to keep the water systems working.
C. They exchanged different kinds of natural resources.
D. They had to fight off attacks from empires to the east.
B. Cooperated to keep the water systems working
Water is to reservoir as money is to
B. Bank
How did Sumerian farmers control the water supply?
A. They built levees to prevent flooding.
B. They dug canals to shape the paths the water took.
C. They built reservoirs to store water for later use.
D. all of the above
D. all of the above