The Environment
Food Shortages
Uncontrollable Water Supply
Maintaining Irrigation Systems
Defense & City-States
100
How would you describe the environment of Mesopotamia?
It was located between the two rivers: Tigris and Euphrates.
It was flat and dry for most of the year.
100
In ancient times, the first people to begin farming in Mesopotamia lived in what mountains?
The Zagros Mountains
100
One factor that made farming difficult in the area of Sumer was...
a lack of rainfall
100
CHALLENGE: What was clogging up these complex irrigation systems?
silt
100
Using natural resources found in the environment, Sumerians built strong walls with...
bricks made of mud.
200
Before early people moved down into Mesopotamia where were they living?
the foothills of the Zagros Mountains
200
What allowed people to farm in the Zagros Mountains?
The region had plenty of rain.
200
Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began.
200
Why was silt a problem for the people of Sumer?
It clogged the irrigation canals.
200
CHALLENGE: The people of Sumer constructed moats to...
protect cities from attacks.
300
Sumer is an area in Mesopotamia. Where in Mesopotamia is Sumer?
It was an area in southern Mesopotamia by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
300
CHALLENGE: What problem came about because there was an increase in populations in the mountains?
food shortages
300
How did Sumerian farmers control the water supply?
They built levees to prevent flooding.
They dug canals to shape the paths the water took.
They built reservoirs to store water for later use.
300
Why did farmers clean canals regularly?
A clogged canal could spoil the entire system.
300
Why did Sumerians build walls around their cities?
to protect themselves against attacking neighbors
400
What made Mesopotamia a difficult environment to live in?
The sun was hot, and there was little rain.
400
What development caused food shortages in the Zagros foothills?
increase in population
400
CHALLENGE: If you were in ancient Sumer, you might see a levee beside a river. Why was the levee built?
to prevent floods
400
Suppose you are a Sumerian farmer, and you don’t like having to clean out canals. What might happen if you refused to help?
The system could clog up and ruin everyone’s crops.
400
The earliest settlements in Mesopotamia were like small, independent countries. They are called...
City-States
500
CHALLENGE: Which two rivers are in Mesopotamia and Sumer?
Show the gestures.
Tigris & Euphrates
500
What solution did people in the Zagros foothills find to fix the problem of food shortages?
Moving south out of the mountains and into the plains of Sumer
500
What was the chief purpose of dams and reservoirs?
to store water for later use
500
Why did the villages of Sumer depend on each other with their irrigation systems?
They cooperated to keep the water systems working.
500
What two Mesopotamian city-states are shown on the map?
Kish, Ur