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Sumer Basics
Vocabulary
Mesopotamian Empires
???
Characteristics of Civilization
100
What are the names of the two rivers that flow through Sumer/Mesopotamia?
The Tigris & Euphrates
100
What is a city-state?
A city-state is a city that is also its own country
100
Please name the two emperors we study with the names of their empires.
Sargon with the Akkadian Empire Hammurabi with the Babylonian Empire
100
What is a tribute?
A payment made to the emperor, like taxes.
100
The ziggurat is the temple tower Sumerians built in the center of their city-states. What characteristic of civilization does it best show?
Religion
200
When the Sumerians moved from the Zagros Hills to the plains of Sumer, they struggled because of the uncontrollable water supply there. What was their solution to this problem?
Building irrigation systems to control the flow of the water.
200
What does "status" mean?
Status means someone's importance!
200
What is Sargon most well known for doing?
A few possible right answers here: for being a famous general, conquering all his neighbors, or becoming the first emperor.
200
How is a moat different from a canal?
Both are ditches filled with water, but a moat is to keep out attackers and a canal is to move water to crops.
200
The plow is a tool Sumerians invented to create trenches in the soil to plant seeds. It sped up the planting process a lot and allowed the Sumerians to produce much more food than they had been able to before. It shows two characteristics of civilization...which two?
Stable food supply and technology.
300
When the Sumerians struggled with attacks from neighbors, they built two defensive barriers to attack. What were they?
Moats and walls
300
What is the meaning of social structure?
Social structure is the idea that each person has a role in society and some people have more "importance" in the society than others.
300
What is the one accomplishment Hammurabi is known for?
Writing down the laws.
300
Define a reservoir
Man made pond
300
An ensi was a Sumerian king who gained his power through the gods. He was responsible for defending the city, building and maintaining the temples of the city, paying the farmers for the food they grew, and redistributing it to the other people. What characteristic of civilization does he best show?
Government
400
Name the four parts of a Sumerian irrigation system.
Levees, Dams, Reservoirs, Canals.
400
Sumerians were the first inventors of writing. What is the name of the writing system they used?
Cuneiform
400
What are 2 of 5 of the ways Hammurabi's laws made life more fair for slaves and women
1. Women can own property 2. Women can have their own money 3. Slaves can have their own property 4. Slaves can save money from a second job 5. Slaves can buy their freedom
400
What's the difference between a levee and a dam?
a levee is a wall along side a river, a dam is across a river
400
The lyre that we looked at in class (the one with the blue- bearded bull on it) is the artifact that shows the most characteristics of civilization. How many of the characteristics can you name?
Arts, technology, social structure, government, religion. It doesn't show writing or stable food supply.
500
How did the difficulties of living on the plains of Sumer caused the Sumerians to create the world's first civilization?
They needed to work together closely to survive, but when they did they were able to produce enough food supply that some workers could focus on building the characteristics of civilization, like arts, technology, religion, writing, government, and social structure.
500
The vocabulary words "stele" and "bas-relief" are related, but they are not the same thing. What is the difference between these two vocab terms?
A stele is a stone with accomplishments on it carved in bas-relief, which is a style of sculpture in which the front is 3D and the back is flat.
500
What is the difference in the way that Sargon and Hammurabi treated Sumerian religion?
Sargon let city-states keep their own religion. Hammurabi made all city-states worship Marduk
500
If you had to go back in time and live in Mesopotamia, would you prefer to live during the time of Sargon or Hammurabi?
The answer is your opinion. :)
500
Sometimes students have difficulty explaining the difference between government and social structure because they are related and both about people and power. What is the difference?
Government is about the way people run society (with a king or a president) and who makes the rules. Social structure is about everyone's relationships to each other and who is more "important" than who.