Show:
Mesopatamian Land
Food Shortages
Uncontrolled Water
A Complex Irrigation System
Attacks On Communities
100
In what modern country was ancient Mesopotamia located?
Iraq
100
Why were the foothills a good place to farm?
The foothills were a good place to farm because they had mild weather and lots of rain.
100
What was the problem faced by Sumerians in Sumer?
They had an uncontrolled water supply.
100
Once the irrigation system was established, what was the next problem problem faced by the Sumerians?
How to maintain the irrigation system across village boundaries.
100
What happened when more than one village wanted to use more water?
They started to fight, often leading to injury and bloodshed.
200
What two rivers provided water for Mesopotamia?
the Tigris and the Euphrates
200
What were other advantages of living in the foothills?
Timber for building shelters, stones for toolmaking.
200
What happened when the plains were flooded?
Young crops were killed.
200
What happened to canals when villages didn't take care of them?
Canals became clogged with silt (rock) and the water couldn't get through.
200
How did people who lived upriver keep water from those living downriver?
People who lived upriver built new canals or blocked other cities' canals.
300
When were the earliest cities in Mesopotamia established?
3500 B.C.E.
300
What was the main problem with living in the foothills?
Food shortages
300
What did Sumerians create in order to solve their water supply problem?
They created an irrigation system.
300
What happened between 3500 and 3000 B.C.E?
The villages grew into towns and cities and had several thousand residents.
300
How did the physical geography of Sumer present a problem for protection?
In Sumer, the land was flat and open and so the Sumerians were vulnerable to attack.
400
What was difficult about living in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent?
The northern part was hilly and you couldn't grow crops.
400
What did people living in the foothills do as a solution to their problem?
People moved out of the foothills and onto the plains below.
400
What did the Sumerians create in order to prevent flooding?
The built levees (walls of earth) to prevent flooding.
400
How did villages solve the problem of maintaining an irrigatin system.
They started to work together to care for the system.
400
Name at least 2 ways that cities protected themselves against attacks.
Built walls and dug moats.
500
What was difficult about living in the southern part of the Fertile Crescent
The southern part did not receive enough rain for crops.
500
What were people who moved to the plains called?
Sumerians
500
What are other ways that Sumerians learned to control the water? List at least 2.
Dug canals to shape the paths, constructed dams, and build pools to store the water.
500
Give two examples of ways that villagers worked together to support the irrigation system.
Clearing silt to keep canals clear and scooping water from one group into another.
500
What did farmers do in case of attack?
They fled from the fields outside to inside the city walls.