Name: ___KEY_____________
Date:_________ Period____
Mesopotamia
The Land Between The Rivers
Label the map with the
following locations.
Bodies of Water
Found on pages R18-19,
and 17.
1. Tigris River
2. Euphrates River
3. Nile River
4. Black Sea
5. Red Sea
6. Persian Gulf
7. Caspian Sea
8. Arabian Sea
9. Mediterranean Sea
Black Sea
Caspian
Sea
Mesopotamia
Asia Minor
Fertile Crescent
Mediterranean
Sea
Tigris River
Phoenicia
Euphrates River
Palestine
Zagros Mts.
Syrian
Desert
Persian
Gulf
Physical Features
Found on pages R18-19
and 17.
1. Asia Minor
2. Arabian Desert
3. Zagros Mts.
4. Syrian Desert
Arabian
Desert
Red Sea
Nile River
Small States
Found on pages
R18-19
1. Lebanon
(Phoenicia)
2. Israel (Palestine)
Arabian Sea
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Mesopotamia: Birthplace of Civilization
Section One- Introduction
3500 BC. What things happened at that particular time that helped man to become
civilized? Why do we say at this time in history, humans built the first civilization?
What do we mean by civilization and civilized? When we talk about civilization, we
will be talking about many people living in one area. Three things must be true about
these people.
1. They must have a _surplus of food_________________
2. They must have a __division of food________________
3. They must have ___built cities__________________
What Were City-States? Geographic features isolated Sumerian cities. Mudflats and
desert made travel and communication difficult. Each Sumerian city—and the lands
around it—became a separate city-state. Each city-state had its own government and did
not belong to a larger unit. Sumerian city-states often fought with each other. They went
to war for glory and more territory. To ward off enemies, each city-state built a wall. First
they mixed river mud with crushed reeds. Then they molded bricks and left them to dry
in the sun. The hard, waterproof bricks were used for walls, homes, temples, and other
buildings.
Section 2-Food Production
The Sumerians (people who lived in Southern Mesopotamia) did not get their food by
hunting and gathering. Instead they produced their own food by farming. To help them
farm the dry land they learned to irrigate their fields. Answer the questions in complete
sentences where appropriate*. Read pages 28-32 in Ancient Civilization to answer the
following questions.
1. What was the annual rainfall in southern Mesopotamia? 5 ½ inches (under 10 inches)
2. How did the building of levees and canals help to increase food production?*
Rivers flooded every spring, flood waters left silt. Along the rivers soil would build to create
natural levees and banks. This made levees stronger and higher. People poked holes in the
levees and water poured out into irrigation ditches and canals became bigger.
3. Sumerians were able to grow a surplus of crops. Define surplus*.
An extra amount/left over/could be used for trade
4. Not all Sumerians had to be farmers because they had a surplus of crops. Some could
do other jobs. Name at least (6) other jobs.
A. Scribe/record keeper
C. Priests/soldiers
E. Artisans
B. Brick maker
D. Shop keepers
F. Pottery/weaving
Section 3: Sumerians Became Traders
Read pages 65-67 and 70 Ancient Civilization to answer the following questions.
Answer in complete sentences where appropriate*.
1. Why did Sumerians become interested in trading with their neighbors?
To get timber, stones and metals
2. What did the Sumerians have to trade?*
Grain and cloth
3. Name two inventions that helped the Sumerians trade with their neighbors.
A.
wheeled cart
B.
Sailboat
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4. Look at the map on page 66. Name two countries with whom the Sumerians traded.
A. India and Persia
B. Lebanon
5. What evidence do we have that the Sumerians traded with their neighbors?*
Archaeologists found many of the things made by Sumerian Artisans
6. Barter was the earliest form of trading. Why?
Barter is trading to get the object you need or want without money.
7. Later Sumerians began to use money in their trading. What was the first type of
material they used for money? Barley  eventually silver bars
Section Four: Home Life and Education
Whose Civilization is it Anyway?
You and your group will perform a short semi-improvisational skit describing an aspect
of Sumerian home life and education. Your group will be given a focus area that will be
your main inspiration for the performance. Be creative and have fun! Pay attention for
further instructions from your teacher.
Group One Information:
 The Sumerian family was patriarchal which means the father was the head of the
household.
 The father’s power included selling off his wife and kids for up to three years to
pay off debt.
Group Two Information:
 Sumerian children had to obey all members of the family
 If children made their parents angry they could be sent to another city or sold into
slavery.
 Marriages were arranged by the parents
Group Three Information:
 Only rich boys were able to attend schools (temples)
 The first schools were located in the temples
 Sumerian schools were only for boys
 The subjects studied in Sumerian schools were reading, writing, and arithmetic.
 Schools were open from sunrise to sunset
Group Four Information:
 Boys learned to write by writing something over and over and over again.
 Absolutely no special activities (like this one!)
 Absolutely no class discussion
 Class work done the same day after day after day…
 School principal (ummia) “The man with a whip!”
Section 5: Government of Mesopotamia
1. Did the Sumerians believe in one or many gods? Polytheistic
2. What group of people ruled the Sumerians as kings? Priests
3. The Sumerians believed that their kings got their power from the Gods.
4. How do people become slaves in ancient times? Debt,
punishment, sell themselves into it, warfare
5. Why do you think that all Sumerians obeyed their rulers? This
chart is an example of a hierarchy which is a system of ranks.
Harsh punishment, fear of gods
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Section 6: Architecture
Look at the house on the smart board and read the following below to answer the
question. This is an artist’s reconstruction of a house found in a Mesopotamian tel. Only
part of the roof is shown so that you can see the inside. Made from mud bricks and clay,
the house had rooms built around a central courtyard(atrium). They had windows as
well as doors. Archaeologists know that many Sumerians lived in houses of this kind.
1. Sumerian homes were made of sun-dried mud bricks.
Sections 7: Ziggurat (see textbook page18)
It was the largest and most important building in a Sumerian city. It rose above the city
like a hill. Such a hill temple was called a ziggurat. The ziggurat was the “mountain of
god.” It was the “hill of heaven,” in the eyes of the Sumerian people. Within a city, all
life centered on the ziggurat of the special city god. The Sumerians believed that god
lived on top of the ziggurat. Three times a day the priests brought food to the god. Only
the priests could enter the room where god lived. The farm workers worked in the fields
of the god. Then they brought a surplus grain to the temple of the city god. In return, the
city god protected them and the city from harm.
List the many functions of the ziggurat.
A. temple for worship
B. Market
C. government
D. School
E. store surplus
F. Home of the gods
Section 8: Cuneiform Writing
Based on this chart, how has cuneiform changed between 2000 B.C. and 500 B.C.
Sumerian writing started out as pictographs, which was quite literal and eventually
evolved into a more abstract form of writing.
Read A Skilled People starting on page 20 and answer the following questions.
1. Cuneiform is the earliest known form of writing.
2. Describe the process of cuneiform writing.
It involved using a reed pen to make wedge shape marks on clay tablets
3. Why did Mesopotamians use a system of writing?
-record surplus goods
Continued...
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4. Not everyone could read and write cuneiforms. Who were the people that were hired
to keep records for other Sumerian people?
Scribes were hired to keep the records of other Sumerian people.
5. The people of Persia began to use cuneiform around 500B.C. At this time cuneiform
writing became less popular. Why? This is an opinion question. The answer is not in
the book, be creative. Simpler forms of writing were developed and adapted.
Section 9: Sargon and Hammurabi
As you read pages 23-25, complete the following sentences.
1. Sumeria was conquered by the Akkadians. Their king,
Sargon, set up the world’s first empire.
2. The Babylonian king Hammurabi is best known for his collection
of laws. While some of his laws seem cruel, they were an
important step toward a fair system of government.
3. Define empire- a group of many different lands under one ruler
4. Define Babylon- city by the Euphrates river that was the center of trade
You Decide…Hammurabi’s Laws: Fair or Cruel?
Directions: read pages 24 and 25 and answer the following questions. Answer in
complete sentences.
1. Why do you think some people thought Hammurabi’s laws were fair?
- laws stated what all people needed to know about the rules of their society – brought
order and justice to society – regulated many different activities, from business
contracts to crime
2. Why do others think the laws were cruel?
- called for violent punishments – required different punishments for accused persons
of different social classes – allowed no explanation from social classes
3. Do you think the laws were fair or cruel? Explain
Will vary
Section 10: Final Unit Questions
1. Why did civilization in Mesopotamia begin in the valleys of the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers?
Because good farming conditions made it easy to feed large numbers of people – rivers
provided fresh fish and water – rivers made it easy to travel and trade.
2. How did the Sumerians contribute to later peoples?
a. writing- it helps keep records and pass on their ideas to others
b. sailboats- allowed them to move more goods faster on water
Continued…
5
c. wheeled cart- helped carry more goods from place to place
d. irrigation- allowed farmers to grow plenty of good and support a large
population
e. cylinder seal- allows them to create their signature
3. Why did the Sumerian city-states lose power?
A new group of people come into power and built the city of Babylon, by the Euphrates
River. It quickly became a center of grade. Hammurabi conquered cities north and
south and created the Babylonian empire.
Study Guide
Unit Test Mesopotamia
Map Identifications- Tigris and Euphrates Rivers / Fertile Crescent / Mesopotamia /
Sumer/ Mediterranean Sea / Persian Gulf / Arabian Sea / Arabian Desert / Red Sea /
Black Sea / Caspian Sea / Zagros Mountains / Palestine / Phoenicia / Asia Minor/
Syrian Desert / Iraq
Vocabulary- irrigation / scribe / hierarchy / ziggurat / patriarchal / levee / cuneiform /
surplus/ barter / silver bars / city-state / cylinder seal
Description of Places: Mesopotamia “The land between the rivers”
Concepts- 3 things exchanged in trade are goods, ideas, and culture.
People- Hammurabi / Sargon I
Contributions- Be familiar with Sumerian contributions (inventions and innovations).
You should also be able to state how the invention benefited the people of that time.
ALL THIS INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN YOUR MESOPOTAMIA PACKET. IN
A SENSE YOUR PACKET IS THE STUDY GUIDE.
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