Rise of Sumerians - Chapter 4
  • 1. The name of Mesopotamia comes from its location, which was
A) at the site of the earliest cities
B) between two rivers
C) in mountain foothills
D) near a region of many conflicts
  • 2. The environment of Sumer was
A) thickly forested, with heavy storms
B) low and flat, with little rain
C) high and cold, with sharp mountain peaks
D) hilly and dry, with many stones
  • 3. Why were Sumerian communities called "city-states"?
A) They were all part of one great empire
B) Each of the had its own ruler and farmland
C) They all depended on each other for water
D) Each of them kept written records
  • 4. Which fact allowed people to farm in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains
A) Shallow canals watered the fields
B) The region had plenty of rain
C) Harsh climates are good for grains
D) Goats can live on dry grass
  • 5. What development caused food shortages in the Zagros foothills?
A) increase in population
B) overuse of the soil
C) change in the climate
D) fighting between villages
  • 6. What solution did people in the Zagros foothills find to fix the problem of food shortages?
A) moving to the south
B) constructing reservoirs
C) building terraces
D) joining villages together
  • 7. What is a factor that made farming in Sumer difficult?
A) lack of rainfall
B) large mountain ranges
C) growth of weeds
D) steep hillsides
  • 8. Why did the rivers flood in the spring?
A) Heavy rain fell throughout the area
B) Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers begin
C) Strong winds blew from the Persian Gulf
D) Ice that had formed on the river broke into bits
  • 9. What was the chief purpose of dams and reservoirs?
A) to protect the villages from attacks
B) to store water for later use
C) to allow travel by boat
D) to make it easier to fish
  • 10. If you were in ancient Sumer, you might see a levee beside a river, why was the levee built?
A) to irrigate the crops
B) to load barges
C) to prevent floods
D) to control workers
  • 11. Why was silt a problem for the people of Sumer?
A) It clogged the irrigation canals
B) It ruined the soil for planting
C) It crumbled the city walls
D) It dried up the rivers
  • 12. Why did the villages of Sumer depend on each other?
A) They exchanged different kids of natural resources
B) They formed caravans to safely visit the mountains
C) They cooperated to keep the irrigation system working
D) They had to fight off attacks from empires to the east
  • 13. 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
  • 14. The people of Sumer constructed moats to
A) get crops to grow better
B) protect cities from attacks
C) make villagers work together
D) bring drinking water into towns
  • 15. What two rivers run through Mesopotamia?
A) Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
B) Zagro and Euphrates Rivers
C) Nile and Tigris Rivers
D) Sumer and Tigris Rivers
  • 16. The earliest cities developed by what year?
A) 3500 B.C.E
B) 3500 AD
C) 10000 B.C.E
D) 1904 AD
  • 17. What is irrigation?
A) The climate that the Sumerians needed to adjust to
B) A means to control water supply to the land
C) A new method of fighting
D) A Paleolithic tool
  • 18. A self governing city that has its own ruler and laws is known as a
A) State-City
B) Culture
C) Empire
D) City-State
  • 19. The low flat plains of Mesopotamia are know as:
A) Sumer
B) Persian Gulf
C) Zagros Mountain Range
D) Tigris River Valley
  • 20. Irrigation is still used today>
A) False
B) True
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