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