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