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

Created with That Quiz — where a math practice test is always one click away.