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