1. The geography of Mesopotamia. The rivers.

Meaning of Mesopotamia = between two rivers. They are called Euphrates and Tigris. It was a land spread
between Turkey and Kurdistan and Persian Gulf. Today’s land of Iraq.

2. The usefulness of floodplains.

Floodplain = flat land bordering the banks of a river. The water from mountains spread on the floodplain, and as it
carries fine/fertile soil (called silt), the farmers could grow crops.

3. The climate of Mesopotamia - Arid, very hot and dry, almost no rainfall, long period of drought

4. Irrigation methods in Mesopotamia.

- Farmers built canals or earthen walls. Gates controlled how much water flowed from the river. Main
canals led from the river. Medium-sized branch canals led away from the main canal, and small canals
led water to the fields.
- People used buckets to move water during summer months, when the water level in the rivers was low.

5. Sumerian city-states.
= a communinty that included a city and its surrounding lands. Cities were centers of trading, learning and
religion. Cities started to rule the countryside. By 3000 BC Sumers had 12 city-states: Babylon, Kish, Nippur, Ur.
City-states were located close to mouth of Euphrates &Tigris with fertile soil, so farmers could grow more food,
and suplus could support/ feed larger population. Cities had narrow streets, walls were surrounding the city and
the gates let people in/ out of the city. People built houses of reeds&mud, or brick with yard in the center, and
palm leaves on the top of the yard which was useful as a cooling.

6. Ziggurats. The use of this structure.

Those were temples built atop of more smaller platforms. People believed their gods lived in high places.
Ziggurats were used as a city hall. The priests ran the irrigation system and other important aspects. People paid
to priests for services with grain. Priests controlled surplus grain and much of city-state’s wealth.

7. What polytheism means - Belief in many gods.

8. The role of priests in Sumerian society.

Priests controlled surplus grain and much of city-state’s wealth, they maintained the canals, and acted as judges.
Basically they were city-state leaders.

9. Why kings came to power in Sumerian city-states. Why they took over from priests.
People asked a powerful man to rule them and protect the city during war, later full-time. A king was a new type of
highest-ranking leader. Priests remained important because they pleased the gods and kept evil away. The
people believed that the gods let the kings rule.

10. Cuneiform - first known writting system which used the wedge-sharped symbols

11. Societal structure of Sumerian cities. The three class groups.

Upper class: Top of the upper class: priests and king; landowners, government officials, rich merchants
Middle class: all the free people, farmers, artisans
Lowest class: slaves with some rights (run business, borrow money, buy freedom). Key words and their meanings
(the words highlighted in yellow in the textbook).