The Sumerians

The first settlers built farming villages along these two rivers.

• Tigris and Euphrates

• Nile and Edisto

Crops, homes, and livestock were swept away by

• wild fires

• unexpected and violent floods

Flooded rivers were filled with silt or

• small particles of soil and tiny rocks

• volcanic ash

Farmers learned to control the rivers by using

• irrigation techniques

• flooding techniques

As the cities grew, they gained political and economic control over the lands around them. By doing this, they formed

• city-states

• countries

People in Sumer were divided into

• families

• social classes

Sumerians created a way of writing called

• cuneiform

• alphabet

After years of training, some students became ___________or official record keepers.

• authors

• scribes

The world's oldest known story is from Sumer; this story is called the

• Epic of Gilgamesh

• Neverending Story

An epic is a

• long poem that tells the story of a king.

• long poem that tells the story of a hero.