Mesopotamia

1. The name of Mesopotamia comes from its location, which was

• A. between two rivers.
• B. in mountain foothills.
• C. near a region of many conflicts.
• D. at the site of the earliest cities.

2. Why were Sumerian communities called city-states?

• A. Each of them kept written records.
• B. They were all part of one great empire.
• C. They all depended on each other for water.
• D. Each of them had its own ruler and farmland.

3. Choose the 2 natural resources from the choices below.

• A. hammer
• B. wood
• C. scribe
• D. stone

4. Why did the rivers flood in the spring?

• A. Heavy rain fell throughout the area.
• B. Strong winds blew from the Persian Gulf.
• C. Ice that had formed on the rivers broke into bits.
• D. Snow melted in the mountains where the rivers began.

5. 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 irrigate crops
• C. to prevent floods
• D. to control workers

6. 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 water systems working.
• C. They exchanged different kinds of natural resources.
• D. They had to fight off attacks from empires to the east.

7. The people of Sumer constructed moats to

• A. get crops to grow better.
• B. protect cities from attack.
• C. make villagers work together.
• D. bring drinking water into towns.

8. What two Mesopotamian city-states are shown on the map?

• A. Kish, Ur
• B. Baghdad, Babylon
• C. Fenton, St. Louis
• D. Timbuktu, Ulaan Bataar

9. The Tigris and lower Euphrates rivers flow in a generally_________________direction until they reach the body of water called the___________________.

• A. northwest, Atlantic Ocean
• B. southeast, Persian Gulf
• C. northeast, Gulf of Mexico
• D. North, Mississippi River

10. What major physical feature lies between the waters of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf?

• A. Zagros Mountains
• B. The Alps
• C. Rocky Mountains
• D. Grand Canyon