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