Section 2.3- City States of Ancient Sumer

This is a section of chapter 2 talking about the ancient Sumer. It talks about their religion, their academics and their geography as well as government. 

16 cards   |   Total Attempts: 188
  

Cards In This Set

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What supported the development of the Sumerian civilization?
The fertile land b/w the TIgris and Euphrates river
Sumer's location was (blank) of the Nile. This is considered the (blank).
Sumer's location was north east of the Nile. This is considered the middle east.
The fertile crescent curves from....
The fertile crescent curves from the Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea.
How did Fertile Crescent earn it's name?
Earned its name because of dark, rich soil and golden wheat field.
What is the first known civilization in the fertile crescent? What does its name mean?
Mesopotamia- the land between the two rivers
What is a ziggurat?
A ziggurat is a pyramid temple with a shrine at the top for the chief god/goddess of the city.
How were buildings/houses in Sumerian cities built?
Built with bricks made of clay.
What did war leaders become?
Hereditary rulers of the city
What is a social hierarchy?
A system of ranks of people in Sumer
What did the highest class consist of? The middle class? The base class?
Highest: ruling family, leading officials, high priestsMiddle: lesser priests, scribes,merchants, artisans
Base:major of pop. farmers, peasants and slaves
What is the difference between Egyptian and Sumerian religions?
Egypt's afterlife was optimistic, where they'd go to Happy Field of Food and Sumer's afterlife was pessimistic, where they'd go to a grim place and never released. (Called house of dust)
What were their beliefs about gods/goddesses?
-they controlled every aspect of life, especially forces of nature-behaved like normal people (married, ate, drank, raised families)-gods preferred truth and justice, responsible for violence and suffering
What was a Sumerian's highest duty?
To keep the gods happy, keep the city safe and build a ziggurat.
How did people win favor of the gods?
People prayed and offered sacrifices of animal, grain and wine
Sumerians invented earliest known writing called what?What were it's symbols?
Cuneiform-system of pictographs, priests later developed symbols for more complicated writing