Chapter 2 Section 3 Notes-overhead

Chapter 2 Section 3 – City-States of Ancient Sumer I.

II.

Geography of the Fertile Crescent A. The Land Between the Rivers 1. First known civilization in the Fertile Crescent was uncovered in the 1800s in Mesopotamia (“between the rivers”, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) 2. In Sumer the fertile land of a river valley attracted _______ ________________________________________________ 3. Their descendants produced the surplus food needed to ________________________________________________ B. Floods and irrigation 1. Control of the Tigris and Euphrates was key to _______________________________________________ 2. Archaeologists have found evidence that a catastrophic _____________ devastated the Fertile Crescent some 4,900 years ago 3. People had to work together ________________________ a.) temple ________ or royal officials organized villagers C. The First Cities 1. Around 3200 B.C., the first _____________________ emerged in the S. part of Mesopotamia 2. They lacked building materials so they built with ________ and _________________ a.) made bricks of _______________________________ 3. Trade brought riches to Sumerian cities a.) traders _____________ along the rivers or risked the dangers of __________________________ b.) Sumerians made the first _______________________ Sumerian Civilization A. Government and Society 1. Ruler of each city-state was responsible for maintaining the ________________________________________________ 2. He led its ___________ in war and enforced the _______ 3. Employed scribes to carry out functions such as ______________________ and ______________________ 4. The ruler was seen as a chief servant of the gods and led ceremonies ____________________________________ 5. Each city-state had a social hierarchy – system of ranks a.) highest: ________________________, ___________, ____________________________________________ b.) middle: lesser priests and scribes; _______________ and ________________

c.) ___________________________ (majority of people)

III.

6. Role of women changed over time a.) In earliest Sumerian myths – mother-goddess reflected the honored role of mothers in farming communities b.) As large city-states emerged with warrior-leaders at their heads, ______ gods replaced the mother-goddess c.) _____________ of rulers still enjoyed special powers and duties (such as supervising palace workshops and ruling for the king when he was absent) d.) Women became more dependent on men as they ___________________________________________ e.) Women continued to have legal right and well-to-do women engaged in _________ and _______________ B. Sumerian Religion 1. Polytheistic 2. Believed ___________ and ______________behaved like ordinary people (ate, drank, married, raised families) 3. Although gods favored truth and justice, they were also responsible for _________________________________ 4. Each city built a ziggurat – a ______________________ that soared toward the heavens a.) At the top stood a shrine to the chief god or goddess b.) To win the favor of the gods, the people prayed and offered ______________ of animals, grains, and wine c.) Believed in an after-life 1. Saw the underworld as a grim place _____________ __________________________________________ 2. Contrast the ______________ view of the “Happy Field of Food” Advances in Learning A. Cuneiform 1. 2. Involved using a reed pen to make wedge-shaped marks on ________________________________________________ 3. Grew out of a system of __________________ that priests used to record goods brought to temple storehouses 4. Sumerian scribes _______________________________ B. Mathematics 1. Developed basic _________________ and _____________ 2. Based their number system on “6”, ___________________ ________________________________________________