How Sumerian City-States Emerged

• In this activity you will learn about and respond to problems faced by people in ancient Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

• Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “land between the rivers.”

• You will learn how the lives of people living in Neolithic farming villages in Mesopotamia changed in the third millennium B.C.E.

Zagros Mountains

Finished Reading?

• On your note paper you will write A,B,C or D.• Write 2 reasons why you made your choice

Event A: Food Shortage

• About 5000 BCE food shortages in Zagros foothills

• People forced to find more land to settle and farm

Solution• People move to

Mesopotamian plains to settle along Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

• Farmed and fished for food

Euphrates River at Anah

Finished Reading?

• Write some things you might draw

• When your group is ready:– Round Robin – each person say what they might

draw to get water from rivers to crops• Each person in your group needs their OWN

colored pencil crayon• Begin drawing – EVERYONE DRAW!!!

Event B: Uncontrolled Water Supply

Solution• Members of villages start irrigation system to keep year-

round water for crops• People dug ditches and built waterways to bring water to

fields miles away• Along rivers people built levees to stop flooding of villages

Irrigation Canal on Euphrates River in Iraq

Finished Reading?

• On your note paper:– Choose your solution (A, B, C or D)– Write 2 reasons why you made

your choice

Event C: Building and Maintaining a Complex Irrigation System

• Farmers from different villages cooperated to maintain the irrigation system

• People joined village work teams to clean and repair canals, reservoirs and dams

• Villages may have fought but many others developed strong ties from working together

Ruins of Mari in Samaria

Finished Reading?

• If you are the first person in your group, draw the image shown on your paper onto the back of your group’s white paper. – Sketch, boxes, don’t have to be perfect.

• When your group is ready:– Draw your city’s defense system onto the white

paper.– Use different colored pencil crayons

Event D: Attacks from Neighboring Communities

• Because Sumerian cities fought over water people built thick walls around cities

• Had strong gates at cities entrances to prevent attack

• Cities grew larger and more organized

• They created armies and governments

• New kind of city and its villages around it are called CITY-STATES

Sumerian City-States

• What do you see here?

Sumerian City-States

• Where do you think most of the people live?

Sumerian City-States

• What kinds of activities may have taken place outside the city walls?

Sumerian City-States

• How did this city protect itself from attack?

Sumerian City-States

• In what ways is the Sumerians’ defense plan different from the plan your group developed?

Sumerian City-States

• About 15 city states in Tigris and Euphrates River Valley

• Had high walls stretching six miles around city

• Bronze entrance gates• Moats around city

Sumerian City-StatesSUMERIAN HOMES• Homes inside city walls but farmland outside city walls• Populations of about 50 000 people• Upper class priests and merchants

– Lived in center of the city– Lived in two story homes– Had woolen carpets, whitewashed mud walls

• Middle class Sumerians government officials and crafts people– Lived just outside center of city around upper class – One-story houses

• Lower class Sumerians (fishers, farmers)– Lived in small mud brick houses at edge of city

• Slaves had no homes, lived in owners’ homes

Social Classes

Priests and Merchants• Very Powerful• Made sure the people

made the gods happy• They were the doctors• Shaved Heads

Social Classes

Upper Class• Wore Jewelry– Men

• Skirts• Long Hair• Moustaches• Long Beards

– Women• Dresses (Off one shoulder)• Long Braided Hair

• Wore Cloaks made from sheep wool

Social Classes

Lower Class• Paid for their work– If they had a show or

worked in fields, they were paid for their goods

– Stealing was a serious crime

– Even the King Paid• Lived comfortable lives• Wore Jewelry (No Gold)

Social Classes

Slaves• Prisoners from wars• Worked for the King,

Temple, and wealthy• Slaves were bought and

sold– Slaves cost less than a

donkey but more than a cow.