Lesson 4

Sumer: Cities & Inventions

Sumerian city-states grew between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Irrigation, cuneiform writing, and ziggurats show how farming, record keeping, religion, and government supported life in these early cities.

KEY IDEAS

• Sumer developed up between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, made up of separate city-states.
• Irrigation let Sumerians farm reliably even in a dry climate.
• Cuneiform was one of the earliest writing systems in the world.
• Ziggurats were central, important buildings in Sumerian cities.
• Many historians consider Sumer one of the first true civilizations.

SUGGESTED PICTURE BOOK
A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexihcah Word Painters by Duncan Tonatiuh 

HANDS-ON PROJECT
Cuneiform writing activity, pressing symbols into clay or play-doh with a stylus.

VOCABULARY

• Civilization – a large, organized society with cities and shared government
• City-state – an independent city that governs itself
• Cuneiform – one of the earliest writing systems, made of wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay
• Ziggurat – a large stepped temple structure built in ancient Sumerian cities
• Irrigation – bringing water to fields using canals or ditches

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• What do you think makes a group of people a "civilization" instead of just a village?
• Why might writing have been such an important invention?
• What would you want a ziggurat in your own town to be used for?

Digging Deeper

• If you invented your own kind of writing, what would the very first symbol you create stand for?
• Why do you think it was important for cities to have shared rules?