Download Document Based Question –Emergence of Complex Societies

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Document Based Question –Emergence of Complex Societies
Directions​: Answer the questions using evidence from the documents provided.
Historical Context
The Neolithic revolution states that as hunters and gatherers faced growing populations of people, animal
extinctions, and droughts, they needed to adapt in order to survive. In southwestern Asia, gatherers tried
planting the seeds of wild grasses, and they became the world’s first farmers. The following documents look at
the early civilizations of Mesopotamia and the more recent discoveries that challenge the traditional theory of
the Neolithic Revolution. The documents also show the importance of farming in these early societies, and
provide new theories as to how people moved away from hunting and gathering, and towards an agricultural
revolution. Answer the questions that follow each document to help you form an idea to the essential question:
Essential Question: How did religious, social, and technological developments give rise to permanent
settlements (cities) of ancient Sumer?
Part A​ – Carefully read/examine each document and respond to the questions that follow. Remember to reference the documents
when answering the questions, and use complete sentences.
Document 1- Sumerian Harvester’s Sickle, c. 3000 BCE
Image courtesy of the Field Museum: Chicago, Illinois
1. What job was this ancient implement designed to accomplish? Why was the Neolithic Revolution important to the development of
early civilizations of Sumer?
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2. Predict two advantages and two disadvantages farmers faced when using stone implements? How was the development of bronze
technology important to early farmers?
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Document 2- Sumerians and their Beer
A pictogram from Tepe Gawra in Mesopotamia dating from around 4000 BCE. It shows two figures drinking beer through
straws from a large pottery jar.
3. In what ways was the production of beer a significant development in the rise of early civilizations? Discuss the political and
religious significance of beer and feasting.
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4. How does evidence of beer production in ancient Naturfia challenge the traditional theory of the Neolithic Revolution?
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Document 3-Gobekli Tepe
Stone Pillars of Gobekli Tepe in modern day Turkey (9000 BCE)
5. Why is Gobekli Tepe such a significant archaeological find?
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6. How does Paleolithic monument building such as that at Gobekli Tepe challenge V. Gordon Childe’s Neolithic Revolution theory?
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Document 4 –
Sumerian Ziggurat of UR, Built around 2,100 BCE (Modern Day Iraq)
7. How are Ziggurats, such as the one above, evidence of the importance of religion in the development of early Sumerian city-states?
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8. What role did priests and scribes have in the technological advances of ancient Sumer?
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Document 5 – Geography and Power
“​Farming lets you feed far more people than hunting and gathering. In a one-acre wheat field, there's more to eat than in a one-acre
forest. In a one-acre sheep pasture, there are more animals to eat than in a one-acre forest. Also, farming lets you settle down in
villages next to your wheat fields and pastures, while hunter-gatherers have to move around.”
Interview: ​Jared Diamond talks about Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Jared
Diamond, et al {National Geographic} August 1998.
9. How did the settled agriculture actually increase the amount of food available to a population?
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10. How did agriculture allow for the transition from nomadic to permanent settlements?
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Document 6 – Sumerian Geography
11. What role did geography have in the development of early civilizations?
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Document 7—Sumerian Cuneiform Tablet
A newly deciphered Babylonian tablet reveals the path of Jupiter.
12. Why is the recent discovery that Babylonians were able to track the path of Jupiter using a rudimentary form of calculus such a
significant find? Why were Babylonians concerned with tracking Jupiter?
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13. What does this discovery tell us about the role religion had on the technological advances of Sumerian civilizations?
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Part B – Summary Question
Directions—Use the documents to answer the following question. Use at least 4 examples from the documents to support your
answer, and reference which documents you obtained the information from.
How did religious, social, and technological developments give rise to permanent settlements (cities) of
ancient Sumer?
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