Download Mesopotamian and Sumerian City

• By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
– Explain why irrigation systems were critical
to Mesopotamians and
– Identify the features of a city-state.
Mesopotamian and Sumerian City-States
In this chapter you will learn about the rise of the early citystates in Mesopotamia. You will also learn about how these
city-states grew into complex cities that were like small
countries in today’s modern world.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means, “land between the rivers.” The two
rivers that surround Mesopotamia are the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. It is
located in present-day Iraq. It was a harsh area to live. The north was hilly and
the south was plains. The hills received rain, but the plains were dry. People
could not farm in the hills. The plains had hard and dry soil. On top of that,
many natural resources (i.e. wood and stone) could not be found in this area.
Mesopotamia had four key
problems for the settlers of this
are. They were:
Food shortages in the hills
Uncontrolled water supply in the
plains
Difficulties in building and
maintaining irrigation canals
Attacks by neighboring citystates
Food Shortages
Foothills in Mesopotamia were an
excellent place to farm. The hills
offered needed natural resources,
and the mild climate and plentiful
amount of rain made growing crops
successful.
But by 5000 B.C.E. (Before the
Common Era), food supplies could
not keep up with the growth of
people. Many people set out for the
plains in southern Mesopotamia,
trading famine for a new set of
problems (dry land and few natural
resources).
But, the plains had space and
potential. People who migrated
here named the region Sumer, and
its inhabitants known as Sumerians.
Water Supply
Settlers that moved to Sumeria faced many challenges.
Spring floods made the planting season unpredictable. Hot
summer drought dried crops out. Sumerians built levee
systems to prevent damage from floods and to divert water
from the river to their crops. Building levees helped them to
control the water so vital to their civilization.
Levee-An earth wall
built to prevent a
river from flooding.
Irrigation Systems
Irrigation canals and levees prevented water disasters in
Mesopotamia. Problems arose with who would maintain the
canals and the supply of water. As the water flowed through a
village upstream, water was diverted for the crops. City-states
downstream lacked water, which led to drought.
Villages worked together to
maintain the canals, but
fighting arose when there
were water shortages.
Attacks by Neighboring Communities
As city-states flourished, they fought one another over water
and land rights. City-states located up river blocked the water
supply of those down river, so wars broke out.
Sumerians began to use natural and man-made barriers to
protect themselves. Mud brick walls protected cities, along with
hand-dug moats which surrounded the city with a water barrier.
Ur-Sumerian
Nineveh (during Ashurbanipal)-Assyria
City-State Layouts
City-states became
more complex as the
need for defenses
arose. City-states were
located near a water
supply for their crops.
Also, water defenses
and walls were built
around the city for
protection. Farmland
was outside the city
walls, but supplies
were brought into the
city during an attack.
City-States and Layouts
Sidon-Phoenicia
Layout of Ur