Download The Rise of the Sumerian States

•Small
Neolithic
villages began to
grow into large
complex cities in a
land of rolling hills
and low plains called
Mesopotamia.
•Mesopotamia is a
Greek word that
means the “land
between the rivers.”
Mesopotamia: A Difficult
Environment
The first cities were like
small, independent
countries. They had
their own ruler , as well
as their own farmland,
which provided food.
This is why the
Sumerians communities
were called city states.
 The Mesopotamians
(Sumerians)
environment was hilly
and dry with many
stones. (rocks)

Food Shortages in the Hills
An area that was good
for farming was the
foothills of the Zagros
mountains because of
the mild weather and
plentiful rains.
 Problems began with
the Zagros region
because they city state
did not have enough
land to grow for with an
increasing population
and food shortages
began.

Food Shortages in the Hills
The Zagros people
began to move South to
Sumner in the plains
because of the river
access of the Euphrates
and Tigris River.
 This region was now
known as Sumner and
its people the
Sumerians.

An Uncontrolled Water Supply
Two factors that made
farming challenging in
Sumner was the
rocky soil and the
floods in the spring
caused by the melting
of the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers from
the winter.
 The Sumerians built
dams and Reservoirs
to store water that
could be used later.

Building and Maintaining a
Complex Irrigation System
Levees were also built in
Ancient Sumer to
prevent flooding.
 Another challenge
Sumerians faced was
maintaining the irrigation
system for constant water
supply.
 Silt began to build up and
clog up the canals , so
farmers had to clean
them regularly .

Attacks by Neighboring
Communities
The Sumerians had to
protect themselves from
neighboring communities
and most built strong
walls around their cities
built from brick made of
mud.
 To control the ever
important water supply the
Sumerians had to
cooperate with fellow city
states to control the
irrigation systems.

From Small Farming Village to
large City States

To defend
themselves from
other city states the
Sumerians built
walls and moats
around their cities.