Transcript The Sumerians PP

DO NOW:
In your Social Studies journal, make a list of at least FIVE
facts about the Sumerians. Your facts can come from
the BrainPOP! video that we watched last class AND/OR
from your textbook (pgs. 78-83).
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Sumerians = a group of people who lived in the southern region of
Mesopotamia (Sumer) and who built the first cities in southwest Asia
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Sumer is the region where the Sumerians lived. Find it on the map on pgs. 7475 in your textbook.
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Sumerians (and all people living in Mesopotamia at this time) were
POLYTHEISTS. They believed in many gods and goddesses.
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Sumer was broken up into smaller city-states. Each city-state had its own
government, led by a king.
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Sumerian kings were chosen by HEREDITARY RULE. This is a system of rule in
which a king’s oldest male heir takes the throne upon the king’s death.
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The center of a typical Sumerian city-state featured the city’s ziggurat, a large
temple where the people would go to worship their city’s chosen god or
goddess.
The Sumerians invented writing to keep records of their goods and trades. Their
system of writing is known as CUNEIFORM.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, the world’s oldest story, was written by the Sumerians.
Other Sumerian inventions: methods of irrigation; the sailboat; the wooden wheel;
the wooden plow; 60-minute hour, 60-second minute, and 12-month calendar
On the sheet of construction paper that you are given, write your name
using the proper cuneiform symbols (see handout).
Then, write three sentences, using a combination of words and the
cuneifom symbols on the bottom of the handout.
SILT
CUNEIFORM
EUPHRATES RIVER
SUMER
MARDUK
MESOPOTAMIA
EPIC OF GILGAMESH
IRRIGATION
TIGRIS RIVER
ZIGGURAT
TIAMAT
POLYTHEISM
HEREDITARY RULE
CITY-STATE
SUMERIANS
Answer the questions below on a separate sheet of paper. When you are
finished, turn your paper in to your class’s turn-in bin, pack up your
things, and line up. Have a GREAT day 
1. Sumer is a region in ______________________ Mesopotamia.
A.Western
B. Southern
C.Eastern
D.Northern
2. True or False: The Sumerians believed in only ONE god?
3. How did Sumerian kings come to power/gain the throne?
4. What was located in the center of a typical Sumerian city-state?
5. Why did the Sumerians initially develop a system of writing?