Sumerian Contributions

Paragraph 1：Before about 4500 B.C., lower Mesopotamia, the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers just north of the Persian Gulf, was much less densely populated than other inhabited regions of the Near and Middle East. Its marshy soil, subject to annual inundations (floods) from the rivers, was not suited to the primitive hoe culture of early agriculture, in which land was cultivated without domestic animals or beasts. Moreover, the land was virtually treeless and lacked building stone and mineral resources. During the next thousand years, however, this unpromising area became the seat of Sumer, the first great civilization known to history, with large concentrations of people, bustling cities, monumental architecture, and a wealth of religious, artistic, and literary traditions that influenced other ancient civilizations for thousands of years. The exact sequence of events that led to this culmination is unknown, but it is clear that the economic basis of this first civilization lay in its highly productive agriculture. 

 

 

 

1.According to paragraph 1, which of the following was NOT true of lower Mesopotamia before 4500 B.C.？ 

 

O It was flooded every year by rivers. 

 

O Its soil was unsuitable for Stone Age hoe culture agriculture. 

 

O It was comparatively dense in population.

 

O It had few trees. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 2：The natural fertility of the rich black soil was renewed annually by the silt left from the spring floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Harnessing its full productive power, however, required an elaborate system of drainage and irrigation, which in turn required a large and well-disciplined workforce as well as skilled management and supervision. The latter were supplied by a class of priests and warriors who ruled a large population of peasants and artisans. Through taxation and other means the rulers extracted wealth from the population and then used it to construct temples and other public buildings and to create works of art. That gave them (or some of them) the leisure to perfect the other refinements of civilization. 

 

 

 

2. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of the soil in lower Mesopotamia？ 

 

O It was relatively unfertile until humans added other, richer types of soil to it. 

 

O It reached full productivity only when elaborate drainage and irrigation systems were added.

 

O Its most valuable nutrients were washed away by the spring floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 

 

O Its silt was removed by a large, well-disciplined workforce. 

 

 

 

3. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of priests and warriors in Sumerian society？ 

 

O Their technical expertise was essential in the development of new irrigation and drainage systems. 

 

O They encouraged peasants and artisans to perfect the refinements of civilization. 

 

O They were responsible for managing and supervising the workforce.

 

O They alone paid the taxes that funded the construction of temples. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 3：The rise of civilization brought with it a far more complex division of labor and system of economic organization. Full-time artisans specialized in the manufacture of textiles and pottery, metalworking, and other crafts. The professions of architecture, engineering, and medicine, among others, were born. Weights and measures were systematized, mathematics was invented, and primitive forms of science emerged. Since Sumer was virtually devoid of natural resources other than its rich soil, it traded with other people, thereby contributing to the diffusion of Sumerian civilization. The scarcity of stone, for tools as well as for buildings, probably hastened the adoption of copper and bronze. Copper, at least, was already known before the rise of Sumerian civilization, but lack of demand for it among the Stone Age peasant villages inhibited its widespread use. In Sumerian cities, on the other hand, stone imported by sea through the Persian Gulf from Oman and downriver from the mountains of Anatolia and the Caucasus had to compete with imported copper, and the latter proved more economical and effective for a variety of uses. Thereafter metallurgy, the technology of separating metals from their ores and purifying them, was regarded as one of the hallmarks of civilization. 

 

 

4. Which of the following is mentioned in paragraph 3 as an effect of Sumerian trade？ 

 

O The spread of Sumerian civilization to people outside Sumer

 

O The discovery of copper 

 

O A rise in the price of textiles, pottery, and other goods sold within Sumer 

 

O An increase in the scarcity of stone within Sumer 

 

 

 

5. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage  Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. 

 

O Sumerian cities developed a trade in copper and stone that extended as far as Oman in the Persian Gulf and the mountains of Anatolia and the Caucasus. 

 

O Sumerian cities competed with traders elsewhere to produce copper that was more economical and useful than stone. 

 

O In Sumerian cities, imported copper often proved more economical and useful than imported stone.

 

O The copper and stone imported from Oman, Anatolia, and the Caucasus proved more economical and effective than the copper and stone found in Sumerian cities. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 4：Sumer’s greatest contribution to subsequent civilizations, the invention of writing, likewise grew out of economic necessity. The early cities – Eridu, Ur, Uruk, and Lavash – were temple cities: both economic and religious organizations centered on the temple of the local patron deity, represented by a priestly hierarchy. Members of the hierarchy directed the construction and maintenance of irrigation and drainage systems; oversaw agricultural activities; and supervised the collection of produce as taxation or tribute (money or other wealth given as a sign of submission or in return for protection). The need to keep records of the sources and uses of this tribute led to the use of simple pictographs on clay tablets sometime before 3000 B.C. By about 2800 B.C. the pictographs had been stylized into the system of writing known as cuneiform (using wedge-shaped marks on clay), a distinctive characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization. It is one of the few examples in history of a significant innovation issuing from a bureaucratic organization. 

 

 

 

6. In paragraph 4, why does the author point out that the economic and religious organizations of early Sumerian cities centered on local temples？ 

 

O To identify the bureaucratic needs that led to the development of writing

 

O To identity factors responsible for the significant influence of Sumerian writing on subsequent civilizations 

 

O To explain why few examples of significant innovations have issued from a bureaucratic organization 

 

O To explain why the use of simple pictographs eventually became stylized into the system of writing known as cuneiform 

 

 

 

7. Paragraph 4 implies all the following about cuneiform EXCEPT: 

 

O It arose after 3000 B.C. 

 

O It involved stylized pictographs.  

 

O It was designed to further the purposes of the priestly bureaucracy. 

 

O It was developed outside of the early temple cities.

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 5：Although writing originated in response to the need for administrative bookkeeping, it soon found multiple religious, literary, and economic uses. In a later phase of development, after the strict temple-centered organization of the economy had given way to greater freedom of enterprise, clay tablets were used for recording the details of contracts, debts, and other commercial and financial transactions. 

 

 

 

8. According to paragraph 5, which of the following was true of Sumerian writing during the period of greater freedom of enterprise？ 

 

O Knowledge of it was limited to the temple-centered administration. 

 

O It was used for purposes beyond those for which it was first created.

 

O It was used primarily to help keep the traditional leadership in power. 

 

O It led to further technological developments by 2800 B.C. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 3：The rise of civilization brought with it a far more complex division of labor and system of economic organization. ■Full-time artisans specialized in the manufacture of textiles and pottery, metalworking, and other crafts. The professions of architecture, engineering, and medicine, among others, were born. ■Weights and measures were systematized, mathematics was invented, and primitive forms of science emerged. ■Since Sumer was virtually devoid of natural resources other than its rich soil, it traded with other people, thereby contributing to the diffusion of Sumerian civilization. ■The scarcity of stone, for tools as well as for buildings, probably hastened the adoption of copper and bronze. Copper, at least, was already known before the rise of Sumerian civilization, but lack of demand for it among the Stone Age peasant villages inhibited its widespread use. In Sumerian cities, on the other hand, stone imported by sea through the Persian Gulf from Oman and downriver from the mountains of Anatolia and the Caucasus had to compete with imported copper, and the latter proved more economical and effective for a variety of uses. Thereafter metallurgy, the technology of separating metals from their ores and purifying them, was regarded as one of the hallmarks of civilization. 

 

 

 

9. Look at the four squares that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. 

 

For example, the Sumerians learned to use the position of the stars and planets to predict weather and for traveling at night. 

 

Where would the sentence best fit  Click on a square to add the sentence to the passage. 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selected THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences do not belong in the summary express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. Drag your choices to the spaces where they belong. To review the passage, click on View Text. 

 

 

 

Answer Choices 

 

O Originally, Sumerians cultivated the lower Mesopotamia region using primitive hoes and domesticated animals. 

 

O The flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers caused peasants to look to religion for explanations, resulting in the development of a large class of priests.  

 

O Priests and warriors managed and supervised the workforce that operated the elaborate drainage and irrigation system required to maximize agricultural production. 

 

O The emergence of new professions, sciences, and techniques and the development of trade resulting from Sumer’s lack of natural resources led to a complex labor and economic system.

 

O The need on the part of the priestly hierarchy to keep track of who had paid taxes and tribute and how those were spent resulted in the invention of writing.

 

O As writing became more complex, priests increasingly put ordinary people in charge of running day-to-day operations within the Sumer economy.  

 

 

 

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