Unit 2 Fall 2025 Sumer
Across
- 4. The main metal in bronze (about 90%)
- 5. The arc of rich, well-watered land that includes Sumer. (Two words, no space)
- 8. The exchange of goods (like grain) for things Sumer lacked (like timber and metals).
- 9. A person specially trained to read and write cuneiform, holding a high social rank.
- 13. Farming tool invented by Sumerians to break up soil faster than by hand.
- 15. Wedge-shaped writing developed by the Sumerians, the world's first writing system.
- 17. The "dirt" on the bottom of the river, very nutrient rich, creates fertile soil when the river floods
- 19. A massive stepped tower or temple at the heart of a Sumerian city.
- 20. The discipline that describes Sumerian construction of ziggurats and palaces.
- 23. The extra amount of food produced by farming, allowing for job specialization. (two words no spaces)
- 24. One of the most important and oldest major city-states in Sumer.
- 28. Very valuable resource (according to Gorski, he's right) used to make bronze
- 29. The southern and longer of the two rivers vital for Sumerian agriculture.
- 30. Sumerians invented this too! Base 60, our time system uses this
Down
- 1. Walls of dirt used to stop rivers from flooding
- 2. Region of Mesopotamia where the earliest city-states emerged
- 3. A key Sumerian invention that revolutionized transportation and pottery making.
- 4. Based on the cycles of the moon, it helped farmers plan planting and harvesting.
- 6. The northern of the two rivers that bordered Sumer.
- 7. The Sumerian governments collected this to support itself
- 10. An independent city and the surrounding land it controlled, like Ur or Uruk. (Two words, no space)
- 11. The metal alloy (copper and tin) used to make stronger tools and weapons.
- 12. Heroic king of Uruk and subject of the world's oldest surviving epic poem.
- 14. The greatest achievement of Sumer, allowing for record-keeping and complex laws.
- 16. The most abundant natural resource in Sumer, used for bricks, tablets, and pottery.
- 18. Artificial waterways used to move water from rivers to fields.
- 21. Valuable type of wood, it's what Gilgamesh and Endiku fought the Demon for
- 22. The belief system of the Sumerians, involving many gods and goddesses.
- 25. The system of canals and dikes Sumerians built to control river water for farming.
- 26. A social status determined by debt, crime, or war conquest, and a key part of the economy.
- 27. Greek name meaning "land between the rivers," the broader region where Sumer was located.