Unit 2 Fall 2025 Sumer

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

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.