Ancient Sumer

Discovering the ancient civilisation of Sumer in Mesopotamia, the first cities and the first writing

Name:

Date:

Try each question. If you're stuck, leave it and come back. The answer key is on the last page.

1
Ancient Sumer was in a land called Mesopotamia. What does Mesopotamia mean? A) The land between two rivers B) The land of high mountains C) The land of red sand D) The land of many trees
Answer:
2
What was the special Sumerian writing made up of wedge-shaped marks called? A) Cuneiform B) Hieroglyphs C) Alphabet D) Pictograms
Answer:
3
True or false? Sumer is sometimes called the place where the first cities were built. A) True B) False
Answer:
4
Where in the world was Ancient Sumer? A) Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) B) North America C) Australia D) Antarctica
Answer:
5
Fill in the blank: Sumerians built tall stepped temples called ___.
Answer:
6
Match each Sumerian word to its meaning. Match each item on the left to one on the right. Left: Mesopotamia, Cuneiform, Ziggurat, Ur Right: Land between two rivers, Wedge-shaped writing on clay, Stepped temple tower, A famous Sumerian city
Answer:
7
What did Sumerians write on? A) Wet clay tablets B) Sheets of paper C) Tree bark D) Glass
Answer:
8
Which two rivers ran through Ancient Sumer? A) The Tigris and the Euphrates B) The Nile and the Amazon C) The Thames and the Severn D) The Yangtze and the Indus
Answer:
9
Fill in the blank: One of the most famous early Sumerian cities was called ___.
Answer:
10
Put these in order, from the earliest invention to the latest in Sumer. Put these in order: Farming begins, First cities grow, Cuneiform writing is invented
Answer:

Answer key

Ancient Sumer · for parents and teachers

1
The land between two rivers
Mesopotamia means "the land between two rivers". Those rivers were the Tigris and Euphrates.
2
Cuneiform
Sumerians wrote using cuneiform, made of wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets. It is one of the world's earliest writing systems.
3
True
True. Sumer is often called the cradle of civilisation because some of the world's first cities, such as Ur and Uruk, grew there.
4
Mesopotamia (modern Iraq)
Sumer was in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
5
ziggurats
Ziggurats were huge stepped temple towers in Sumerian cities. They were built for the gods.
6
Mesopotamia → Land between two rivers; Cuneiform → Wedge-shaped writing on clay; Ziggurat → Stepped temple tower; Ur → A famous Sumerian city
Mesopotamia, cuneiform, ziggurats and the city of Ur are all important parts of Ancient Sumer.
7
Wet clay tablets
Sumerians wrote on wet clay tablets. The marks then dried and hardened, so many tablets have survived to today.
8
The Tigris and the Euphrates
The Tigris and the Euphrates are the two rivers of Mesopotamia. Sumerian cities grew along their banks.
9
Ur
Ur was one of the world's earliest cities. It had a huge ziggurat and was a powerful Sumerian city.
10
Farming begins, First cities grow, Cuneiform writing is invented
Sumerians first developed farming, which let them stay in one place. Cities then grew, and finally writing was invented to keep records.