Mesopotamia The Land between two rivers Sumer

Sumer Mesopotamia was in the Middle East It was surrounded by desert. People came to Mesopotamia because the soil between the two main rivers was very fertile. The two rivers were called the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.

Sumer Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East.

Sumer Mesopotamia was located in what is now the country of Iraq. Can you spot the two rivers?

Sumer The area was known as The Fertile Crescent.

Sumer When a newborn baby begins life, he or she is placed in a cradle. - Mesopotamia is called the cradle of civilization because the first civilizations began there. - This was about 3500 B.C.E.

Sumer Many city-states began along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. They each had their own form of government. The people worshipped different gods and goddesses. Eventually, they each had their own kings. The region where the two rivers meet was called Sumer. The people who lived in the Sumer region were called Sumerians.

Activity! Maps from memory – How good is your memory? In groups you will have to try and recreate a map of the area. - There is only one key map which you can use for information, and this is at the front of the classroom! - Only one person at a time, from your group, can come up and look at the map. - The first group to finish with an accurate map wins!

Sumer As cities began to develop, people began to worry about others who might come and invade their city. They wanted to protect themselves from enemies, so people in Mesopotamia built walls around their cities. Due to the fertile soil in Mesopotamia, farming was very successful. In fact, people were able to create surpluses of food. This meant that some people could stop farming and begin doing other things, like building a city.

Sumerian cities Sumerians even had plumbing! Clay pipes that were buried underground carried their waste away. Inventions like plumbing wouldn’t come around for another 1000 years in other parts of the world! On hot nights, people slept outdoors on the top of their house’s flat roof. Sumerians had a form of light at night. They burned oil lamps.

Sumerian cities Sumerian city streets were so narrow that you could hardly get a cart through them. Narrow Streets Sumerian houses faced away from crowded streets. Instead, they faced inwards onto courtyards where families ate and children played.

Quiz What are the two rivers called? (The T….. and E ………). Why did people settle in the area? Which country is there today? What was the area known as? ( The F…… C…….). Which invention did they have before anyone else? What were the houses like?