Ancient Cultures The Sumerians

Fertile Crescent

region of the Middle East in which civilizations first arose

Mesopotamia

wide, flat plain in between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq

Irrigate

to supply water to their crops

city-state

an independent state consisting of a city and its surrounding territory

barter

trading system in which people exchange goods directly without using money

Polythesim

the belief in one or more gods

Ziggurats

temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses they worshipped

Cuneiform

A system of writing in which wedge-shaped symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia.