 Explain the relationship among city- states  Understand the religious beliefs of people in city-states

 City-state – a walled city and the land all around it  Monarchy – governing system ruled by a king or queen  Authority – power  Polytheism – belief in many gods  Caravan – groups of traders traveling together on a long journey  Architecture – building style

 The world’s first city- states developed in Sumer  Each city-state had its own government  Shared a writing system, language and religion  City-states marked the development of early civilization in Sumer

 The Sumerian city- states’ need for strong leaders led to the development of a monarchy  Religion was important to the Sumerians, who practiced Polytheism

 The cities of Sumer had economies based on economic surpluses  Surpluses of crops allowed some Sumerians to work outside of farming, in jobs such as craftwork, metalwork, and building  Surpluses also allowed the Sumerians to trade for resources they did not have  Traded resources over long distances using caravans

 The city of Ur was once close to the Euphrates River  The river changed course, and today the land is a desert  Archaeologists have uncovered many artifacts at Ur

 Some Sumerian cities grew into city- states, which led to an early civilization in Mesopotamia  The Sumerians had an advanced government, economy, and society  The discoveries at Ur show much about how the Sumerians lived.