首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Sumerian Contributions P1: Before about 4500 B.C., lower Mesopotamia, the whole plain between and on either side of the Tigris a
Sumerian Contributions P1: Before about 4500 B.C., lower Mesopotamia, the whole plain between and on either side of the Tigris a
admin
2018-10-18
27
问题
Sumerian Contributions
P1: Before about 4500 B.C., lower Mesopotamia, the whole plain between and on either side of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was much less densely populated than other inhabited regions of the Near and Middle East. Each year the two great rivers were swollen with the winter snows of the northern mountains, and each year at flood stage they spread a thick layer of immensely fertile silt across the flood plain where they approached the Persian Gulf. But without domestic animals and beasts, this swampy delta was not suited to the primitive hoe-centric tilling culture of early agriculture. Besides, the Tigris-Euphrates plain lacked minerals and trees. However, it was in this unpromising area, between 3500 and 3000 B. C, that agricultural settlers created a wealth of city-states that constituted Sumer, of which the best known is Ur. The Sumerians appeared at the dawn of history as a fully developed society with a technology and organization that was distinct from and superior to other societies of the time. Even civilization itself seems to have stemmed from this alien and mysterious people.
P2: This delta, a land of swamps rich in fish, wildlife, and date palms, was the most challenging and rewarding of the three natural units into which the river valleys were divided. Reasons for their being challenging lie in that the rivers not only sustained life, but they also destroyed it with frequent floods that ravaged entire cities. Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for crops, portions of land farther from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. Therefore, the development of drainage and irrigation systems was essential for Sumerians to harness the full productivity of this land,which in turn required a large and well-disciplined workforce, as well as skilled management and supervision—the latter were supplied by a class of priests and warriors who ruled a large population of peasants and artisans.
P3: The economy that sustained the people of Sumer relied on agriculture and trade. To support agriculture, Sumerians created sophisticated water transport systems that would both irrigate crops during dry periods and control flooding during the spring. This water management enabled them to build up a food surplus for trading. They exchanged barley and wheat to supplement a scarcity of stone and lumber, as well as copper and bronze, thereby contributing to the diffusion of Sumerian civilization. In Sumerian cities, stone imported by sea through the Persian Gulf from Oman and downriver from the mountains of Anatolia and the Caucasus had to complete with imported copper, and the latter proved more economical and effective for a variety of uses. Sumerians would have plowed with stone and cut with clay sickles, and went on to using metal plows with the development of metal-working skills.
P4: One of the greatest accomplishments of the Sumerian people was the invention of a writing system, likely growing out of commercial record keeping. Each Sumerian city rose up around the shrine of a local god. As a reflection of a city’s wealth, its temple became an elaborate structure. Both economic and religious organizations centered on the temple of the local patron deity, represented by a priestly hierarchy, in which a corporation run by priests became the greatest landowners among the Sumerians. Common Sumerians remained illiterate and without power, while kings, once elected by common people, became monarchs. Common people were obliged to pay taxes to the government in the form of a percentage of their crops, which the city could either sell or use to feed its soldiers and others it supported. In order to keep records of the sources and uses of this tribute, simple pictographs on clay tablets appeared sometime before 3000 B.C. By about 2800 B.C., the pictographs had been stylized into the system of writing known as cuneiform, a distinctive characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization. It is one of the few examples in history of a significant innovation from a bureaucratic organization.
P5: Whether the Sumerians were the first to develop writing is uncertain, but theirs is the oldest known system of writing. The clay tablets on which they wrote were very durable when baked. Archaeologists have dug up many thousands of them—some dated earlier than 3000 B.C. The cuneiform texts recorded messages and historical events as well as commercial transactions. They evolved into producing written sagas such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world’s oldest surviving literary work.
P4: One of the greatest accomplishments of the Sumerian people was the invention of a writing system, likely growing out of commercial record keeping. Each Sumerian city rose up around the shrine of a local god. As a reflection of a city’s wealth, its temple became an elaborate structure. ■ Both economic and religious organizations centered on the temple of the local patron deity, represented by a priestly hierarchy, in which a corporation run by priests became the greatest landowners among the Sumerians. ■ Common Sumerians remained illiterate and without power, while kings, once elected by common people, became monarchs. ■ Common people were obliged to pay taxes to the government in the form of a percentage of their crops, which the city could either sell or use to feed its soldiers and others it supported. ■ In order to keep records of the sources and uses of this tribute, simple pictographs on clay tablets appeared sometime before 3000 B.C. By about 2800 B.C., the pictographs had been stylized into the system of writing known as cuneiform, a distinctive characteristic of Mesopotamian civilization. It is one of the few examples in history of a significant innovation from a bureaucratic organization.
According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of the soil in lower Mesopotamia?
选项
A、It was relatively unfertile until humans added other, richer types of soil to it.
B、It reached full productivity only when elaborate drainage and irrigation systems were added.
C、Its most valuable nutrients were washed away by the spring floods of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
D、Its silt was removed by a large, well-disciplined workforce.
答案
B
解析
【事实信息题】末句提到如果苏美尔人想要让这块土地物尽其用的话,发展排水以及灌溉系统是非常重要的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/VwfO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOaspectsdidthenewrulesattheendofthe19thcenturyfocuson?AcooperationBcompetitio
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.HOUSERENTALExampleAnswerName:Ma
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.HistoryofweatherforecastingE
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.HistoryofweatherforecastingE
Choosethecorrectletter,A,BorC.LabelsgivingnutritionalinformationonfoodpackagingJackprefersthedailyvaluesyst
Whatdidthewomanfinddifficultaboutthedifferentresearchtechniquessheused?ChooseFIVEanswersfromtheboxandwritet
BeforeyoulistenLookatthetaskbelow.Trytoworkoutthesituationfromthetask.Whataretheytalkingabout?Whyarethey
A、Whystarsmovesoquickly.B、Whyfewstarshaveplanets.C、Whystarsaren’tmovingtowardoneanother.D、Whystarshaven’tmov
"WeatherandChaoticSystems"Scientiststodayhaveaverygoodunderstandingofthephysicallawsandmathematicalequatio
WATERANDLIFEONMARS1Thepresenceorabsenceofwaterhasadirectbearingonthepossibilityoflifeonotherplanets.In
随机试题
某市环保局应当地居民的举报对排放烟尘超标的某化工厂作出了处罚5万元的行政处罚,并责令其限期整改。化工厂对环保局的行政处罚决定不服,向法院提起诉讼。诉讼期间,原告找到被告要求协商解决,被告同意,遂变更了原来的处罚决定,对原告只加收两倍的排污费。原告向法院申请
神经递质的信息传递方式A.突触分泌B.旁分泌C.内分泌D.自分泌E.外分泌
企业的加权平均资本成本指的是
甲公司2015年发现2013年有笔实际资产损失10万元在当年未扣除,已知甲公司2013年应纳税所得额为8万元,2014年应纳税所得额为3万元,2015年应纳税所得额为12万元,甲公司将上述损失在2015年进行资产损失申报,该公司2015年实际应缴纳的企业所
现有关系表:学生(宿舍编号,宿舍地址,学号,姓名,性别,专业,出生日期),它的主键是()。
不仅人上了年纪会难以集中注意力,就连蜘蛛也有类似的情况。年轻蜘蛛结的网整齐均匀,角度完美;年老蜘蛛结的网可能出现缺口,形状怪异。蜘蛛越老,结的网就越没有章法。科学家由此认为,随着时间的流逝,这种动物的大脑也会像人脑一样退化。以下哪项如果为真,最能质疑科学家
Inmostcultures,whenyoumeetacquaintancesforthefirsttimeduringaday,itisnormaltogreetthem.Themainpurposeoft
WhatdidHelenrecentlypass?
Somefindingsareissuedrecentlyaboutattendingacommunitycollege.Mostworkerswhohavea【C1】______fromacommunitycollege
A--trafficregulationB--guidepostC--trafficlightD--trafficpoliceE--safet
最新回复
(
0
)