WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Food Surpluses Irrigation increased the amount of food farmers were able to grow. In fact, farmers could produce a food surplus, or more than they needed. Farmers also used irrigation to water grazing areas for cattle and sheep. As a result, Mesopotamians ate a variety of foods.

Detailed explanation-2: -agrarian surplus-The production of more crops and other food than immediately needed. One key to how a civilization develops specialized roles and a division of labor. The society that produces food in surplus can afford to have a class of people who don’t need to farm.

Detailed explanation-3: -Mesopotamia, 4000-3500 B.C. Meaning “between two rivers” in Greek, Mesopotamia (located in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria) is considered the birthplace of civilization.

Detailed explanation-4: -To succeed in growing food, they needed a way to control the water so they would have a reliable water supply all year round. So, Sumerian farmers began to create irrigation systems to provide water for their fields. They built earth walls, called levees, along the sides of the river to prevent flooding.