Fertile Crescent
Civilization's original nursery
The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, arcing from the Persian Gulf through modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine to the Nile Valley.
The area's rich soil and reliable water sources made it the birthplace of agriculture and early civilizations around 10,000 BCE.
The term appears in discussions of ancient history and the origins of settled human society.
Western Asian river
- EuphratesMajor Iraqi river
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- MesopotamiaTigris-Euphrates river region
- AnatoliaWestern Asian peninsula
Persian Gulf · Syria · Iraq · Jordan · Israel · Palestine · Lebanon · river valley
Tigris
Western Asian river
- EuphratesMajor Iraqi river
- LevantEastern Mediterranean coastal region
- MesopotamiaTigris-Euphrates river region
Anatolia · Persian Gulf · Syria · Iraq · Jordan · Israel · Palestine · Lebanon · river valley · arid
irrigation
Artificial water supply for agriculture
- wheatCereal crop for flour
- barleyGrain for malt
- domesticationAdapting species to captivity
crops · silt · farming · cultivation · plow · harvest · granary · livestock · emmer · lentils
Sumer
Ancient southern Mesopotamia
- BabylonAncient Mesopotamian capital
- AssyriaAncient Mesopotamian empire
- UrEarly Mesopotamian metropolis
Nineveh · Phoenicia · Hittites · Gilgamesh · Hammurabi · Nebuchadnezzar · Sargon · Marduk · Ishtar · cuneiform
- AsiaChina, India, Japan, Thailand, Korea
- Middle EastIraq, Baghdad, Cairo, Iran, Jordan
- history educationhistorian, history textbooks, textbook, history teachers, primary source
- World RegionsEurope, Asia, Africa, Australia, Oceania
- IraqBaghdad, Basra, Mosul, Fallujah, Kurdistan
- MesopotamiaBabylon, Sumer, Tigris, Mesopotamia, Euphrates
Fertile Crescentdesert
To leave behind completely
Sahara Desert · Arabian Desert · badlands · Gobi Desert · Death Valley
Fertile Crescentwasteland
Uninhabitable barren region
Sahara · arid zone · parched earth · no man's land · dust bowl
Fertile Crescentterra incognita
Unexplored or unknown region
hinterland · outback · backwater · wilderness · no man's land
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