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The Fertile Crescent

By Joshua J. Mark
2009

The Fertile Crescent is an area in Middle East that was the site of numerous cultural, scientific, and political
developments in ancient history, leading some scholars to refer to the area as the birthplace, or “cradle” of
civilization. In this summary, author Joshua J. Mark explores the key cultural achievements that emerged
from this region in ancient history. As you read, take notes on the discoveries and advances of the
civilization in the Fertile Crescent.

[1] The Fertile Crescent is the region in the Middle

East that curves, in a quarter-moon shape, from
the Persian Gulf through modern-day southern
Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and northern
Egypt. The term was first coined in 1916 by the
Egyptologist James Henry Breasted in his work
Ancient Times: A History of the Early World. His
1
phrase was widely circulated through the
publications of the day becoming, finally, the
2
common designation for this region. The Fertile
Crescent is traditionally associated (in Jewish, "Mesopotamia" by R. Stiller is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Christian and Muslim faiths) with the earthly
3
location of the Garden of Eden.

Cradle of Civilization
4
Known as the Cradle of Civilization, the Fertile Crescent is regarded as the birthplace of agriculture,
5
urbanization, writing, trade, science, history, and organized religion and was first populated around
6
10,000 B.C. when agriculture and the domestication of animals began in the region. By 9,000 B.C. the
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cultivation of wild grains and cereals was widespread and, by 5,000 B.C., irrigation of agricultural crops
were fully developed. By 4,500 B.C. the cultivation of wool-bearing sheep was practiced widely. The first
cities began to rise (Eridu, the first, according to the Sumerians, in 5,400 B.C., then Uruk and the others)
around 4.500 B.C. and cultivation of wheat and grains was practiced, in addition to the further
domestication of animals (by the year 3,500 B.C. the image of the breed of dog known as the Saluki
was appearing regularly on vases and other ceramics as well as wall paintings). The unusually fertile
soil of the region encouraged the further cultivation of wheat as well as rye, barley, and legumes. Some
of the earliest beer in the world was brewed in the great cities along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
(the most ancient evidence of beer brewing coming from the Sumerian Godin Tepe settlement in
modern-day Iran). From 3,400 B.C., the priests (who were earlier the rulers of the cities) were
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responsible for the distribution of food and the careful monitoring of surplus for trade.

1. Circulate (verb): to spread from one place to another

2. Designate (verb): to officially choose
3. The Garden of Eden is the place where God created the first man and woman in the creation story referred to in the
Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths.
4. Agriculture (noun): farming to produce crops
5. Urbanization (noun): a population shift from rural to areas to cities

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 The “Promised Land”
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By 2,300 B.C., soap was produced from tallow and ash and was in wide use. Personal hygiene was
valued in relation to one’s standing within one’s community and with the gods. Attention to one’s
person in terms of hygiene was stressed in that human beings were thought to have been created as
help-mates to the gods, and so should make themselves presentable in the performance of their
duties (this was especially so for the Priestly Class). From 2,334-2,279 B.C., Sargon of Akkad (Sargon the
Great) ruled over the first multicultural empire in Mesopotamia, allowing for the growth of great
building projects, art works, and religious literature (such as the hymns to Inanna by Sargon’s daughter,
Enheduanna). By 2,000 B.C., Babylon controlled the Fertile Crescent and the region saw advances in
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law (Hammurabi’s famous code ), literature (The Epic of Gilgamesh, among other works), religion (the
development of the Babylonian pantheon of the gods), science, and math. From 1,900-1,400 B.C. trade
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with Europe, Egypt, Phoenicia, and the Indian subcontinent was flourishing , resulting in the spread of
12
literacy, culture, and religion to these regions. It is speculated that it was in either 1,900 or around
13
1,750 B.C. that the biblical patriarch Abraham left his native city of Ur for the “promised land,”
carrying the tales and legends of Mesopotamia with him to in time appear, transformed, as biblical
narratives. If it was not, in fact, Abraham, it was certainly someone like him, as there are many parallels
between stories such as the Myth of Adapa and the Book of Genesis’ tale of the Fall, as well as the
Mesopotamian Atrahasis and Noah’s Flood.

Changing Empires
The region changed hands many times through the ages. By 600 B.C. the Assyrians controlled the
Fertile Crescent and, by 580, the Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire under Nebuchadnezzar II ruled the
region. In 539 B.C. Babylon fell to the Cyrus the Great after the Battle of Opis and the lands fell under
the control of the Achaemenid Empire (also known as The First Persian Empire). Alexander the Great
invaded the area in 334 B.C. and, after him, it was ruled by the Parthians, among others, until the
coming of Rome in 116 A.D. After the short-lived Roman annexation and occupation, the region was
conquered by the Sassanid Persians (circa 226 A.D.) and, finally, by the Arabian Muslims in the 7th
century A.D.

[5] By this time the glorious achievements of the early cities that grew up beside the Tigris and Euphrates
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Rivers had long been disseminated throughout the ancient world. But the cities themselves were
15
mostly in ruins through the destruction caused by the many military conquests in the region, as well
16
as natural causes such as earthquakes and fire. Rampant urbanization and overuse of the land also
17
resulted in the decline and eventual abandonment of the cities of the Fertile Crescent. The city of
Eridu, considered by the early Mesopotamians to be the first city on earth, built and inhabited by the
gods, had been abandoned since 600 B.C. Meanwhile Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh, was abandoned by
630 A.D. and Babylon, the city that gave writing, law, and culture to the ancient world (but whose name
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the writers of the biblical narratives would link forever with sin and evil) was a vacant ruin.

6. Domesticate (verb): to tame an animal

7. Irrigate (verb): to supply an area with water by diverting it from other places (through pipes or channels)
8. Surplus (noun): the amount of money you have leftover after buying and selling products
9. Hygiene (noun): maintaining health and preventing disease through cleanliness
10. Hammurabi’s Code was the code of law used in ancient Mesopotamian civilization, and one of the oldest examples of
written law ever discovered.
11. Flourish (verb): to develop very successfully
12. Speculate (verb): to form an opinion with little evidence and without solid proof that it is true
13. Patriarch (noun): a man in charge of a family or group of people

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The Fertile Crescent Today
In 2001 A.D., National Geographic News reported that the Fertile Crescent was rapidly becoming so
only in name because of extensive damming of the rivers as well as a massive draining works program
initiated in southern Iraq from the 1970s on. The fertile marshlands that once covered 15,000 – 20,000
square kilometers (5,800 – 7,700 square miles) had shrunk to a mere 1,500 – 2,000 square kilometers
(580 – 770 square miles). Environmental groups and regional farmers plead governments of Iraq, Syria,
and Turkey to stop the damming and drainage projects, but were ignored. The situation worsened so
that, presently, the region which once was the lush paradise and cradle of civilization largely consists of
dry, cracked plains of sunbaked clay.

"The Fertile Crescent" from Ancient History Encyclopedia by Joshua J. Mark. Copyright © 2009 by Ancient History Encyclopedia. This text is
licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

14. Disseminate (verb): to spread news widely

15. Conquest (noun): land that is taken through military force
16. Rampant (adjective): increasing uncontrollably
17. Abandon (verb): to give up completely or leave
18. Vacant (adjective): empty