Geography Of The Fertile Crescent - 1835 Words

Six thousand years ago, two rivers flowed from the mountains and down through Syria and Iraq, and finally to the Persian Gulf, and provided the lifeblood that allowed the formation of farming settlements. Geography of the Fertile Crescent In the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea, which is dominated by a desert climate, is an arc of land that provides some of the best farming in Southwest Asia, which is called the Fertile Crescent. Fertile Plains In between where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow in the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent, is called the Mesopotamia (Greek for â€Å"land between the rivers†). At least once a year the rivers flooded Mesopotamia, as the water receded it left a thick bed of silt. In†¦show more content†¦The second disadvantage was that Sumer was a small region, and so the protection of the village was hard. The third and final disadvantage was that the natural resources of Sumer were extremely limited. Creating Solutions Over time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with the problems/disadvantages. To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to the fields, and allowed them to provide a surplus of crops. To defend the city/village, they built city walls with mud bricks. Then they traded with the people of the mountains and the desert for the products they lacked. They would trade their grain, cloth, and crafted tools for the stone, wood, and metal they needed to make tools and buildings. It took many people working together, like for the large irrigation systems. Leaders planned the projects and supervise the digging. The projects created the need for laws to settle disputes over how land and water was distributed. This was the beginning of an organized government. Sumerians Create City-States The Sumerians stand out in history as one of the first groups of people to form a civilization. The five key characteristics that set Sumer apart from oth er early human societies are advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. By 3000 B.C. the Sumerians had built a number of cities, each surrounded by fields of barley and wheat. They all had the