Warm-Up
Write at least two sentences about the
topics listed below.
Map Skills
Five Themes of Geography
Unite Title:
Students will be able to…
Locate and label various places on a map.
 City of UR
Taurus Mountains
 City of Uruk
Zagros Mountains
 City of Babylon
Persian Gulf
 Tigris River
Syrian Desert
 Euphrates River
Arabian Desert
Mesopotamia
Students will be able to…
 List the natural barriers that
surrounds Mesopotamia.
 Locate various places on a map
of the Middle East.
 Define the term Mesopotamia.
Materials needed for today’s
lesson.
Unlabeled Map
RULES FOR TODAY’S
LESSON
 Follow Directions
 Raise Your Hand Before
Speaking Or Leaving Your Seat
 Respect Your Classmates and
Your Teacher
 Keep Hands, Feet, And Objects
to Yourself
What are natural
barriers?
List the natural barriers
around Mesopotamia.
Natural barriers around
Mesopotamia
• Zagros Mountains
 Taurus Mountains
 Persian Gulf
 Arabian Desert
 Syrian Desert
 Tigris River
 Euphrates River
 Mediterranean Sea
Red Sea
Warm-Up
9/24/2013
Where did the
earliest civilization
develop?
Answer… to the warm-up

Mesopotamia
Geography of the Fertile
Crescent
Why is Mesopotamia called The Fertile
Crescent???
Geography of the Fertile
Crescent
Why is Mesopotamia called The Fertile
Crescent???
Fertile Crescent
 Large area of fertile land that stretched from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
Mesopotamia
Land between two
rivers.
Mesopotamia’s location
Lay between the
Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
How did Mesopotamia’s location
shaped its development.
Because it was near the
rivers, Mesopotamia’s
land was fertile and
people established
farming communities.
Tigris River
 A river that flowed along the
northeast boundary of
Mesopotamia.
Why was the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers important?
It provided water for
irrigation
It provided water for fish
It provided water for food
Euphrates River
 A river that flowed along the
southwest boundary of
Mesopotamia.
Ancient Mesopotamia…
 Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow
into the Persian Gulf.
 Could the Persian Gulf flow into
the Tigris and the Euphrates
Rivers???
Mesopotamia was mostly in the same area
as modern day Iraq.
Two Empires of Mesopotamia