Fertile Crescent
Taurus Mts.
Tigris
Zagros Mts.
Mediterranean Sea
Euphrates
Persian Gulf
Nile
Around 4000 B.C. Egyptian farm communities were growing along the Nile River in
Africa. Another civilization was also developing in a vast region to the northeast. This region, in
western Asia, was later called the Fertile Crescent. A crescent shape looks like a quarter moon. It
covers the present-day countries of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. The Fertile Crescent extends
from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
Much of this land was either mountains or desert. Parts of the Fertile Crescent, however,
were lush and green. Two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, made life in these areas possible.
Like the Nile in Egypt, these rivers affected the people living along the banks. Mesopotamia is
the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Like the Nile River, the flooding of the two
rivers brought water and silt to the region.
1. Is Mesopotamia larger or smaller than the Fertile Crescent? How do you know?
2. What mountain ranges lies east of the Fertile Crescent?
3. If the two rivers flow in a southeast direction, which mountain range do the rivers begin
in?
4. How is Mesopotamia similar to ancient Egypt?
5. How do you think Mesopotamians adapted to their environment like ancient Egyptians?