Middle East Geography Fertile Crescent A geographical area

Middle East Geography

Fertile Crescent • A geographical area of fertile land in the Middle East stretching in a broad semicircle from the Nile to the Tigris and Euphrates

River Culture • Cultures that were dependent on the flooding of a river to sustain their agriculture.

Agriculture • Large scale cultivation of crops to sustain and enhance human life. The birthplace is located in northeastern Iraq.

Irrigation • A way of supplying water to an area of land • Farmers in ancient Sumer grew imported crops like barley (grain) in land without much rainfall. Canals and ditches were built to redirect water.

Tigris River • A river that ran through Sumer and provided resources for the early civilization of the Mesopotamians.

Euphrates River • A river in southwestern Asia that flows through the southern part of the Fertile Crescent • Today

Zagros Mountains • Mountains on the western side of Iran that help isolate that country from the rest of Southwest Asia.

Syrian Desert • A desert in Southwest Asia covering much of the Arabian Peninsula between the Mediterranean coast and the Euphrates River.

Persian Gulf • Also called Arabian Gulf, it is shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran.

Taurus Mountains • Where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers begin, they separate Turkey from the rest of Southwest Asia