Fertile Crescent

(noun)

A crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia, and the Nile Valley and Nile Delta of northeast Africa. Often called the cradle of civilization.

Related Terms

(noun)

Also known as the Cradle of Civilization, the Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of Western Asia, the Nile Valley, and the Nile Delta. 

Related Terms

Examples of Fertile Crescent in the following topics:

  • River Valley Civilizations

    • The most notable examples are the Ancient Egyptians, who were based on the Nile, the Mesopotamians in the Fertile Crescent on the Tigris/Euphrates rivers, the Ancient Chinese on the Yellow River, and the Ancient India on the Indus.
    • Rivers were attractive locations for the first civilizations because they provided a steady supply of drinking water and made the land fertile for growing crops.

  • The Phoenicians

    • Phoenicia was an ancient Semitic civilization situated on the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent near modern-day Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and Syria.

  • The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

    • Around 6000 BCE, Neolithic settlements began to appear in great number in this area, likely as migrants from the Fertile Crescent returned to the area.

  • The Neolithic Revolution

    • The beginning of the Neolithic Revolution in different regions has been dated from perhaps 8,000 BCE in the Kuk Early Agricultural Site of Melanesia Kuk to 2,500 BCE in Subsaharan Africa, with some considering the developments of 9,000-7,000 BCE in the Fertile Crescent to be the most important.
    • The Hilly Flanks hypothesis, proposed by Robert Braidwood in 1948, suggests that agriculture began in the hilly flanks of the Taurus and Zagros mountains, where the climate was not drier, as Childe had believed, and that fertile land supported a variety of plants and animals amenable to domestication.

  • Spread of Islam

    • The objective of the conquests was of a practical nature more than anything else, as fertile land and water were scarce in the Arabian Peninsula.
    • One is animists and polytheists of tribal societies of the Arabian Peninsula and the Fertile crescent; the other is the monotheistic populations of the Middle Eastern agrarian and urbanized societies.

  • Charles Martel and Pepin the Short

    • In summing up the man, Gibbon wrote that Charles was "the hero of the age," whereas Guerard described him as being the "champion of the Cross against the Crescent."

  • The Nazca

    • These pyramid-like structures and plazas, situated in the  lower part of the Nazca Valley, served as important spaces for fertility and agricultural rituals.
    • Likely related to the arid and extreme nature of the environment, Nazca religious beliefs were based upon agriculture and fertility.

  • The Evolution of Humans

    • Humans have reduced sexual dimorphism, or differences between males and females, and hidden estrus, which means the female is fertile year-round and shows no special sign of fertility.

  • The Mythical Period

    • The Yellow River and the Huai and Yangtze Rivers, created fertile land, ripe for experimentation with agriculture.

  • The Zapotec

    • These deities, along with many others, centered around concepts of fertility and agriculture.
    • It is likely that the Zapotec practiced human sacrifices to these gods of fertility, along with playing elaborate and ritualistic ball games in the court at Monte Albán.