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Summary: Mesopotamia
Civilization developed in Mesopotamia simultaneously with Egypt and the two are often called the 'Fertile Crescent'. The Fertile Crescent is a rich food-growing area in a part of the world where most of the land is too dry for farming. Some of the best farmland if the fertile crescent is a narrow strip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Greeks later called this region Mesopotamia, which means Between The Rivers Many Different Civilizations developed in this small region.In Mesopotamia the rain were seasonal in this area, which meant that the land flooded in the winter and spring and water was scarce at other times.Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. In ancient times, many resources in Mesopotamia were scarce or absent, which stimulated trade within the region and beyond. Supported by lucrative trade with its neighbors, Mesopotamia grew to become a powerful empire.

In Mesopotamia, irrigation was essential for crop production. The rivers were higher than the surrounding plain because of built-up silt in the river beds, so water for irrigation flowed into the fields by gravity. Once the water was on the fields, it could not readily drain away because the fields were lower than the river. As the water evaporated, it not only left its dissolved mineral salts behind, but also drew salts upward from lower levels of the soil. Over time, the soil became toxic and would no longer support crops. By about 2300 B.C., agricultural production in Mesopotamia was reduced to a tiny fraction of what it had been. Many fields were abandoned as essentially useless. Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets tell of crop damage due to salts.