The Mesopotamian plain, part of the fertile crescent, was the perfect environment with abundant water for civilization to flourish. An advanced tribal culture developed here, long before Egypt, Greece and Rome. Tribes into settlements and settlements into towns. 3000 BC, The invention of the wheel, plow, the development of the state as a way of organizing political life. By 2900 BC the patchwork of Mesopotamia's 30 or so city states hardly comprised a cohesive empire. Each had it's own king and a patron god or goddess. A competing area of fertile fields. Rival cities created alliances to bolster independence or to conquer neighbors. The distances between them were all quite small and because irrigated lands were so valuable, the cities were constantly at war for very small advantages.
The Fertile Crescent served as the cradle of civilization for several reasons, one very major: The Agriculture. Agriculture served to be a turning point in civilization of man. It allowed man to stop moving around nomadically, and settle down in a single place, with more than just a steady supply of food. It allowed them to have a surplus, it allowed them to expand population. From tribes, to villages, to towns, to cities, to vast empires conquering the land between Egypt and Syria. The land of Mesopotamia was considered the world's most valuable. Situated comfortably between the Tigris and Euphrates' rivers, agriculture was a primary basis of Mesopotamian food. The farmers had to rely on irrigation, as rainfall was very irregular. Due to the sprawling of civilization, however, people were now allowed to have specialized jobs -- Businessmen, soldiers, artisans, and so forth. They each specialized in their own field, allowing for the advancements of technology, without so much concern on food, as there was in the past, when gathering-hunting was the only food source. Of course, with all the agriculture, meat was still an important part of the diet- with domesticated animals. |