Fertile Crescent

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A Dictionary of World History

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

Fertile Crescent

Fertile Crescent historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the east by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and includes all or parts of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. From antiquity this region was the site of settlements and the scene of bloody raids and invasions.

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Fertile Crescent

A Dictionary of World History | 2000 | Â© A Dictionary of World History 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Fertile Crescent The fertile land stretching from the Mediterranean coast of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel down the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Persian Gulf. The expression was coined by the archaeologist James H. Breasted to describe that part of the Middle East that formed the cradle of early civilizations such as the Assyrian, Sumerian, Phoenician, Babylonian, Hittite, and Hebrew. Archaeological evidence confirms the existence of agricultural communities in the area by 8000 BC.

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Fertile crescent. (economic relationship between Alaska and the Puget Sound region) Magazine article from: Alaska Business Monthly; 3/1/1998
	The League of Nations and the question of national identity in the Fertile Crescent.(Wilson and the League of Nations, part 2) Magazine article from: World Affairs; 6/22/1995
	Do not cry for the Crescent City.(Life in America) Magazine article from: USA Today (Magazine); 1/1/2006

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	Fertile crescent. (economic relationship between Alaska and the Puget Sound region) Magazine article from: Alaska Business Monthly; 3/1/1998; ; 700+ words ; ...spoken word. Historians have dubbed the region the fertile crescent. Written communication was probably the most dramatic...personal computer indispensable. Today, the world's fertile crescent lies along the shoreline of Puget Sound; the traditional... Read more
	The League of Nations and the question of national identity in the Fertile Crescent.(Wilson and the League of Nations, part 2) Magazine article from: World Affairs; 6/22/1995; ; 700+ words ; ...particularly in the area of the Fertile Crescent (present-day Syria, Lebanon...between these two processes in the Fertile Crescent generated a distinctive and...OF POPULAR NATIONALISM IN THE FERTILE CRESCENT Nationalism in the Fertile Crescent... Read more
	Do not cry for the Crescent City.(Life in America) Magazine article from: USA Today (Magazine); 1/1/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...then to the south at the western suburbs, forms a perfect crescent around downtown, makes one more bend north before winding its way southeast through the fertile land and waters of Plaquemines Parish and spilling into the Gulf. New Orleans is called the Crescent City because of her relation to the ... Read more
	Deserts advancing, civilization retreating. (Environmental Watch).(from Earth Policy Institute website, March 27, 2003)(Reprint) Magazine article from: The Humanist; 7/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...Rivers--part of the legendary Fertile Crescent. There they developed a sophisticated...invented the wheel. Yet the Fertile Crescent as now seen in press coverage...Iraq appears to be anything but fertile. Strong winds ripping across... Read more
	A return to the marshes? The wetlands of Iraq and the Marsh Arabs that lived there were a source of fascination and inspiration for centuries until, in an act of barbarism, former president Saddam Hussein ordered that they should be drained. Now, an exciting new plan aims to reclaim areas of the devastated wetlands and attempt to return them to their former glory.(MOSAIC) Magazine article from: The Middle East; 11/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; ...organisations have announced a plan to designate the Fertile Crescent of Iraq a World Heritage Site. It is the largest wetland...around the world. The fragile wetland ecosystem of the Crescent was systematically degraded in a sustained and relentless... Read more
	A king's tale. Magazine article from: Mississippi Magazine; 9/1/2008; ; 700+ words ; [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A distinct crescent-shaped area can be seen on maps of Mississippi...thousands of years, it contains some of the most fertile soil in the world. It is also fertile ground for the original music form it spawned, and... Read more
	Mobilizing to Combat Global Warming. Magazine article from: World Watch; 3/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; Homo sapiens has always altered its immediate environment. For example, ancient farmers converted the Fertile Crescent--the fabled Babylon--into the desert wastes of Iraq. But only in the last few decades have we had the capacity to literally change... Read more
	The wonderful world of Disney (again!): Eisner, Ovitz ... and Chandler. Lessons from a 'wild ride.'.(QUIDDITIES) Magazine article from: Directors & Boards; 9/22/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...Walt Disney Co. for a simple reason: That organization is, for a governance commentator, not just lush soil, but the Fertile Crescent, the Nile River valley, and the Indus River valley, combined. In a relatively short span, the wonderful world of... Read more
	Brooklyn storefronts.(Brief article)(Book review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 8/1/2008; 109 words ; ...95 Paperback F129 The Caribe Barber Shop in Williamsburg, Philomena Religious Supplies in East Flatbush, and the Fertile Crescent Grocer in Boerum Hill are among the subjects of photographer Lacy's nearly pocket-sized volume immortalizing the... Read more
	Political Handbook of the Middle East 2006.(Brief Article)(Book Review) Magazine article from: Reference & Research Book News; 8/1/2006; 124 words ; ...JQ1758 This first volume in a series of political guides modeled after the Political Handbook of the World covers the Fertile Crescent, the Arabian Peninsula, the Nile Valley, and the Maghreb. The governments of 24 entities are described in unsigned... Read more