The Tigris and Euphrates: Rivers of the Fertile Crescent

by Gary Miller

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers surround a region once known as Mesopotamia, the "cradle" of ancient civilizations that included Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. This fascinating book follows both rivers from where they begin in Turkey, travel down through northern Syria and Iraq, and join to form the Shatt al Arab before emptying into the Persian Gulf. Historically, the Tigris and the Euphrates supplied water for farming of the surrounding plain. Today, the region's economy still depends on the rivers for irrigation and electricity, but the building of canals, dikes, and dams is a threat to natural habitats and wildlife. Tension between countries competing for water is also an issue.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

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Reviews

[Sijal]

This nonfiction book "The Tigress and the Euphrates: Rivers of the Fertile Crescent" written by Garry Millers is an informative book about the Tigress and Euphrates rivers, and the land in between called Mesopotamia. This these two rivers are a part of some of the unusual environments because all around these two rivers and deserts. The reason for this is because the water comes from the rain and melted snow from the mountains of Turkey. These two rivers are the only way why one of the first civilizations in about 10,000 B.C. could strive in this hot and dry environment, and there were several different kingdoms in this area including Sumer, Babylonia, Akkad, and Assyria. They all shared the important resource they had, which were these two rivers that mainly helped in growing crops and irrigating them, but they also raised animals nearby and caught fish. Since, Mesopotamians had what they needed in order to live they started to develop by creating new cities, having new achievements like inventing the wheel or writing on tablets. Even people to this day depend on these two sources of water because not only does it provide water, it also provides electricity because several dams were constructed, so that the water forms a reservoir and goes through a channel that spins turbines that are connected to a generator that creates that electricity. However, recently the weather patterns have changed in the area of Mesopotamia, and people are afraid that will affect how much water they get, plus with the increase in population, it might be a problem. Furthermore, the dams of the countries living by these two rivers slow the current with their dams, which causes a threat to people who live downstream. As one can see, the Tigress and Euphrates rivers are what started one of the first civilizations on Earth, and they are still valuable up to this day, but if people don’t take proper care and use of it, these rivers might not be as much help anymore.

"The Tigress and the Euphrates Rivers of the Fertile Crescent" written by Garry Millers is an interesting book, and it is clearly a nonfiction book because it contains historical facts and accurate information about the important civilization that lived in Mesopotamia and the rivers there. For example, the book explains precisely what civilizations took advantage of these rivers, where these rivers pass and how the civilizations of Mesopotamia developed thanks to the rivers.  In addition, many of my friends would enjoy these types of books with history about the first types of a trade like bartering, or the first inventions like the wheel, or the first civilizations. This book provides a good number of examples of the history of these civilizations, with photos, facts, and how resources were used. For example, Sumerians always used these rivers to get water, food, and to trade, so these rivers were used to their best abilities. Furthermore, I enjoyed learning about how the counties that had these rivers flow by or through them argued with each other because it was kind of illogical of disputing about which parts of the rivers belongs to who because they could all share it and try to agree with each other. However, the most interesting part was the fact that two rivers in the middle of a desert were able to start off a whole civilization that is still striving today. This is because of the mountains of Turkey that caused these rivers, so because of those mountains humans and civilization could develop. Moreover, the topic of this book is important because it explains a period in history where civilizations depended on just two rivers to get what they needed in order to stay alive. Since they used what they had to their advantage they were able to obtain water, catch food, trade because they could travel on boats, and also arrive at places faster. In brief, I found this nonfiction book to be somewhat interesting because of its facts, and the topic of this book is certainly important to share with people who do not know about the Tigress and Euphrates rivers that helped one of the first civilizations evolve.


I would recommend this book to middle schoolers, especially those who like books about history, civilizations, environments, and resources on Earth. This book could also be a good reference for social study class if they are studying about the early civilizations in the world like the Mesopotamians because it is brief and has accurate facts. People who are trying to find how ancient civilizations lived can just browse through the book and learn about some of the resources and inventions used to become a better civilization. However, " The Tigress and the Euphrates Rivers of the Fertile Crescent" can also be good for other readers who are just interested in finding out more information about the people that had to live in harsh conditions and use what they have like two rivers. It is also a short and fun book to read that includes interesting photos, with colors, with descriptions at the bottom of the picture, and this helps the readers to picture the information given. This can also allow almost anyone with an amateur level to read this book and have fun learning about it because of its simple facts and pictures. On the other hand, I would not recommend it to people who don’t enjoy historical books about civilizations and geography. To sum up, people can find this book interesting if they enjoy books ancient civilizations and inventions or this book could be utilized for research only.