The agricultural revolution that took hold around 10,000 B.C.E. spread rapidly through the Fertile Crescent, reaching its zenith in the lush alluvial plains of ancient Mesopotamia. Wedged between the legendary rivers of creation, the Tigris and the Euphrates, in what is today known as Iraq and Syria, Mesopotamia (meaning “between two rivers” in Greek) benefited from a temperate climate and periodic flooding, which created a mineral-rich environment ripe for agricultural growth.
