Mesopotamia

People in the Fertile Crescent began farming and living in small villages. The next stage of growth and development allowed small Neolithic villages to grow into large, complex cities.

These villages were located in a land of rolling hills and low plains called Mesopotamia. This land is in modern-day Iraq. Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means the “land between the rivers.” These two main rivers of the Fertile Crescent are the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. Cities first appeared in the southern part of this land.

You are a farmer in Southwest Asia about 6,000 years ago.

You live near a slow-moving river, with many shallow lakes and marshes. The river makes the land in the valley rich and fertile, so you can grow wheat and dates. But in the spring, raging floods spill over the riverbanks, destroying your fields. In the hot summers, you are short of water.

How can you control the waters of the river?