Thousands of years ago, in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (modern-day Iraq), some people chose to settle down, marking a pivotal moment in history. In the Fertile Crescent, agriculture led to stores for the harvests where they built structures and had the need to protect them. This helped form cooperative communities which led to the rise of villages, towns, and eventually cities.
Here, early civilizations developed written language, domesticated animals, and invented the wheel, the plow, and multi-story buildings. Monotheism and libraries emerged, and many hallmarks of civilization took root. Over time, people from the Fertile Crescent spread into Europe and Asia, sharing their knowledge, crops, and livestock.
The Bible recounts many stories about early cities that grew into kingdoms, which eventually became empires as they conquered one another. It references peoples such as the Medes, Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians, and mentions kings and patriarchs whose existence is supported by archaeological evidence.
The map below illustrates these ancient regions, forming a crescent-shaped area known as the Fertile Crescent, an area of arable land.
