FERTILE CRESCENT. This term refers to that stretch of land beginning at the Persian Gulf, extending NW through the Tigris and Euphrates River Valley, continuing W to the NE coast of the Mediterranean Sea, turning S through Canaan, and (popularly) including the Nile River Valley. The area described is in the form of a crescent and is very fertile although the area the arc encloses is barren. The earliest records of civilization come from this area, and it was the center of civilization until the age of Greece. Egypt at the western tip, as well as Assyria and Babylonia in the E, developed in power and influence while the coastland at the E end of the Mediterranean developed commercially, but was often subjected to invading armies from either end. It is in this crossroads of humanity that God chose to place His people Israel and later to send His Son.

Bibliography L. H. Grollenberg, Atlas of the Bible (1956), 11ff.