Salinity Management in Arid Regions - Restorative Redevelopment of Devastated Ecocultural Landscapes - page 429

FIGURE 21.3 ( Continued ) The unchanging landscape of the Fertile Crescent, the birth-
place of agriculture. Vast fields of grain located beside the 3,000-4,000-year-old archaeologi-
cal tells of Halaf, Harmoukar, and Sheikh Hamad between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in
what was once ancient Mesopotamia.

Before the current situation in southern Iraq is considered, it is useful to review
some selected historic landmarks in Mesopotamian agriculture and water manage-
ment (Dickey and Madison 2004):

• Domestication of plants in about 8000 bce.

• Irrigation beginning by 6500 bce and becoming widespread by 3500 bce as

far as 200 km from the coastline.