4
The Big Idea:
The Middle
East is a place
that has
changed over
time. Once a
fertile
grassland,
now an arid
desert
Changing Landscapes
a. connects
3.
Sinai
Africa to
Asia
Peninsula
a. Fertile area of eastern Turkey
4. Anatolian
Plateau
b. Location
of ancient city
of Catal Hyuk
a. stretches
across north
Africa
1. Sahara
b. Used to be
Desert
a grassland
c. Very good
barrier to
movement
a. The Nile River
flows north to the
Mediterranean
Sea 2. Nile
b. Rich soil
Valley
makes
a thin
strip on either
side fertile and
good of growing
a. Together they formed a grassland
called 6.
the Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent
b. The Tigris & Euphrates river run
through Mesopotamia
& (Land Between
the River)
c. The Levant
is theLevant
Mediterranean
7. The
Coast to the Jordan River (Holy Land)
a. Mostly
barren Syrian
Desert5.
& the
Rub al Khali
Arabian
b. Birthplace
Peninsula
of
the Arab
culture along
the coastal
areas
a. Used to be
covered
in
8. Zagros
forests
Mountains
b. creates the
border of
Iran/Iraq
a. Rugged Hilly
Land
9. Iranian
b. Used to be
Plateau
fertile
but now
semi-arid
4
The Big Idea:
The Middle
East and north
Africa was a
fertile
grassland until
climate change
and overuse of
the land led to
desertification
Geography of the Middle East
a. connects
Africa to
Asia
a. Fertile area of eastern Turkey
b. Location of ancient city of Catal Hyuk
a. stretches
across north
Africa
b. Used to
be a
grassland
a. Nile river flows
north to the
Mediterranean
Sea
b. Rich soil makes
a thin strip on
either side fertile
and good for
growing
a. Together they formed a grassland
called the Fertile Crescent
b. The Tigris & Euphrates river run
through Mesopotamia (Land Between
the River)
c. The Levant is the Mediterranean
Coast to the Jordan River (Holy Land)
a. Mostly
barren Syrian
Desert & the
Rub al Khali
b. Birthplace
of the Arab
culture along
the coastal
areas
a. Used to be
covered in
forests
b. creates the
border of
Iran/Iraq
a. Rugged Hilly
Land
b. Used to be
fertile but now
semi-arid