<P> The Fertile Crescent (also known as the "cradle of civilization") is a crescent - shaped region where agriculture and early human civilization like Ancient Egypt flourished due to inundations from the surrounding Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers . Technological advances in the region include the development of writing, glass, the wheel, agriculture, and the use of irrigation . </P> <P> Modern - day countries with significant territory within the Fertile Crescent are Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Cyprus, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, as well as the southeastern fringe of Turkey and the western fringes of Iran . The term is also used in international geopolitics and diplomatic relations . </P>

What is the fertile crescent also known as