What are the disadvantages of the Fertile Crescent?

Since the
world's earliest civilizations
developed in the Fertile Crescent, it is not hard to imagine that
there are
many geographical advantages. The presence of two rivers and the sediment they
leave
behind after flooding made for successful crop surpluses. But the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
were also a disadvantage for the Fertile
Crescent. The reason for this is because they were
prone to unpredictable
flooding. Sometimes the floods would inundate homes and property which
would
make it necessary to exert resources to rebuild and repair the damage. Other years,
the
rivers would not flood enough and food shortages and famine were real
possibilities. In
addition, the flooding did not occur at regular intervals,
so preparing was difficult.

The fertile crescent also is a
very flat area. There are few natural barriers which
would protect it from
invasion. Since the area was capable of producing large agricultural
yields,
it was an attractive place and the lack of natural protection meant more
resources
needed to be allocated for defense.

Another
disadvantage of the fertile
crescent is that there are few natural resources.
As a result, the people of the region needed
to depend on trade networks to
bring goods into the area.