1) Read and take good notes on the section of your close reading activity on Mesopotamia called " The Birth of Civilization." Look up any words that you may not know! 2) Then, write out and answer the following two questions in full sentences: a) How did the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers affect the Fertile Crescent? b) How did the food surplus created by the practice of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent affect the people living in Mesopotamia?