The Degradation of the Ancient Near Eastern Environment

This chapter deals with human-induced land degradation in the Ancient Near East and the human influences on landscape change. It provides a paleoclimatic background of the region and discusses deforestation and alteration of vegetation cover in the Near East, which was due mainly to the increasing need for wood and the expansion of farming and pastoral activities. Overgrazing became one of the most destructive forms of land degradation, and the impact of humans on wildlife can be assessed through the record of extinctions and the reduction of species, caused mainly by hunting. Another form of land degradation in the Near East was soil erosion. The worst cases of soil salinization in the Ancient Near East occurred in large-scale irrigation systems, especially in the Mesopotamian lowlands, where irrigation was difficult and challenging.