# Biblical movies where the Middle East is fertile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 4, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926 "2012-12-04T02:37:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/1 "2012-12-04T02:37:30Z")
Hi, the Biblical movies I can remember are set in deserts since the modern-day Middle East is basically a desert. I thought there was a “fertile crescent” there… > **[Fertile Crescent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertile_Crescent)** > > The Fertile Crescent (Arabic: الهلال الخصيب), (Turkish: Cebel-i Bereket (Osmaniye) Sancağına) is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, spanning modern-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, together with the northern region of Kuwait, southeastern region of Turkey and the western portion of Iran. Some authors also include Cyprus and Northern Egypt. > The Fertile Crescent is believed to be the very first region where settled farming emerged as people started the process of... Similar to how I think Northern Africa used to be very fertile until it was overfarmed… So are there any Biblical movies that have accurate vegetation? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/2 "2012-12-04T02:51:21Z")
Desert != sand and camels Desert = dry. It doesn’t rain much, but that’s what aqueducts are for. That’s all. They can have lots of plants, and there are big agricultural regions, e.g. Beqaa Valley. Are you just asking for greener ME movies? I’m out of ideas. One reason why the movies use deserts is because it essentially saves time. The viewer sees it and thinks “Middle East!” without having to explain it. If it is against their desert schema, they may doubt it (I bet this is Southern California!) and also not have that instant “Aha!” moment. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/3 "2012-12-04T02:57:14Z")
The Middle East is a very large place. There are fertile areas and there are deserts, with the deserts being much larger. The fertile areas tend to run along rivers. The classic Biblical places tend all to be away from the major river valleys. Even Egypt is almost all desert except for the Nile flood areas. Your question is like asking why westerns don’t take place in wheat fields and forests since most of the U.S. is mostly wheat fields and forests. It’s because westerns are set in the west, not in the rest of the country. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/4 "2012-12-04T03:12:10Z")
I found this: > **[Follow the Journey](http://sacredplaces-65.blogspot.com/)** > [@](#): > > As we stood on various overlooks of Jerusalem… …on a height overlooking a beautiful and fertile land. > **[Follow the Journey](http://sacredplaces-65.blogspot.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/5 "2012-12-04T03:22:14Z")
BTW my point is that the vegetation of the past (in Biblical times) is different from how it is in the present… I can’t find links that say that for the Middle East, but I thought that the size of deserts have grown since prehistoric times due to overfarming and cattle eating too much grass. ---
**Author:** ![JohnClay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@JohnClay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnClay)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/6 "2012-12-04T03:23:59Z")
> **[Desertification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification)** > > Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. > The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Though vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the s... > [@](#): > > …The most common cause of desertification is the over cultivation of desert lands…Overgrazing removes this vegetation causing erosion and loss of topsoil… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/7 "2012-12-04T09:16:17Z")
The Middle East is hardly all desert, even today. The northern half of Israel, parts of Syria and all of Lebanon more closely resemble Greece or southern Italy in terms of environment. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/8 "2012-12-04T17:02:02Z")
> [@JohnClay](#): > > BTW my point is that the vegetation of the past (in Biblical times) is different from how it is in the present… > > I can’t find links that say that for the Middle East, but I thought that the size of deserts have grown since prehistoric times due to overfarming and cattle eating too much grass. > [@JohnClay](#): > > [Desertification - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification) It is probably not true that the major Biblical areas were more fertile 2000 years ago than they are today. Today is not a good comparison at all, because the Israelis have spent the years since 1948 performing massive feats of irrigation. Overfarming is probably not a major contributor at all in these particular areas. In the first place, farming in Biblical times would be unlike what we think of today in our Midwest or even in the truck farming areas of the northeast. They would be small plots and some general grazing areas. Those can hurt the soil in an area without replenishment - that’s why the Nile floods have been so huge historically - but they’re unlikely to turn areas into deserts. Northern Africa, by which I assume you mean the Sahara, turned from fertile to desert because of purely climatic change and did so long before massive farming could do it in. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > The end of the glacial period [6000 BC] brought more rain to the Sahara, from about 8000 BC to 6000 BC, perhaps because of low pressure areas over the collapsing ice sheets to the north.[15] > > Once the ice sheets were gone, the northern Sahara dried out. In the southern Sahara though, the drying trend was soon counteracted by the monsoon, which brought rain further north than it does today. The monsoon season is caused by heating of air over the land during summer. The hot air rises and pulls in cool, wet air from the ocean, which causes rain. Thus, though it seems counterintuitive, the Sahara was wetter when it received more insolation in the summer. This was caused by a stronger tilt in Earth’s axis of orbit than today, and perihelion occurred at the end of July around 7000 BC.[16] > > By around 4200 BC, the monsoon retreated south to approximately where it is today,[7] leading to the gradual desertification of the Sahara.[17] The Sahara is now as dry as it was about 13,000 years ago.[13] These conditions are responsible for what has been called the Sahara pump theory. I found some images that may be helpful. [This is a nature preserve near Jeruselam today](http://www.gojerusalem.com/_media/userfiles/2/477/1111.jpg). We’d think of that as scrubland, but it’s green compared to true derserts. [This 1902 painting](http://www.antiquaprintgallery.com/ekmps/shops/richben90/images/jerusalem-temple-area-mount-olives-from-zion-1902-77476-p.jpg) presents the temple area. That scene would probably be representative at any premodern time. [Another from that series](http://www.antiquaprintgallery.com/ekmps/shops/richben90/images/jerusalem-south-wall-of-temple-area-valley-hinnom-sunset-1902-77434-p.jpg). [Actual aerial photo from 1918](http://0.tqn.com/d/atheism/1/0/7/F/JerusalemAir1918-l.jpg). Israel doesn’t lend itself to oases in the classic Saharan sense, but the fertileness of the lands wherever water is present cuts off quickly. Searching for “the land of milk and honey” brings up [this fertile glade](http://www.sheepfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/milkandhoney.jpg), which abruptly turns into rocky hills. And remember that the Biblical area was two kingdoms, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Most of the Biblical action takes place in Judah, noticably hotter and drier than the north. It was Israel that was the land of milk and honey, [with some green valleys but again scrub hills](http://ipsi.missouri.edu/pages/news/2006/february/pics/southern_israel.jpg). I know its counterintuitive that Israel isn’t the ancient home of the Biblical Jews, but the term Jews comes from the land of Judah. I hate to say this, because movies lie about history with every frame of every movie, but setting Biblical movies in lands that aren’t very green is about as accurate as it gets. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/9 "2012-12-05T03:05:42Z")
Heck, one reason for the story of Adam and Eve is to explain why the land is so barren. Israel is supposed to be lush, but that’s comparative. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/10 "2012-12-05T05:20:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The Middle East is hardly all desert, even today. The northern half of Israel, parts of Syria and all of Lebanon more closely resemble Greece or southern Italy in terms of environment. Greece or Southern Italy look like desert to the people from The Green Lands Up North. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biblical-movies-where-the-middle-east-is-fertile/642926/11 "2012-12-05T05:43:02Z")
The destruction of irrigation system in Iraq and Iran by the Mongols also brought forth a lot of desertification, turning lots of areas from farmlands to desert. Many of these irrigation systems were the products of millenia of work, some dating back to the dawn of civilisation.