What happened to Mesopotamia? How could they blow their head start?

The climate and soil got worse for farming as time goes on.

As it turns out, 5000 years is actually more than enough time for that shit to happen.

You've got desertification, soil salinity, and Mongols.

The Mongols kind of finished off the process by destroying the irrigation canals and then killing so many people that they couldn't be repaired.

The arabs couldn't maintain the sophisticated irrigation so they flooded too much and it allowed salinity to rise and ruin the soil.

>>1994149

>what was Baghdad

Retard

>>1994306

A strategically located city along the Tigris, lying along major trade routes and possessing water, a scarce commodity in the desert. Also benefited by being both a secular and religious capital. The fact that the conquerors contributed greatly to desertification of the region does not change this.

>>1994134
>How could they blow their head start?
That "head start" lasted for like 10,000 years. I'd hardly call it blown.

>>1994345
Arabs knew sophisticated irrigation they replaced Eastern Mesopotamia as the main food supplier of Abbasids instead of Egypt, Egypt was the food supplier of even fucking Romans.

>>1994134
Well a head start is only important if those around you have to follow the same path as you which is definitely not the case. These people could just copy all of the techniqueshaft of Mesopotamians.

Climate change happened.

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this >>1994609
the world doesn't work like a game of Civilization.