Hilal Subur

Hilal Subur adalah kawasan berbentuk bulan sabit yang mengandung tanah basah dan subur di antara tanah gersang atau semigersang di Asia Barat, dan di lembah sungai Nil serta delta sungai Nil di Afrika Timur Laut. Istilah "Hilal Subur" dicetuskan oleh arkeolog Universitas Chicago, James Henry Breasted, dalam karyanya Ancient Records of Egypt, diterbitkan tahun 1906.^[1]^[2] Kawasan tersebut ia sebut demikian karena tanahnya yang subur dan bentuknya menyerupai hilal. Istilah itu mulanya dipakai dalam studi sejarah kuno, kini konsepnya berkembang dalam ruang lingkup geopolitik dan hubungan diplomatis.

Dalam penggunaan masa kini, istilah Hilal Subur memiliki jangkauan minimum dan maksimum. Dalam berbagai definisi, istilah itu mencakup Mesopotamia, kawasan di dalam dan sekeliling sungai Tigris dan Efrat. Sebagian besar kawasan ini merupakan wilayah negara Iraq, dengan sebagian kecil wilayah Iran di dekat Teluk Persia, Kuwait di selatan, dan Turki di utara. Secara khusus, Hilal Subur juga mencakup pesisir Levant di Laut Tengah, dengan Suriah, Yordania, Israel, Lebanon dan Tepi Barat. Sumber air meliputi sungai Yordan. Dalam jangkauan terluasnya, Hilal Subur juga mencakup Mesir dan lembah sungai Nil beserta deltanya. Batas sebelah dalam ditandai oleh iklim gurun Suriah yang kering di selatan. Di sekeliling batas sebelah luar ditandai dengan tanah kering atau semi-kering di utara dekat Kaukasus, dataran tinggi Anatolia di sebelah barat laut, dan gurun Sahara di barat.

Kawasan ini sering disebut maulid peradaban karena banyak terjadi perkembangan peradaban awal umat manusia di sana. Beberapa penemuan di tempat tersebut meliputi, aksara, kaca, dan roda. Peradaban barat terawal muncul dan bertumbuh menggunakan air dan sumber daya pertanian yang tersedia di Hilal Subur. Tetapi, peradaban-peradaban tersebut tidak semata-mata yang pertama dan sumber satu-satunya.

Catatan kaki

^ "Fertile Crescent". Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2008. Diakses tanggal 2008-09-23.
^ Many sources claim that the term "fertile crescent" was coined by James Henry Breasted; however, those sources disagree about the date when the term was coined. Some claim 1916; others, 1914; still others, 1906. The 1916 claim is based on Breasted's text book for high school students, Ancient Times. (See: James Henry Breasted, Ancient Times, a History of the Early World (New York, New York: Ginn and Co., 1916), page 101.) However, the term previously appeared in 1914 in Breasted's book, Outlines of European History, Part I. (See: James Henry Breasted and James Harvey Robinson, Outlines of European History, Part I (New York, New York: Ginn and Co., 1914), p. 56.) Both of these claims must be wrong because in 1912 Henry T. Fowler used the term in his book, A History of the Literature of Ancient Israel … . (See: Henry Thatcher Fowler, A History of the Literature of Ancient Israel from the Earliest Times to 135 B.C. (New York, New York: Macmillan Co., 1912), p. 2 : " … civilized Semites controlled the entire fertile crescent of territory extending from the Persian Gulf to the borders of Egypt, … .") The 1906 claim is based on Breasted's five books titled Ancient Records of Egypt ; however, no source cites the volume or page number(s) in which the term appears.

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[1] "Fertile Crescent". Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2008. Diakses tanggal 2008-09-23.

[2] Many sources claim that the term "fertile crescent" was coined by James Henry Breasted; however, those sources disagree about the date when the term was coined. Some claim 1916; others, 1914; still others, 1906. The 1916 claim is based on Breasted's text book for high school students, Ancient Times. (See: James Henry Breasted, Ancient Times, a History of the Early World (New York, New York: Ginn and Co., 1916), page 101.) However, the term previously appeared in 1914 in Breasted's book, Outlines of European History, Part I. (See: James Henry Breasted and James Harvey Robinson, Outlines of European History, Part I (New York, New York: Ginn and Co., 1914), p. 56.) Both of these claims must be wrong because in 1912 Henry T. Fowler used the term in his book, A History of the Literature of Ancient Israel … . (See: Henry Thatcher Fowler, A History of the Literature of Ancient Israel from the Earliest Times to 135 B.C. (New York, New York: Macmillan Co., 1912), p. 2 : " … civilized Semites controlled the entire fertile crescent of territory extending from the Persian Gulf to the borders of Egypt, … .") The 1906 claim is based on Breasted's five books titled Ancient Records of Egypt ; however, no source cites the volume or page number(s) in which the term appears.

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