what river valley civilization included the area known as mesopotamia
Chapter 2 - The First River-Valley Civilizations, 3500â1500 B.C.E. I. Mesopotamia. A. Settled Agriculture in an Unstable Landscape. 1. Mesopotamia is the alluvial plain area alongside and between the Tigris and. Euphrates Rivers. The area is a difficult environment for agriculture because there. is little rainfall, the rivers flood at the wrong time for grain agriculture, and the. rivers change course unpredictably.