Mesopotamia was located in a bigger region known as the Fertile Crescent. It was located in-between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and Asia Minor and the Persian Gulf. Because of its location, Mesopotamia is Greek for "between the rivers." The Fertile Crescent was a big region in Asia that was known for its rich and fertile soil. Since Mesopotamia was in a region that almost had no rain, Mesopotamians depended on the rain in Asia Minor. If there was too much rain, the rivers would over-flow and destroy their crops, if there was too little rain, their crops would dry out. Since Mesopotamia had great soil for planting, many of the earliest civilizations started there, including the Sumerians. Sumeria was able to last for three thousand years, but soon lost their influence. After the Sumerians came the Babylonians who were ruled by King Hammurabi, their civilization lasted from 1770 B.C.E until 1595 B.C.E. There were many other cultures that ruled the region. Mesopotamia later moved on to be ruled by the Persians of Iran, the Greeks ruled by Alexander the Great, and the Ottoman Turks. Mesopotamia is now a part of the modern day Iran, and has been since 1932.