crescent, emblematic representation of the quarter moon. The crescent and star, ancient Byzantine symbols that became the emblems of Constantinople, were also assumed as the standard of the Ottoman Turks. The crescent surmounted by a cross indicates the origin of the Eastern Orthodox Church. The crescent appears on the flags of various present-day Muslim nations. The emblem is also used in blazonry.

Fertile Crescent, historic region of the Middle East. A well-watered and fertile area, it arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. It is flanked on the west by the Mediterranean and on the east by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, and includes all or parts of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. From antiquity this region was the site of settlements and the scene of bloody raids and invasions.

Region, Middle East. The term describes a crescent-shaped area of arable land, probably more agriculturally productive in antiquity than it is today. Historically the area stretched from the southeastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea around the Syrian Desert north of the Arabian Peninsula to the Persian Gulf; in general, it often includes the Nile River valley as well. Sedentary agricultural settlements in the Fertile Crescent can be dated to circa 8000 BC. It was the scene of the struggles and migrations of some of the earliest known peoples, including Sumerians, Assyrians, Akkadians, various Semitic groups, Babylonians, and Phoenicians.

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