Final answer:
Some of the earliest cities in the Fertile Crescent include Ur and Uruk, known for their advanced irrigation agriculture and urban development. These cities were pivotal in the rise of civilization with contributions to trade, agriculture, and technological innovation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Early Cities in the Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent was a region of rich agricultural valleys that played an essential role in the development of early civilizations. Among the first cities that emerged in this region of ancient Mesopotamia were Ur and Uruk. These cities, along with others such as Babylon and Nineveh, were powered by intensive irrigation agriculture and became some of the first complex urban centers in the world.
The city of Uruk, for example, expanded to become a walled city with a significant population and was a pivotal urban growth center during the late fourth millennium BCE. Similarly, Ur was known for its large grain storage units and sophisticated civic structure. These cities and others in the Fertile Crescent contributed significantly to human urbanization and were centers of trade, agriculture, and innovation, including the development of the wheel and cuneiform writing.
While there were many other cities in the Fertile Crescent, such as Damascus and Jericho, the answer to the student's question regarding early cities in the region specifically would be option (c), which lists Ur and Uruk as some of the original cities in the Fertile Crescent. Cities like Babylon gained prominence slightly later in history, evolving from modest beginnings to significant urban centers.