Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia ('between the rivers'), the district between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, extending from the foot of the Armenian mountains south-eastwards to near the neighbourhood of Bagdad. The name is the Greek equivalent of the old Aramaic (Syrian) Aram-Naharaim, and became current after Alexander's Asiatic conquests; the Arabs call the district El-Jezira ('the island'). It has an area of about 55,000 sq. m.; the surface is level and falls from an altitude of 1100 feet in the north-west to 160 feet in the south-east, where the alluvial region of Babylonia (Irak) begins. The soil is sandy, but, when well watered or, as it was in ancient times, well irrigated, it develops extraordinary fertility. Yet since the Turks (Seljuks) made themselves masters of the region (1515) it has fallen more and more a prey to barrenness and neglect. Having been in the possession successively of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Turks, and many a time and oft the battle-ground between the armies of these mighty empires, its records are full of stirring events and great changes and vicissitudes. Amongst the cities of historic fame may be quoted Harran, Serug (Seruj), Apamea, Edessa, Nisibis, Nicephorium (Rakka), Hit (Is), Mardin, Mosul (Nineveh), Amid (Diarbekr), and Thapsacus. In biblical times this region was inhabited by prosperous Aramæan agriculturists. At the present time the population consists chiefly of semi-nomad Arabs and Kurds, who keep herds of camels, sheep, and goats, and grow wheat, barley, rice, millet, sesamum, besides cotton, tobacco, safflower, hemp, cucumbers, melons, and other fruits. There is little timber on the plains. Wild hogs, jackals, hyænas, foxes, and cheetahs, antelopes and gazelles, are common; but lions and wild asses, so numerous in antiquity, are now scarce. In summer excessive heat (up to 122° F.) prevails, whilst the winter is comparatively cool—the thermometer may go down to 14° F. A brief summary of the work of exploring ancient sites, and of sites still to be excavated, is given in the Academy, 12th June 1886. See articles on the empires and towns mentioned above; also TIGRIS, EUPHRATES, and works quoted there.