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MESOMEDES

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Originally appearing in Volume V18, Page 183 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MESOMEDES of See also:

Crete, See also:Greek lyric poet, who lived during the and See also:century A.D. He was a freedman of the See also:emperor See also:Hadrian, on whose favourite See also:Antinous he is said to have written a See also:panegyric. Two epigrams by him in the Greek See also:anthology (Anthol. See also:pal. xiv. 63, xvi. 323) and a hymn to See also:Nemesis are extant. The hymn is of See also:special See also:interest as preserving the See also:ancient musical notation written over the See also:text. Two other See also:hymns—to the muse See also:Calliope and to the See also:sun—formerlyeastward from See also:northern maritime See also:Syria. The earliest Name, See also:appearance of a Semitic name of this See also:kind is in the last See also:paragraph of the See also:biography of Ahmose of el-Kab, the aged officer of Tethmosis (Thutmose) I. As See also:early therefore as the See also:late 16th century B.C. the name Naharin (N'h'ryn') was in use. That the name was connected with nahar (a See also:river) was See also:plain to some of the See also:Egyptian See also:scribes, who wrote the word with determinative for See also:water " in addition to that for " See also:country." The scribes show no suspicion, however, of the name's being anything but a singular.' Is it possible that a consciousness that the word was not a plural can have survived till the early See also:Christian centuries, when the See also:Targum of Onqelos (Onkelos) rendered Naharaim by " the river See also:Euphrates " (Pethor of See also:Aram which is on the Euphrates: Deut. See also:xxiii. 4 [51)? The Naharin or Naharen of the Egyptian texts appears some five generations later in the Canaanitic of the Amarna letters in the See also:form Nabirim(a), which would seem therefore to be the See also:pronunciation then prevalent in See also:Phoenicia (Gebal) and See also:Palestine (See also:Jerusalem).

About the same See also:

time Naharin (N-h-ry-n) is given as the northern boundary of See also:Egypt's -domain (See also:year 30 of Amenhotep or Amenophis III.), over against Kush in the See also:south (See also:tomb of Khamhet: Breasted, Anc. Rec. ii. 350). The origin of the name is suggested by the Euphrates being called " the water of Naharin,"-on the See also:Karnak See also:stele more fully " the water of the See also:Great See also:Bend (phr wr) of Naharin (N-h-r-n) " (Breasted, Anc. Rec. ii. 263), or on the See also:Constantinople See also:obelisk simply " the Great Bend of Naharin " (loc. cit. See also:note d). The precise meaning of phr wr is not certain. When Breasted renders Great Bend " of the Euphrates he is probably thinking of the great sweep See also:round between Birejilc-Zeugma and Ralcica-Nicephorium. W. M. See also:Muller, on the other See also:hand, rendering Kreislauf, explains it of the Euphrates water See also:system as a whole, thought of as encompassing Naharin. The See also:Sea of the Great Bend would seem to be the sea fed by the See also:north-to-south See also:waters of Naharin, just as the Mediterranean, fed by the south-to-north' waters of the See also:Nile, is called the Great Circle (In wr).

For many centuries after Amenophis IV. the name cannot be found. The next occurrence is in See also:

Hebrew (Gen. See also:xxiv. 1o=J) where the See also:district from which a wife for See also:Isaac is brought is called Aram-Naharaim. The diphthongal pronunciation of the termination aim is probably a much later development. We should probably read something like Aram-Naharim. The meaning is: the Naharim portion of the Aramaic speaking domain? Probably the author thought primarily of the district of See also:Harran.3 Some generations later Aram-Naharim is used of the district including Pethor, a See also:town on the See also:west See also:bank of the Euphrates' (Deut. xxiii. ' The threefold n after Nahar in a stele of See also:Persian or Gretk.. times (healing of Bentresh) is probably only the determinative for " water," a See also:fourth n being accidentally omitted (Breasted, Ancient Records, iii. § 434). - 2 Cf. Aram-See also:Damascus, which means, the Damascus portion of the Aramaic domain ; and har-See also:Ephraim, which means, the Ephraim portion of the (Israelitish) See also:highlands—EV " See also:Mount Ephraim.' - 3 Hal6vy's See also:suggestion that we are to look towards the Hauriin, and think of the See also:rivers of Damascus, has not met with favour. Padan-Aram (Rev.

Vers. better Paddan-Aram), Gen. See also:

xxv. 20, &C., rendered by the See also:Septuagint " See also:Mesopotamia of Syria," is obscure. Paddan has been connected phonetically with Patin, west of the Euphrates, and explained by others as a synonym for Harran. ¢=D). The See also:Syriac version of the Old Testament (and cent. A.D. ?) uses Beth Nahrin. This may or may not imply the belief that Nahrin is a plural. Eventually that belief was See also:general, as is proved by the substitution of the normal feminine plural (for the supposed masculine) in the alternative form Beth Nahrawatha (e.g. See also:Wright, Chron. See also:Joshua Styl. §§ 49, 5o).

Beth is probably the Syriac See also:

equivalent of the See also:Assyrian See also:Bit as in Bit-Adini (see below, § 3 viii.), as is shown by such names as Beth `Arbaye, " district of Arabians," Beth Armaye, " district of Aramaeans." The Parapotamia of See also:Strabo xvi. 2, 11, would be a suitable Greek equivalent. Mesopotamia seems to imply the view that beth is the preposition " amid, which has the same form,' but need not imply the meaning " between," that is, the See also:idea that there were precisely two rivers. There is See also:evidence of the use of this form as early as the Septuagint See also:translation of the See also:Pentateuch (3rd cent. B.c.). It is natural to suppose it was adopted by the Greeks who accompanied See also:Alexander's expedition. See also:Xenophon does not use it. As early as the time of Ephraem (d. A.D. 373) the use of the Syriac Gezirthd, " See also:island," had come in, and over a century earlier See also:Philostratus reported (See also:Life of See also:Apollonius, i. 20) that the See also:Arabs designated Mesopotamia as an island' This See also:term in the form al-Gazira became, and still is, the usual Arabic name. The See also:absence of any equivalent names in Babylonian or Assyrian documents is noteworthy,' especially as the Babylonians spoke of the " Sea-Country " (See also:mat Tamtim).

The name was not distinctive enough from the point of view of Babylonia, which belonged to the same water system. Tiglath-pileser L (Octagon See also:

Prism, 6, 40, 42 seq.) sums up the results of the military operations of his first five years as reaching from the See also:Lower Zab See also:Riviera to the Euphrates Riviera (ebirtan Puratti, well rendered " Parapotamia " by Winkler') and Uatte-See also:land; but this is obviously not a proper name in the same sense as Naharin.b That probably originated in the maritime district of Syria. Whilst the names we have mentioned are derived from See also:physical See also:geography, there are related names the meaning and origin of which are not so clear. Tethmosis III. is said, in a tomb which contains a picture of " the See also:chief of Kheta," to have " overthrown the lands of My-tn " (Breasted, Anc. Rec. ii. § 773), which lands are mentioned also in his hymn of victory (Breasted, Anc. Rec. ii. § 659). Amenophis II. receives See also:tribute from the " chiefs of My-tn (Breasted, Anc. Rec. ii. § 804). In the bilingual Hittite inscription of Tarqudimme the land is called " the land of the See also:city of Metan," just as in the Hittite documents the Hittite country in See also:Asia See also:Minor is called " the land of the city of Khatti." Metan is clearly the same as Mitanni, over against Khatti, mentioned e.g. by Tiglath-pileser I.

(vi. 63), which is the same as Mitanni, several letters from which are in the Amarna collection. Since a Mitanni princess of these letters is called in E ptian scarabs a princess of Naharin, it is clear that Mitanni and Naharin are more or less equivalent, whilst in the Amarna letters even Tushratta, the See also:

king of Mitanni, seems to use in the same way the name Khanigalbat. A shorter form of this name is Khani, which it is difficult not to connect with Khana, the See also:capital of which at one time was Tirqa, on the Euphrates, below the Khabur (see § 4). The slowly accumulating data have not yet made it possible to determine precisely the probably varying relations of these various names. The great astrological See also:work uses a term of still wider signification, Subartu, eventually Sun (written Su. EniN ; see especially Winckler's discussion in Or. Lit.-Zeit., 1907). This represented one of the four quarters of the See also:world in the early Babylonian view, the other three being See also:Akkad (i.e. Babylonia) in the " north," See also:Elam in the " south," and Amurru in the " west." It appears to have denoted the territory above Babylonia stretching from Anshan in the south-See also:east north-westwards, across the See also:Tigris-Euphrates district, indefinitely towards Asia Minor. At an early time it seems to have formed along with Anshan a distinct See also:kingdom. Strabo (xvi.

746) makes the south limit of Mesopotamia the Median See also:

wall; See also:Pliny (v. 24 § 21) seems to extend it to the Persian Extent Gulf. The Latin term naturally varied in meaning Tekrit. In the See also:tract defined, physical changes unconnected with See also:civilization have been slight as compared with those in Babylonia; the two great rivers, having cut themselves deep channels, could not shift their courses far. i. Natural Divisions.—The stretch from Samsat and Jeziret-See also:ibn-`See also:Omar to the alluvial plain seems to See also:divide itself naturally into three parallel belts, highland See also:watershed district, un- dulating plains and See also:steppe. (I) The See also:Taurus foothill barrier that shuts off the east to west course of the Euphrates and, Tigris culminates centrally in the rugged volcanic I{araja-Dagh (6070 ft.) which blocks the See also:gap between the two rivers, continued eastwards by the mountainous district of See also:Tar-`Abdin (the See also:modern capital Midyat is at a height of 3500 ft.) and westwards by the elevated tract that sends down southwards the promontory of J. Tektek (c. 1950 ft.). (2) At the See also:line where this east to west wall ends begins the sea of undulating plains where there is enough See also:rain for abundant See also:wheat and See also:barley. (3) From the alluvial flats upwards toward these undulating plains is an extensive stretch of steppe land almost destitute of rain. Not See also:fat above the transition from the barren steppe is a second See also:mountain wall (125 m. between extremities) roughly parallel with the first, consisting of the Sinjar See also:chain (about 3000 ft., See also:limestone, 5o m. See also:long, 7 m. broad), continued westwards after a marshy break by the volcanic Tell Kokab (See also:basalt, about 1300 ft.), and then the `Abd al-'Aziz range (limestone), veering upwards towards its western end as if to meet the Tektek promontory from the north.

ii. Drainage.—The water system is thus determined. West of Tektek drains into the Belikh, east of Tektek into the Khabur. All this drainage, collected into two rivers, the Belikh and the Khabur, is towards the See also:

left bank of the Euphrates, for the See also:Mesa-. potamian watershed seems to be only some 15 m. or less from the Tigris until, south of the Sinjar range, it lies farther west, and the Tharthar river is possible. The Belikh (See also:Balkh, Bilechas, Ba),Leaos 7) a stream some 30 ft. wide, has its See also:main source some 50 M. north in the `See also:Ain Khalil ar-Raliman, but receives also the waters of the See also:united Nahr al-Kut (in its upper course formerly the Daisan, ZKtaros) from See also:Edessa and Kopru Dagh, and the Jullab from Tektek Dagh about as much farther north. The Khabur (Chabur, Chaboras'), 8o-too ft. wide, before its last 40 M. reach in a south-west direction, has a 70 m. reach due north and south from Tell Kokab (about 1300 ft.), near which are united the jaghjagh (earlier, Hirmas, 20 ft. in width), which has come 5o m. from Nasibin in the north-east, bringing with it the waters of the many streams from the Tar 'Abdin highlands; the north `Awij, which at certain seasons brings much water due south from See also:Mardin, and the main stten ii of the Khabur, which has come 6o m. from See also:Ras al-'Ain-in the north-, west, after flowing So m. by way of Weranshahr from Karaja Dagh in the north. The Tharthar (Assyrian See also:Tartar, in Tukulti-See also:Ninib II.'§ inscription) begins in the Sinjar range and runs southwards, to lose itself in the See also:desert a little above the See also:latitude of See also:Hit. So it was two generations before See also:Ahab (Annales de Tukulti Ninip, V, Scheil, 1909).. The Arabian geographers represent the Tharthar as connected at its upper end (by a See also:canal?) with the Khabur system. ' In general the Tigris is considered to belong to See also:Assyria or Babylonia, and all west of the Euphrates to See also:Arabia or Syria. 7 Cf. See also:Ritter, Erdkunde, v.

250-253. Ibid. xi. 253-265. with the changing extent of See also:

Roman authority. For example, under See also:Trajan Mesopotamia reached the gulf and was bounded by Assyria and See also:Armenia. In modern times it is often There may be further evidence of the prevalence of the See also:interpretation " amid " if the difficult bainath athrawatha of See also:Cureton, Anc. Syr. Doc. p. 112, I. 21, is correctly rendered in See also:Payne See also:Smith, See also:Thesaurus Syr. 469, " Mesopotamia," and if we may assume a See also:reading Nahrawatha for Athrawatha. 'Compare the use of the See also:adjective, Ephr.

Op. Gr. ii. 403 (cf. B. O. i. 145, 168, 169), and the noun, B. O. ii. to8, 109. Mesopotamian See also:

personal names like Na-ha-ra-a-u occur (cf. Johns, Deeds and Documents, iii. 127) ; but these may be connected with a divine name Nachor. ' Aussug vorderas. Gesch.

34; on the meaning see Alt.-orient. Forsch. iii. 349. It seems See also:

worth considering, however, whether ebir nari (see johns, Assyr. Doomsday See also:Book, 69; Winckler, Alt.-or. Forsch. 212; Wins, Anc. Heb. Trail., See also:index) is not in origin practically a Begriff equivalent to Naharin. used for the whole Euphrates-Tigris country.' That would See also:pro-vide a' useful name for an important See also:geographical unit, but is too misleading. In view of See also:historical and geographical facts there is much to be said for applying the name Mesopotamia to the country drained by the Khabur, the Belikh, and the See also:part of the Euphrates connected therewith. It would thus include the country lying between Babylonia on the south and the Armenian Taurus highlands on the north, the maritime Syrian district on the west, and Assyria proper on the east.

That is practically the sense in which it is treated in this See also:

article.' We may begin, however, with the See also:definition of Jezlra by the Arabic geographers, who take it as representing the central part of the Euphrates-Tigris system, the part, namely, lying between the alluvial plains in the south and the mountainous country in the north. Measured on the Euphrates, this would be from the See also:place where the river, having bored its way through the rocks, issues on to the high plain a little above Samsat (See also:Samosata) only 1500 ft. above the sea, to somewhere about Hit (Is=Id), where, probably less than 150 ft. above the sea, it begins to make its way through the alluvial deposits of the last'few millenniums. In these 750 M. it has descended less than 1400 ft. Measured on the Tigris Mesopotamia would stretch from some-where between Jeziret-ibn-'Omar and See also:Mosul to somewhere below iii. See also:Character of See also:Surface'—(1) The tract between the Belikh and the Euphrates is in its See also:middle See also:section exceedingly fertile, as is implied in the name Anthemusia, and according to v. See also:Oppenheim (Z. d. Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde, 36, 1901, p. 8o) the same is true of the See also:southern portion also. The plain extending from Urfa to a dozen See also:miles below Harran has a See also:rich red-See also:brown humus derived from the See also:Nimrod Dagh east of Edessa. (2) The See also:rolling plains north of the 'Abd at 'Aziz Sinjar mountain wall are intersected by the many streams of the Khabur system (the Arab geographer Mustaufi speaks of 300 feeders), which under favourable See also:political and administrative conditions would produce a marked fertility. At Nasibin (See also:Nisibis) See also:rice is cultivated with success.

(3) The country south of the mountain range is steppe land, imperfectly known, and of little use except for nomadic tribes, apart from the See also:

banks of the rivers (on which see EUPHRATES, TIGRIS). It consists mainly of See also:grey dreary flats covered with selenite; and a little below the surface, See also:gypsum. See also:Bitumen is found at Hit, whence perhaps its name (Babylonian Id in Tukulti Ninib II.'s inscription referred to above), and near the Tigris .2 iv. See also:Climate.3—Mesopotamia combines strong contrasts of climate, and is .a connecting See also:link between the mountain region of western Asia and the desert of Arabia. At Der ez-Zor, for example, the See also:heat is intense. (I) In the steppe, during the sandstorms which frequently See also:blow from the West Arabian desert the temperature may rise to 122° F. On the other hand, in See also:winter the warm currents coming in from the Persian Gulf being met to a large ex-See also:tent by northerly currents from the See also:snow-covered tracts of Armenia, are condensed down on to the plain and See also:discharge moisture enough to See also:cover the See also:gravel See also:steppes with See also:spring herbage. (2) In the higher plains, in See also:mid winter, since the high temperature See also:air from the gulf is See also:drawn up the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris there may be, e.g. at Mosul, a " See also:damp mildness." In spring the grass on the rolling plains is soon parched. So when the hot sandstorms blow in the lower steppe the scorching heat is carried right up to the See also:foot of the mountains. On the other hand, since the spurs of the Taurus bring the winter See also:cold a long way south, and the cold increases from west to east as we leave the mild See also:coast of the Mediterranean, far down into the Mesopotamian plain the See also:influence of the snow-covered ridges can be See also:felt, and in the higher parts of the plain snow and See also:ice are not infrequent; and although there is no point of sufficient See also:altitude to retain snow for long, the temperature .may fall as See also:low as 14° F., especially if the cold north winds are blowing. The See also:cycle of vegetation begins in See also:November. The' first winter rains clothe the plain with verdure, and by the beginning of the year various bulbous See also:plants are in See also:bloom.

The full summer development is reached in See also:

June. By the end of See also:August, everything is burnt up; August and See also:September are the low-water months in the rivers, See also:March to May the time of See also:flood. v. See also:Flora.*—(I) Botanical lists have been published by von Oppenheim (Von; Mittelmeer zum Persischen See also:Golf, ii. 373-388) of a collection made in 1893 containing 43 entries for Mesopotamia, and by E. Herzfeld (Herbaraufnahmen aus Kal'at-. erjeat-See also:Assur, in Beiheft II. zur Or. Lit.-Zeit, 1908, pp. 29-37) of a collection made in 1903-1905 in the neighbourhood of Assur, containing 181 entries. (2) The following are among the more important products of the central See also:zone of Mesopotamia: wheat, barley, rice (e.g. at Saruj, the Khabur), See also:millet, sesemum (for oil, instead of See also:olive), dura (Holcgts See also:sorghum and H. bicolor) ; lentils, peas, beans, vetches; See also:cotton, See also:hemp, See also:safflower, See also:tobacco; Medicago saliva (for horses); See also:cucumber, melons, water-melons, See also:figs (those of Sinjar famed for sweetness), See also:dates (below, 'See also:Ana and Tekrit); a few See also:timber trees; See also:plane and See also:white See also:poplar (by streams), See also:willow and See also:sumach (by the Euphrates). The sides of Karaja-Dagh, J. 'Abd el-'Aziz and Sinjar are wooded, but not now the neighbourhood of Nisibis. (3) In the steppe the vegetation is that which prevails in similar See also:soil from Central Asia to See also:Algeria; but many ofPthe arborescent plants that grow in the rockier and more irregular plateaux of western Asia, and especially of See also:Persia, have been reported as missing.

Endless masses of tall weeds, belonging to a few See also:

species, cover the See also:face of the country—large See also:Cruciferae, Cynareae and See also:Umbelliferae—also large quantities of See also:liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra and echinata) and Lagonychium, and the white ears of the Imperata. In autumn the withered weeds are torn up by the See also:wind and driven immense distances. vi. Faunas—The following abound: See also:wild See also:swine, hyaena, See also:jackal, See also:cheetah, See also:fox; gazelle (in herds), See also:antelope species (in the steppe); See also:jerboa, See also:mole, See also:porcupine, and especially the See also:common See also:European See also:rat (in the desert); See also:bat, long-haired desert See also:hare. The following are rare: wild See also:ass; See also:beaver, said to have been observed on the Euphrates; See also:wolf, among others a variety of See also:black wolf (Canis See also:lycaon), said to be found in the plains; See also:lion, said to roam as far as the Khabur. On the Euphrates are the following: See also:vulture, See also:owl, See also:raven, &c., also the See also:falcon (Tinnanculus alaudarsus), trained to See also:hunt. Among See also:game birds are: wild See also:duck and See also:goose, See also:partridge, francolin, some kinds of See also:dove, and in the steppe the See also:buzzard. The See also:ostrich seems almost to have disappeared. Large tortoises abound, and, in the 'Ain el-'Arus See also:pool, fresh-water turtles and See also:carp. Of domestic 1 Ritter, Erdkunde, xi. 493-498. 2 See Geog.

Journ. Ix. 528-532 (with See also:

map). See also:litter, xi. a98-499. ' Ibid., xi. 499-502. `6 Ibid., xi. 502-510.animals in the steppe the first place belongs. to the See also:camel; next come See also:goat and See also:sheep (not the See also:ordinary fat-tailed variety); the common See also:buffalo is often kept by the Arabs and the Turkomans on the Euphrates and the Tigris; on the Euphrates is found the See also:Indian zebu. vii. Towns.'—The towns that have survived are on the rivers. Such are Samsat (see SAMOSATA), Ralfl a (Nicephorium) above the mouth of the Belikh, See also:Deer ez-Zor, a rising town on the right bank, where there is (since 1897) a See also:stone See also:bridge, 'Ana (on an island; see ANA), Hit (Is, Bab. Id), on the Euphrates; Jeziret ibn 'Omar, Mosul (q.v.), Tekrit, on the Tigris; Edessa (q.v.), Harran (q.v.), on confluents of the Belikh; Veranshehr (Tela), Ras al-'Ain (Rhesaena), Mardin (See also:half-way up the mountain wall), and Nasibin (Assyr.

Nasibina' Nisibis), on confluents of the Khabur; See also:

Sin*. (Singara) on the Tharthar. Villages are more numerous than has often been supposed. Von Oppenheim counted in the district west of Edessa: and Harran, in a stretch of two days' march, 30o flourishing villages. At one time, however, Mesopotamia was teeming with life. The lines of the rivers are marked at frequent intervals by the ruins of flourishing towns of Assyrian, Roman and See also:Caliphate times. Such are BirejIl , Jerablus, TellAbmar, Kal 'at en-Najm, Balis, Karkisiya (Qarqisiya, Circesium), on the Euphrates; Kuyunjik, Nimrod on the Tigris; See also:Khorsabad on a small tributary; `Arban, Tell Khalaf, on the Khabur. The interesting See also:oasis town el-Haar (Hatra) is near the Tharthar. Excavation has hardly begun. The country is covered with countless mounds (tells), each of which marks the site of a town. The documents from the ancient Tirqa said to have been found at `Ishara, a few miles belowKartcisiya, are referred to below (§ 4). At Anaz( = DUr of Tiglathpileser IV.) was found in' 1901 a slab (Pognon, Inscript.

Am. de la Syrie, See also:

Plate See also:xxvi. No. 59)' with a bas-See also:relief and an inscription of the See also:governor of Mir, Mushezib See also:Shamash? The stele referred to below (§ 7, end) as being probably' Nabonidus's was found in 1906 some 15-20' W. of Eski-Harran, a little nearer to it thdn to Umeira, which is west of Eski-Hardin, an See also:hour and a half north-east of the ruins of Harran. Parts of Mesopotamia have probably always harboured wandering tribes. Exactly how far the intervening lands beyond reach of the streams have done so it is difficult to make out. See also:Fraser (See also:Short Cut to See also:India, p. 134) insists that in the undulating plains the See also:direct rainfall is quite sufficient for agricultural purposes. viii. Political Divisions.—On the whole the natural See also:lie of. the country has been reflected in the political divisions, which have of course varied in detail. We only mention some of those most often occurring. In the pre-Persian See also:period, besides those referred to elsewhere, we may cite Kashyari (TUr `Abdin), Guzanu (Gozan of 2 See also:Kings 6; in the Khabur district), Bit Adini (See also:Osroene), Kummukh (north-west corner and beyond) ; in the Roman period,, Osroene (q.v.), Mygdonia (in the east), and in Syriac" usage Beth 'Arbaye (between Nisibis and Mosul) ; in the Arab period, Diarbekr (Toe 'Abdin), Dias.

Rebi'a (Mygdonia), Diar Mudar (Osroene). ix. Roads.'—The routes of communication have probably changed little in the last 5000 ,years. It has not yet been proved that Edessa is an ancient city (see EDESSA: § 2) but it probably was, and its See also:

neighbour I;larran, the See also:tower of which can be seen from it, bears a name which seems to indicate its position as a See also:highway centre. (I) An obvious See also:series of routes followed the course of the rivers: from See also:Thapsacus (Dibse) down the Euphrates, from Jeziret ibn 'Omar down the Tigris, from Circesium up the Khabur. The Euphrates was crossed at Birejil (Tit Barsip?), or Jerablus (Carchemish ?), or Tell Ahmar (unidentified), or Thapsacus.10 (2) Probably the modern route from Samosata eastwards behind the Karaja Dagh to Diarbekr was also well known. The same is doubt-less true of the route from Osroene by Ras al-'Ain and Nasibin, and that by Veranshehr and Mardin to the Tigris. About other See also:cross-roads, such as those from Harran to Tell Shaddada on the lower Khabur, or from `Ana. by al-IJaclr to Mosul it is difficult to say. Functionally, Mesopotamia is the domain that lies between Babylonia and the related trans-Tigris districts on the one hand, and the west Asian districts of Maritime Syria and mstory; Asia Minor on the other. Its position has given it a Earliest long, complicated and exciting See also:history. The great Times. rivers, in later times theoretically regarded as its boundaries,. have never really been barriers (cf. e.g.

Winckler, Altorient. Forschungen, iii. 348), whence the vagueness of the geographic) terminology in all times. Its position, along with its character, has prevented it often or long, if ever, playing a really See also:

independent part. Who the earliest inhabitants of Mesopotamia in approximately historical times were is not yet clear. It is possible that its. 'Ritter, Erdkunde, xi. 279-492. 7 For the interpretation cf. Or. Lit.-Zeit. xi. 242-244.

On the interpretation see P. Dhorme, Rev. Bibl.(See also:

Jan., 1908). ' Ritter, Erdkunde,. xi. 265-278. 10 On these and other See also:crossing places, see Ritter, Erdkunde, x. 959-1004. connexion with the north, and Asia Minor, goes back to a very early date. It may be that some of the early north Babylonian kingdoms, such as See also:Kish, extended See also:control thither. The earliest Babylonian monarch of whose presence in Mesopotamia there is See also:positive evidence is Lugalzaggisi (before 2500 B.C.), who claims, with the help of En-lil, to have led his countless See also:host victorious to the Mediterranean. His See also:empire, if he founded one, was before long eclipsed, however, by the rising See also:power of the Semites. Excavation in Mesopotamia may in time See also:cast some See also:light on the questions whether the Semites really reached Babylonia by way of Mesopotamia,) when, and whom they found there, and whether they partly settled there by the way.

Whether Shaun- GI, Manishtusu and Remush (often called Uru-See also:

mush) really preceded, and to some extent anticipated, " See also:Sargon " i.e. Shargani-sharri, as L. W. King now 2 plausibly argues, is not certain; nor- whether the 32 kings who revolted and were conquered' by Manishtusu, as we now learn, were by the Mediterranean, as Winckler argued, or by the Persian Gulf, as King holds. That-Sargon was or became supreme in Mesopotamia cannot be doubted, since there is contemporary evidence that he conquered Amurru. The three versions of the proceedings of Sargon (Sharru-GI-NA) in Suri leave us in doubt what really happened. As he must have asserted himself in Mesopotamia before he advanced into the maritime district (and perhaps beyond: see SARGON), what is referred to in the Omens and the See also:Chronicle 26,472 may be, as Winckler argued (Or. Lit.-Zeit. 1907, See also:col. 296), an See also:immigration of new elements into Suri—in that See also:case perhaps one of the early representatives of the " Hittite " See also:group. According to the Omens text Sargon seems to have settled colonies in Suri, and suggestions of an anticipation of the later Assyrian policy of transportation have been found by King (op. cit.) under the rulers of this time, and there are evidences of lively intercommunication. Mesopotamia certainly felt the Sumero-Babylonian civilization early.

It was from the special type of See also:

cuneiform See also:developed there, apparently, that the later Assyrian forms were derived (Winckler, Altorient. Forsch. i. 86 seq.). What the " revolt of all lands " ascribed to the later part of Sargon's reign means is not yet clear; but he or his son quickly suppressed it. Mesopotamia would naturally See also:share in the wide See also:trade relations of the time, probably reaching as far as Egypt. The importance of Ilarran was doubtless due not only to its fame as a seat of the See also:Moon-See also:god Sin, honoured also west of the Euphrates, and to its political position, but also to its trade relations. Contemporary records of sales of slaves from Amurru are known. When the Semitic settlers of the See also:age of Sargon, whom it is now common with some See also:justice to See also:call Akkadians (see See also:SUMER), had become thoroughly merged in the See also:population, there appeared a new immigrant See also:element, the Amurru, whose advance as far as Babylonia is to be traced in the troubled history of the See also:post-Gudean period, out of the confusion of which there ultimately emerged the Khammurabi See also:dynasty. That the Amurru passed through Mesopotamia, and that some remained, seems most probable. Their god Dagan had a See also:temple at Tirqa (near `Ishara, a little below Circesium), the capital of Khana (several kings of which we now know by name), probably taking the place of an earlier deity. At Tirqa they had See also:month names of a See also:peculiar type. It is not improbable that the . See also:incorporation of this Mesopotamian kingdom with See also:Babylon was the work of Khammurabi himself.

Not quite so successful eventually was the similar enterprise farther north at Asshur [or Assur (q.v.)] on the east margin of Mesopotamia, although we do not know the immediate outcome of the struggle between Asshur and the first Babylonian king, Sumu-abi. Possibly the rulers of Babylon had a freer hand in a city that they apparently raised to a dominant position than the Semitic rulers of Asshur, who seem to have succeeded to men of the stock which we have hitherto called Mitanni, if we may See also:

judge ' On the theory that it was See also:climatic changes in Arabia that drove the Semites to seek new homes along the route mentioned above, see L. W. King, History of Sumer and Akkad (191o), which appeared after this article was written. 2 See the preceding note.from the names of Ushpia who, according to See also:Shalmaneser I. and Esarhaddon, built the temple, and Kikia who, according to Ashur-rem-nisheshu, built the city walla The considerable number of such names already found in First Dynasty records seems to show that See also:people of this See also:race were to be found at See also:home as far south as Babylonia. Whether they were really called Shubaru, as Ungnad suggests, we may know later. When Khammurabi's fifth successor saw the fall of the Amorite dynasty in consequence of an inroad of " See also:Hittites," these may have been Mesopotamian Shubaru-Mitanni; but they may, as Ungnad suggests, represent rather an- Hittite Times. cestors of the Hittites of later times. It is difficult in any case not to connect with this See also:catastrophe the carrying away to Khani of the See also:Marduk statue afterwards recovered by Agum, one of the earlier kings of the Kassite dynasty. Whether Hittites were still See also:resident at Khana we do not know. The earlier Kassite kings of Babylon still maintained the Amorite claim to " the four quarters; " but it is improbable that there was much force behind the claim, although we have a document from Khana dated under Kashtiliash. It is just as uncertain how long Asshur remained under the Babylonian See also:suzerainty of which there is evidence in the time of Khammurabi, and what the relation of Asshur to western Mesopotamia was under the early kings whose names have lately been recovered. All these matters will no doubt be cleared up when more of the many tells of Mesopotamia are excavated.

Only two have been touched: `Arban on the Khabur, where remains; of a See also:

palace of uncertain date, among other things an XVIII. dynasty See also:scarab, were found by See also:Layard in 1851, and Tell Khalaf, where the confluents join, and remains of the palace of a certain Kapar, son of •Hanpan of " Hittite " See also:affinities but uncertain date, were found by von Oppenheim in 1899. A long inscription of a certain Shamshi-See also:Adad [Samsi-See also:Hadad], extracts from which are quoted by See also:Delitzsch (Mitt. d. See also:Deutsch Or.-Gesellschaft No. 21 p. 5o), unfortunately cannot be dated exactly, or with certainty even approximately; but if Delitzsch and Ed. See also:Meyer are right, it belongs to a time not many generations after Agum recovered the Marduk statue. Shamshi-Adad's claims extend over the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates, and he says that he erected memorials of himself on the See also:shore of the Great Sea. The See also:mystery of the See also:Hyksos has not yet been solved; but it is not impossible that they had relations with Mesopotamia. After they had been driven out of Egypt (q.v.), when Ahmose, the officer of Tethmosis (Tbutmose) I., mentions Naharin (late 16th century), he does not say anything about the inhabitants. He seems to imply, however, that there was more than one See also:state. The first mention of Mitanni, as we saw, is under Tethmosis III., who clearly crossed the Euphrates. It is at least possible that common enmity to Mitanni led to a treaty with Assyria (under Ashur-nadin-akhe).4 Victorious expeditions into Naharin are claimed for Amenophis II., Tethmosis IV. and Amenophis III.

The Egyptian references are too contemptuous to name the rulers; but Sliaushatar may have begun his reign during the life-time of Tethmosis III., and from cuneiform See also:

sources we know the names of six other Mitanni rulers. As they all See also:bear See also:Aryan names, and in some of their See also:treaties appear Aryan deities (See also:Indra, See also:Varuna, Mithra, &c.), it is clear that Mesopotamia had now a further new element in its population, bearing apparently the name Kharri.5 Many of the dynasts in North Syria and Palestine in the time of Tushratta bear names of the same type. The most natural explanation is that See also:Aryans had made their See also:wax into the highlands east of Assyria, and thence bands had penetrated into Mesopotamia, peacefully or otherwise, and then, like the See also:Turks in the days of the Caliphate, founded dynasties. The See also:language of the Mitanni state, however, was neither Aryan nor Semitic, and may very well be that of the mysterious " Hittite " hieroglyphic See also:inscriptions (see HTTTITES). Mitanni was one of the great See also:powers, alongside of Egypt and Babylonia, able to send to Egypt the Ninevite 'See also:Ishtar; and at this time as much as at any ' Ungnad, Beitr. z. Assyr. VI. v. 13. 4 See e.g. P. Schnabel, See also:Stud. z. bab.-ass. Chron. p.

25 (1908). 5 Winckler has identified the Kharri with the Aryans, to whom he assigns a state in Armenia (Or. Lit: Zell., See also:

July 1910). other, we must think of common political relations binding the Now that Mesopotamia had passed out of the hands of districts east and west of the Euphrates. The king mentioned above (Shaushatar) conquered Asshur (Assur), and Assyria remained subordinate to Mitanni till near the middle of the 14th century, when, on the See also:death of Tushratta, it overthrew Mitanni with the help of'Alshe, a north Mesopotamian state, the See also:allies dividing the territory between them. The Hittite king's interference restored the Mitannite state as a See also:protectorate, but with a smaller territory, probably in the north-west, where it may have survived long. Assyria was now See also:free, and Ashur-uballit [Assur-yuballidh acc. to See also:Sayce] knew how to make use of his opportunities, and, in the words of his great See also:grandson, " See also:broke up the forces of the widespread Shubari " (AKA, p. 7,1.32 seq.). Knowing what we know of the colonizing power of the Assyrians, we may assume that among the " Mitanni " and other elements in the Mesopotamian. population there would now be an increase of people of " Assyrian " origin. On the tangled politics of this period, especially Mesopotamia's relations with the north-west, the Boghaz-Keui documents may be expected to throw a great See also:deal Qf light. We know already a little more of the chequered history of the See also:Amorites in the Naharin district, beset by great powers on three sides. When Mitanni See also:fell Babylon no doubt adhered to its older claims on Mesopotamia; but the Kassite kings could do little to contest the advance of Assyria, although several rectifications of the boundary between their See also:spheres are reported.

Mitanni's fall, however, had opened the way for others also. Hence when Ashur-uballit's grandson, Arik-den-See also:

ili (written Aremaeans PU.DI.ili), carried on the work of enforcing Assyria's claim to the heirship of Mitanni, he is described as conquering the warriors ' (?) of the Akhlame and the Suti. The references to these people, who practically make their first appearance in the Amarna See also:correspondence,2 show that they were unsettled bands who took See also:advantage of the loosening of authority to introduce themselves into various parts of the country, in this case Mesopotamia. Gradually settlements were made, the names of many of which are given by the various Assyrian kings who had at one time or another to assert or reassert supremacy over theln—such as Chindanu, Laqe, Subi along the South Euphrates boundary of Mesopotamia, and various districts bearing names compounded with Bit = See also:settlement (see above), such as Bit-Adini (nearly equal the later Osroene; see EDESSA), or Bit-Zamani in the north near Diarbekr. The specific name Aramaean first appears in the See also:annals of Tiglath-pileser I., unless we identify the Arimi of Shalmaneser I. in Tar `Abdin with the Aramu;3 but the name may probably with fitness be applied to a very large number of the communities mentioned from time to time. Their position in Mesopotamia must have been very like that of the Shammar at the See also:present time (see ad fin.). As they gradually adopted settled life in various parts of the country the- use of Aramaic spread more and more (see below, § " Persians "). Meanwhile Mesopotamia continued to be crossed and re-crossed by the endless See also:marches of the Assyrian kings (such as Adad-nirari, Shalmaneser I. and his son), See also:building Assyrian and rebuilding the Assyrian empire (see BABYLONIA Empire.

End of Article: MESOMEDES

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