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See also:TIGRIS (Old See also:Persian Tigrd, Diklat of the See also:cuneiform See also:inscriptions, Hiddekel of the Old Testament, Diglath of the See also:Targum, Digla of the See also:Arabs) , a See also:great See also:river of western See also:Asia, rising from two See also:principal See also:sources. The more western of these is about io m. S. of See also:Lake Geuljik (Coichis of the ancients), at an See also:altitude of 5050 ft., some 2 or 3 M. only from the channel of the See also:Euphrates, which here forms a See also:peninsula by a great See also:bend (38° 10' N., approximately 39° 20' E.). The eastern source, which joins the See also:main stream at Til (37° 45' N., 41° 46' E.), is itself divided into two branches, or rather it may be said to consist of a network of small streams, the most northerly of which has its origin in about 38° 40' N. to the See also:west of Lake See also:Van, and See also:close to the headwaters of the See also:Murad Su, the eastern See also:branch of the Euphrates, while the most easterly point is situated in a region about 42° 50' E., southward of the same lake. The two sources together drain the region See also:south as the Euphrates drains the region See also:north of the See also:Taurus mountains. After the junction of the two branches the river pursues a winding course, generally south-See also:east, for about Boo m. to the point of See also:union with the Euphrates at Garmat See also:Ali, whence it is known as the Shatt-el-Arab until it empties into the Persian Gulf some 70 M. See also:lower down. For some five or six centuries before 1908—1909 the junction with the Euphrates was at Korna, some 30 M. above Garmat Ali. On the western See also:side there are no tributaries at the See also:present See also:day. As See also:late as A.D. 1200, however, the Arabian geographers mention a tributary, the Tharthar, navigable in See also:flood See also:time, which flowed from the Jaghigagh branch of the Khabur, a tributary of the Euphrates, to the Tigris. Ormsby, in 1832, also reported a river, the Asds See also:Amir, as coming down from the Sinjar hills and joining the Tigris near Kal-'at Shergat, about 35° 30' N.; but this seems now to be a dry See also:bed. On the eastern side of the river, on the other See also:hand, there are several important tributaries descending from the Persian mountains: the Khabur, a little north of 37° N., navigable for rafts; the Great Zab, at 36° N., just below Nimrud, the See also:ancient See also:Calah; the Little Zab, about 35° 15' N.; the 'Adhem at 34° N. and the very large and important Diyala, a little below See also:Bagdad, at 33° 15' N. The course of the Tigris is much shorter than that of the Euphrates, about 115o m. as compared with 1800 in., but its See also:volume of See also:water is greater, at least in its lower course. At Bagdad it has an See also:average breadth of about 200 yards and a current in flood time of about 41. M. per See also:hour. It is navigable for steamers to a point a little above the mouth of the Great Zab, about 30 M. south of See also:Mosul, at.which point See also:navigation is blocked by two ancient dams, erected, apparently, to See also:control the river for the See also:Assyrian See also:city of Calah, the rums of which are called Nimrud by the natives after these dams, which they conceive to be the See also:work of that mythical See also:hero. Were it not for these dams steamers might reach Mosul itself, at an See also:elevation of 353 ft. above the Persian Gulf. Two lines of steamers, an See also:English and a See also:Turkish, furnish an inadequate service between See also:Basra and Bagdad, but there is no See also:steam navigation on the river above the latter city. Small sailing See also:craft navigate upwards as far as Samarra; above this all navigation is downward, and by raft. For rafts the river is navigable from Diarbekr and is termed by the natives " the cheap cameleer." The rafts used are the so-called kelleks, of See also:wood supported on inflated skins, which are broken up at Bagdad, the wood sold and the skins carried back by See also:caravan. Near the source of the Tigris, at Arghana-Ma'den, are See also:copper mines. In the neighbourhood of Diarbekr is See also:iron. Below Mosul, for some distance, occur sulphurous and bituminous springs. There are also in that neighbourhood famous See also:marble quarries. This See also:part of the river's course, the ancient See also:Assyria, is also a See also:rich agricultural region. From a little above the confluence of the Great Zab downward, the See also:banks of the river are absolutely uninhabited, and the river flows through a See also:desert until Tekrit is reached. Beginning shortly below Tektit there are indications of considerable canalization, both for the purpose of irrigating See also:country remote from the river, and also of shortening the course of the river for navigation. In ancient times the country on both sides of the river was well irrigated below this point, the See also:waters of the Tigris were under thorough control, and it and its lower tributaries, the 'Adhem and the Diyala, were made, by means of huge canals, to furnish great water-ways for the country between it and the Persian hills eastward. Of these canals the best known, and probably the greatest, was the Nahrawan, which, leaving the Tigris, on its eastern side, above Samarra, over too m. north of Bagdad, rejoined it below Kut-el-Amara, an equal distance to the south. None of these canals is serviceable at the present time, and few carry water in any part of their course, even in flood time. A little south of Samarra the stony See also:plateau of See also:Mesopotamia ends, and the alluvial See also:plain of See also:Irak, ancient Babylonia, begins. Here the See also:palm groves begin also, and from this point to a little beyond Bagdad the shores of the river are well cultivated. At the point of entering the alluvial plain the bed of the Tigris seems to be lower than that of the Euphrates, so that the canals run from the latter to the former stream. At Bagdad the Tigris and Euphrates are less than 35 m. apart, then they recede again, the Tigris bending eastward, until, below the Shatt-el-See also:Hai, they are separated by almost too m. From Bagdad downward, the course of the Tigris is peculiarly See also:serpentine and shifting. The mud brought down by it, calculated at 7150 lb an hour at Bagdad, is not deposited in marshes to See also:form See also:alluvium, as in the See also:case of the Euphrates, but although in flood time the river becomes at places an inland See also:sea, rendering navigation extremely difficult and uncertain, the bulk of the mud is deposited in banks, shoals and islands in the bed of the river, and Is finally carried out into the Persian Gulf. At Kut-el-Amara, approximately See also:half way from Bagdad to Korna, the bed of the Tigris is higher than that of the Euphrates, and accordingly from this point downward its waters flow into the Euphrates and not See also:vice versa. Shortly below Kut-el-Amara all traces of ancient canalization on the east side vanish, and it would appear as though much of that region, now largely under water at flood time, constituted an inland sea. On the west side, however, there are the remains of several canals or channels, some still carrying water, one of which, the Shattel-Hai, leaving the Tigris at Kut-el-Amara, and emptying into the Euphrates at Nasrieh, is still navigable. Indeed, in the time of the See also:caliphate this was the channel of the Tigris, and on its banks stood the important city of Wasit. At a much more remote See also:period also the great city of See also:Lagash stood by or on its banks. In the time of the See also:Sassanian See also:kings, however, as at the present time, the Tigris occupied a more easterly course. Indeed, the lower course of the Tigris, even more than that of the Euphrates, has always been subject to See also:change. Below the Shatt-el-Hai the country on both sides of the river is practically a swamp, except where the palm groves have formed See also:land. The Tigris begins to rise about the See also:middle of See also:November and is highest in May and See also:June, and lowest in See also:September and See also:October, The principal towns on its banks are Diarbekr (anc. Amida), on the western branch; See also:Bitlis, on the eastern branch; Mosul; Tekrit, a See also:town dating from Persian days, said to have been founded by See also:Shapur I. son of See also:Ardashir I., formerly important, but now relatively insignificant; Samarra, also called Samira, the See also:capital of the caliphate from A.D. 836 to 892, a See also:place of See also:pilgrimage of the Shia Moslems, containing magnificent tombs of two of their Imams the tenth and See also:eleventh, with another much venerated See also:shrine of the twelfth, as well as some interesting ruins; and Bag-dad. While the Tigris never played the same role historically as the Euphrates, numerous remains of antiquity are to be seen along its course. Cuneiform inscriptions and bas-reliefs have been found at the sources of both the western and eastern Tigris, as well as at various points on the cliffs along the upper course of both branches. Opposite Mosul are the ruins of ancient See also:Nineveh, the last capital of Assyria, and 20 M. below that the ruins of Calah, the second capital; while 35 M. farther south, on the opposite See also:bank, lies Kal'at-Shergat, the ancient See also:Assur, the See also:original name-place and capital of the Assyrian See also:Empire. A little south of Samarra are found remains of the Median See also:Wall, which stretched south-west towards the Euphrates near Sahlawych, marking the edge of the Babylonian alluvial plain. In this neighbourhood also stood the ancient Opis. At Bagdad, besides the memorials of the caliphate, may be seen a few remains of the old Babylonian city of Bagdadu, and a dozen See also:miles southward, on the east bank of the river, stands Takhti-Khesra, the royal See also:palace at See also:Ctesiphon, the most conspicuous and picturesque ruin in all Babylonia, opposite which, on the other side of the river, are the See also:low ruin mounds of ancient See also:Seleucia. See W. F. See also:Ainsworth, Researches in Assyria (1838) ; R. F. See also:Chesney, Expedition to the Euphrates and Tigris (185o); W. F. Ainsworth, The Euphrates Expedition (1888); See also:Guy Le See also:Strange, " Description of Mesopotamia and Bagdad " (See also:Journal of the Royal See also:Asiatic Society, 1895) ; E. Sachau, Am Euphrat and Tigris (1900. (J. P. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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