Hope Waddell Hogg

“ Hatra successfully withstood siege, however, and Hadrian abandoned Mesopotamia, setting the boundary at the Euphrates. Again for half a century there is not much to relate. Then, when Vologaeses, yielding to his growing discontent, took advantage of the death of Antoninus to invade Armenia the Romans were victorious (164) , and after the storming of places such as Nicephorium, Edessa, Niṣibīs, western Mesopotamia was once more Roman as far as the Khābūr, Carrhae becoming a free city and Osroene a dependency. ”

“ It was next besieged by al-Manṣūr’s brother; but the battle between the brothers was fought at Naṣībīn. It was decisive, but there were further risings, involving Mesopotamia. [39]
An inevitable effect of the reign of Islām had been that the kindred language of the Arabs gradually killed the vernacular Syriac of Mesopotamia (see Edessa) as the alien Greek and Persian had shown no tendency to do, and the classical period (4th to 8th centuries) of the only Mesopotamian literature we know, such as it is, useful but uninviting, came to an end (see Syriac Literature) . ”

“ 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 foot of the mountains. On the other hand, since the spurs of the Taurus bring the winter cold a long way south, and the cold increases from west to east as we leave the mild coast of the Mediterranean, far down into the Mesopotamian plain the influence of the snow-covered ridges can be felt, and in the higher parts of the plain snow and ice are not infrequent ”

“ By 1185–1186 Saladin had made Egypt supreme over all these principalities, thus achieving what the XVIIIth and XIXth Egyptian dynasties had attempted in vain. Mesopotamia remained in the hands of the Ayyūbite family till the appearance of the Mongols. The petty principalities were unable to unite to resist the terrible attack, and Jezīra, Edessa, Naṣībīn, Māridīn, &c., fell in 1259–60. The leading men of Ḥarrān emigrated into Syria, the rest were carried into slavery, and the ancient town was laid in ruins. It was the Mamluk rulers of Egypt that checked the death-bringing flood. ”

“ Mesopotamia would naturally share in the wide trade relations of the time, probably reaching as far as Egypt. The importance of Ḥarrān was doubtless due not only to its fame as a seat of the Moon-god Sin, honoured also west of the Euphrates, and to its political position, but also to its trade relations. ”

“ The most natural explanation is that Aryans had made their way into the highlands east of Assyria, and thence bands had penetrated into Mesopotamia, peacefully or otherwise, and then, like the Turks in the days of the Caliphate, founded dynasties. The language of the Mitanni state, however, was neither Aryan nor Semitic, and may very well be that of the mysterious “Hittite” hieroglyphic inscriptions (see Hittites) . Mitanni was one of the great powers, alongside of Egypt and Babylonia, able to send to Egypt the Ninevite ’Ishtar ”

“ The rolling plains north of the ʽAbd al ʽAzīz Sinjār mountain wall are intersected by the many streams of the Khābūr system (the Arab geographer Mustaufī speaks of 300 feeders) , which under favourable political and administrative conditions would produce a marked fertility. At Naṣībīn (Nisibis) 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 banks of the rivers (on which see Euphrates, Tigris) . ”

“ In modern times it is often Extent. used for the whole Euphrates-Tigris country. That would provide a useful name for an important geographical unit, but is too misleading. In view of historical and geographical facts there is much to be said for applying the name Mesopotamia to the country drained by the Khābūr, the Belīkh, and the 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. ”

“ 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 judge from the names of Ushpia who, according to Shalmaneser I. and Esarhaddon, built the temple, and Kikia who, according to Ashur-rem-nisheshu, built the city wall. [25] The considerable number of such names already found in First Dynasty records seems to show that people of this race were to be found at home as far south as Babylonia. ”

“ Measured on the Tigris Mesopotamia would stretch from somewhere between Jezīret-ibn-ʽOmar and Mōṣul to somewhere below Tekrīt.
In the tract defined, physical changes unconnected with 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 Samsāṭ and, Jezīret-ibn-ʽOmar to the alluvial plain seems to divide itself naturally into three parallel belts, highland watershed district, undulating plains and steppe. ”

“ When Phraates II. turned the Scythians against himself, however, even Mesopotamia suffered from the plunderers (Joh. Antioch, in Müller iv. 561) . The immigration of Arabs must have been going on for long. About this time they even founded a dynasty in Aramaean Osroene (see Edessa) .
Under Mithradates II. Mesopotamia was a definite part of the Parthian empire, of which the Euphrates became the western boundary ”

“ 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 Shaushatar may have begun his reign during the lifetime of Tethmosis III., and from cuneiform sources we know the names of six other Mitanni rulers. As they all bear Aryan names, and in some of their treaties appear Aryan deities (Indra, Varuna, Mithra, &c.) , it is clear that Mesopotamia had now a further new element in its population, bearing apparently the name Kharri. ”

“ The lost territory, however, was recovered by Phraates III., and Mesopotamia was guaranteed to Parthia by the treaties of Lucullus and Pompey (66 B.C.) . It was traversed, however, several times by Roman troops crossing from Armenia to Syria, and Parthia’s declaration of war against Armenia involved it with Rome. Gabinius crossed the Euphrates (54) ; but the command was assumed by Crassus, who, though he seized Ichnae, &c., and Raqqa (Raḳḳa) , fell near Carrhae (53) , and the Parthian dominion was confirmed. ”

“ Nabonidus’s was found in 1906 some 15–20′ W. of Eski-Ḥarran, a little nearer to it than to Hmeira, which is west of Eski-Ḥarran an hour and a half north-east of the ruins of Ḥarran. 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. Fraser (Short Cut to India, p. 134) insists that in the undulating plains the direct rainfall is quite sufficient for agricultural purposes. ”

“ The new régime brought welcome relief to the Christian part of the population, for the Arabs took no note of their orthodoxies or heterodoxies. (Moawiya is said to have rebuilt the dome of the great church at Edessa after an earthquake in 678.) Fortunately for Mesopotamia the seats of the factions which immediately broke the peace of Islam were elsewhere ”

“ The fragmentary nature of the records does not enable us to follow the steps by which Cyrus became master of Mesopotamia, in which he probably met with little or no resistance. How much of Mesopotamia was involved in the revolt of what the Persian inscription calls Assyria (Athur) is not clear. Nor does it appear with certainty to which of the Persians. twenty satrapies into which, according to Herodotus, the Persian empire was divided, Mesopotamia belonged ”

“ Successfully Nomad Arabs. displacing their forerunners, they made themselves at home in the Syrian steppe—until their possession was in turn disputed by a later emigrant from Arabia, for whom they finally made room by moving on into Mesopotamia, over which they spread, driving before them their predecessors the Ṭai (whose name the Mesopotamian Aramaeans had adopted as a designation for Arab in general) , partly north of the Sinjār, partly over the Tigris. Others they forced to abandon the nomadic life, and settle by the Khābūr (e.g. the Jebur) or the Euphrates. ”

“ It appears to have denoted the territory above Babylonia stretching from Anshan in the south-east north-westwards, across the Tigris-Euphrates district, indefinitely towards Asia Minor. At an early time it seems to have formed along with Anshan a distinct kingdom.
Strabo (xvi. 746) makes the south limit of Mesopotamia the Median wall; Pliny (v. 24 § 21) seems to extend it to the Persian Gulf. The Latin term naturally varied in meaning with the changing extent of Roman authority. For example, under Trajan Mesopotamia reached the gulf and was bounded by Assyria and Armenia. ”

“ For some years the Porte has been applying steady pressure on the nomads to induce them to settle, by increasing the number of military posts, by introducing Circassian colonies, as at Ras al-ʽAin, sometimes by forcible settlement. More land is thus being brought under cultivation, the disturbing elements are being slowly brought under control, and life and property are becoming more secure. ”

“ In autumn the withered weeds are torn up by the wind and driven immense distances.
vi. Fauna. [17] —The following abound: wild swine, hyaena, jackal, cheetah, fox; gazelle (in herds) , antelope species (in the steppe) ; jerboa, mole, porcupine, and especially the common European rat (in the desert) ; bat, long-haired desert hare. The following are rare: wild ass; beaver, said to have been observed on the Euphrates; wolf, among others a variety of black wolf (Canis lycaon) , said to be found in the plains; lion, said to roam as far as the Khābūr. ”

“ Security is what the country chiefly needs. Hence its primary interest in the railway scheme, with a view to agricultural development and perhaps the growth of cotton; Sir W. Willcocks’ irrigation schemes had not up to 1910 affected “Mesopotamia” directly. Apparently the real problem is one of population adequate to Present Time. effect the improvements demanded. ”

“ Bab. Letters, No. 872, obv. l. 10) , and Aramaic notes on cuneiform documents begin to appear. Weights with Aramaic inscriptions (the oldest from the reign of Shalmaneser IV., 727–22) were found at Calah. By the Achaemenian period Aramaic had become the international language, and was adopted officially.
How Mesopotamia was affected by the passing of Persian armies on their way to suppress revolts in Syria or Egypt, or to conquer Greece, we do not know ”

“ Such are Bīrejīḳ, Jerāblūs, Tell Aḥmar, Ḳāl ʽat en-Najm, Bālis, Ḳarkīsīya (Qarqisiya, Circesium) , on the Euphrates; Ḳuyunjiḳ, Nimrūd on the Tigris; Khorsābād on a small tributary; ʽArbān, Tell Khalaf, on the Khābūr. The interesting oasis town el-Ḥaḍr (Hatra) is near the Tharthār. 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 ʽIshāra, a few miles below Ḳarḳīsiyā, are referred to below (§ 4) . ”

“ Id) , on the Euphrates; Jezīret ibn ʽOmar, Mōṣul (q.v.) , Tekrīt, on the Tigris; Edessa (q.v.) , Ḥarrān (q.v.) ; on confluents of the Belīkh; Vērānshehr (Tela) , Rās al-ʽAin (Rhesaena) , Mardin (half-way up the mountain wall) , and Nasībīn (Assyr. Nasibina Nisībis) , on confluents of the Khābūr; Sinjār (Singara) on the Tharthār. Villages are more numerous than has often been supposed. Von Oppenheim counted in the district west of Edessa and Ḥarrān, in a stretch of two days’ march, 300 flourishing villages.
At one time, however, Mesopotamia was teeming with life. ”

“ Klio, vi. 223 n. 3) . ↑ See G. J. F. Gutbrod, Zeitsch. f. Assyr. vi. 26–33; cf. M. Streck, Klio, vi. 223 n. l. ↑ See E. R. Bevan, House of Seleucus, i. 219–222, and references given there. ↑ The earliest inscription in Syriac yet known dates from A.D. 77, and was found at Serrin (opposite Ḳalʽat en-Najm) by von Oppenheim. ”