Difference between revisions of "Mesopotamia"

<p> an extensive province of Asia, the [[Greek]] name of which denotes "between the rivers," and on this account [[Strabo]] says, οτι κειται μεταξυ του Ευφρατου και του Τιγρος , that "it was situated between the [[Euphrates]] and the Tigris." In [[Scripture]] this country is called Aram, and Aramea. But as [[Aram]] also signifies Syria, it is denominated Aram Naharaim, or the [[Syria]] of the rivers. This province, which inclines from the southeast to the north-west, commenced at 33 20' N. lat., and terminated near 37 30' N. lat. Toward the south it extended as far as the bend formed by the [[Jordan]] at Cunaxa, and to the wall of [[Semiramis]] which separated it from Messene. Toward the north, it comprehended part of [[Taurus]] and the Mesius, which lay between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The modern name, given by the Arabs to this part, is of the same import with the ancient appellation; they call it "isle," or, in their language, <em> Al- Dgezera. </em> In this northern part is found Osrhoene, which seems to have been the same place with Anthemusir. The northern part of [[Mesopotamia]] is occupied by chains of mountains passing from north-west to south-east, in the situation of the rivers. The central parts of these mountains were called Singarae Montes. The principal rivers were Chaboras, (Al Kabour,) which commenced at Charrae, (Harran,) east of the mountains, and discharged itself into the Euphrates at Circesium (Kirkisieh;) the Mygdonius, (Hanali,) the source of which was near Nisibis, and its termination in the Chaboras. The principal towns in the eastern part along the [[Tigris]] and near it, are Nisibis, (Nisibin,) Bezabde, (Zabda,) Singora, (Sindja,) Labbana on the Tigris, (Mosul,) Hatru, (Harder,) and Apamea-Mesenes. At some distance to the south, upon the Tigris and on the borders of Mesopotamia, was the town of Antiochia, near which commenced the wall that passed from the Tigris to the Euphrates, under the name of <em> Murus Mediae, </em> or Semiramidis. In the western part were Edessa, called also Callin-Rhae, (Orfa,) Charrae, (Harran,) Nicephorium, (Racca,) Circesium at the mouth of the Chaboras, Anatho, (Anah,) Neharda, (Hadith Unnour,) upon the right of the Euphrates. There are several other towns of less importance. According to Strabo, this country was fertile in vines, and afforded abundance of good wine. According to Ptolemy, Mesopotamia had on the north a part of Armenia, on the west the Euphrates on the side of Syria, on the east the Tigris on the borders of Assyria, and on the south the Euphrates which joined the Tigris. Mesopotamia was a satrapy under the kings of Syria. </p> <p> In the earliest accounts we have of this country, subsequent to the time of Abraham, it was subject to a king, called Cushan-Rishathaim, then perhaps the most powerful potentate of the east, and the first by whom the [[Israelites]] were made captive, which happened soon after the death of Joshua, and about B.C. 1400, Judges 3:8 . The name of this king bespeaks him a descendant of Nimrod; and it was probably of the [[Lower]] Mesopotamia only, or Babylonia, of which he was sovereign; the northern parts being in the possession of the Arameans. This is implied in the history of Abraham; who, when ordered to depart from his country, namely, Chaldea, in the southern part of Mesopotamia, removed to Charran, still in Mesopotamia, but beyond the boundary of the Chaldees, and in the territory of Aram. About four hundred years after Cushan-Rishathaim, we find the northern parts of Mesopotamia in the hands of the [[Syrians]] of Zobah; as we are told, in 2 Samuel x, that Hadarezer, king of Zobah, after his defeat by Joab, "sent and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river" Euphrates. The whole country was afterward seized by the Assyrians; to whom it pertained till the dissolution of their empire, when it was divided between the [[Medes]] and the Babylonians. It subsequently formed a part of the Medo-Persian, second [[Syrian]] or Macedonian, and [[Parthian]] empires, as it does at the present day of the modern Persians. The southern part of Mesopotamia answers nearly to the country anciently called the land of Shinar; to which the [[Prophet]] Daniel 1:2 , refers, and Zechariah 5:11 . </p> <p> "On the fifth or sixth day after leaving Aleppo," says [[Campbell]] in his <em> Overland [[Journey]] to India, </em> "we arrived at the city of Diarbeker, the capital of the province of that name; having passed over an extent of country of between three and four hundred miles, most of it blessed with the greatest fertility, and abounding with as rich pastures as I ever beheld, covered with numerous herds and flocks. The air was charmingly temperate in the day time, but, to my feeling, extremely cold at night. Yet notwithstanding the extreme fertility of this country, the bad administration of government, conspiring with the indolence of the inhabitants, leaves it unpeopled and uncultivated. Diarbeker Proper, called also Mesopotamia from its lying between two famous rivers, and by [[Moses]] called PADANARAM, that is, <em> ‘the fruitful Syria,' </em> abounds with corn, wine, oil, fruits, and all the necessaries of life. It is supposed to have been the seat of the earthly paradise; and all geographers agree that here the descendants of [[Noah]] settled immediately after the flood. To be treading that ground which [[Abraham]] trod, where [[Nahor]] the father of [[Rebecca]] lived, where holy Job breathed the pure air of piety and simplicity, and where [[Laban]] the father-in-law of [[Jacob]] resided, was to me a circumstance productive of delightful sensations. As I rode along, I have often mused upon the contemptible stratagems to which I </p> <p> was reduced, in order to get through this country, for no other reason than because I was a Christian; and I could not avoid reflecting with sorrow on the melancholy effects of superstition, and regretting that this fine tract of country, which ought to be considered above all others as the universal inheritance of mankind, should now be cut off from all except a horde of senseless bigots, barbarous fanatics, and inflexible tyrants." </p>

<p> [[Mesopotamia]] is referred to in Acts 2:9, where it is evidently the well-known district between the rivers [[Euphrates]] and [[Tigris]] with which the name is generally associated, and also in Acts 7:2, where it is roughly parallel with ‘the land of the Chaldaeans’ in v. 4. The name ‘Mesopotamia’ represents the [[Hebrew]] <i> [[Aram-Naharaim]] </i> in the OT, which is usually rendered ‘Aram of the two rivers,’ but is more correctly <i> [[Aram]] Naharim </i> or <i> Naharin, i.e. </i> ‘Aram of the river-lands’ ( <i> Encyclopaedia Biblica </i> i. 287). Mesopotamia reached, on the north, to the plains beneath the Masius range of hills. To the south its limits were about where [[Babylonia]] begins, at the so-called [[Median]] Wall, which runs from a little below Is (Hit), on the Euphrates, to a point just above Opis (Kadisiya), on the Tigris. It thus formed a deep triangle with the apex to the south and the base along the foot of the northern mountains. The country fell steadily from 1,100 ft. in the north to 65 ft. at its southern extremity, and consisted for the most part of a single open stretch of steppe-land. </p> <p> The river Chaboras (Khabur), entering the Euphrates from the east near Circesium, marks off the three divisions of Mesopotamia-( <i> a </i> ) the northern tracts on its west side, ( <i> b </i> ) the similar tracts to east of it, and ( <i> c </i> ) the steppe-land stretching away south to the Median Wall. As to ( <i> a </i> ), the north-western tracts bore the name of Osrhœne, or Orrhœne, in Seleucid times, and the chief city of the district was Urfa, the [[Edessa]] of the [[Greeks]] and Romans. To the south of Urfa lie the ruins of Harran, and along the western bank of the [[Habor]] stretched Gauzanitis, the Hebrew Gozan, to which [[Israelites]] were deported by the king of [[Assyria]] (2 Kings 17:6). As to ( <i> b </i> ), the principal city of the north-eastern region was Nisibis, a busy trading centre and a place of frequent conflict between [[Roman]] and [[Persian]] armies. As to ( <i> c </i> ), the southern region of Mesopotamia contained several cities of importance. Among these may be mentioned Corsothe, Anatho, and Is (on the Euphrates), and Atrae and Caenae (on the Tigris). [[Along]] the banks of the two rivers, in this southern country, was a belt of cultivated land, outside of which the conditions were (for the most part) those of the [[Syrian]] Desert. </p> <p> Mesopotamia was constantly being crossed and traversed by armies and caravans in ancient times, and was repeatedly a scene of conflict between the nations of the West and of the [[Farther]] East. In the earliest times, its history was closely bound up with that of Babylonia on the south. The [[Babylonians]] held predominance for long periods, influencing the civilization to a very considerable extent. At the same time, the land lay open to [[Syria]] and Arabia, whose tribes were constantly breaking across its borders. From the Tel-el-Amarna tablets and certain [[Egyptian]] tribute-lists, it appears that a non-Semitic people, called Mitani, occupied the district of Naharin between 1700 and 1400 b.c. Harran was probably their capital city. After the Mitani supremacy, the country fell under the rule of the [[Assyrian]] kings, and in the 10th cent. b.c. seems to have become part of Assyria proper. When the Assyrian power declined, Mesopotamia was overrun (as it had been more or less all along) by Aramaean hordes from the west and south. </p> <p> Literature.- <i> Encyclopaedia Biblica </i> iii. 3050-3057; H. Winckler, <i> History of Babylonia and Assyria </i> , Eng. translation, 1907. </p> <p> A. W. Cooke. </p>