MESOPOTAMIA, from Greek mesos, middle, and polanths,.river: a geographical term applied to the lying between the Euphrates and Tigris in Western Asia. The Arabs call those rivers El-Frat and Shatt respectively; the latter is also called Ed-Dijleh in its lower course. The boundaries of this region (which forms no single political di vision) are not very definite; roughly speak ing, it includes all (Turkish) territory south of Diarbekr and running parallel with the Persian frontier down to the gulf. As regarded by geographers, it is hounded on the north by the Armenian Taurus, on the east by the Iranian frontier mountains, on the south and west by the Syrian Steppes, and the Persian Gulf on the southeast. The territory is di vided into the three vilayets of Mosfil, 35,130 square miles; Bagdad, 54,540 square miles; and Basra, 53,580 square miles; total, 143,250 square miles. The population of Mesopotamia is gen erally stated to be about 2,000,000, but com petent observers consider 1,300,000 to he nearer the mark. The country to which the name properly applies as extending between the two rivers has a gradual fall of nearly 1,000 feet from the spurs of the Taurus range to an old coastline south of Hit, whence an almost un broken plain stretches to the Persian Gulf. The natives give the name of El Jezireh (the island) to the upper or northwestern portion, and that of Irak Arabi (the ancient Babylon) to the lower or southeastern section. This lat ter, indeed, is often excluded as being beyond the confines of Mesopotamia proper. Low ranges of hills break the great plain of Upper Mesopotamia; between them the Khabur and its tributaries flow to the Euphrates, through a desolate region that was once thickly popu lated. The mountain district bordering the plain and stretching to the Persian frontier forms part of uKurdistan,s a mere name that has no concrete geographical existence, being mostly comprised in the vilayet of Diarbekr and belonging mainly to Mesopotamia. Ethni cally it includes the Kurdish and the Arab nomad tribes — respectively of Iranian and Semitic stock. Upper Mesopotamia is rich in grain, wine and pasturage; the lower is flat, dry and unfruitful. Between the Khabur and the Euphrates lies the Biblical Aram-Naha raim, or Syria of the Two Waters, also called Padan-Aram, or Syria of the Plain. It is mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 24 and 27). The Greek title was probably not in use till after Alexander the Great invaded the East. The soil consists of a sandy clay of excellent agri cultural properties; only where water fails is it incapable of cultivation. Its remarkable fertil ity is shown by the fact that it still remains unexhausted after having supported through many centuries the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires. The number and vastness of the ruins that lie scattered over this region from Babylon to Nineveh still bear silent testi mony to its former flourishing condition. Since the cuneiform inscriptions gathered from these ruins have yielded up their secret to the re searches of modern science, we have learnt with certainty that the plains of Mesopotamia were the scenes of successive civilizations, rivaled in splendor and antiquity only by those of ancient Egypt. To-day, in certain localities, may be found lions, leopards, wild asses, boars and gazelles.
Mesopotamia is essentially a land of origins; so far as we know it cradled the human race and nurtured it for centuries until a new era was introduced by the Flood incidents, which are recorded not only in the Hebrew Scrip tures, but also in the cuneiform inscriptions. Its early history is one of constant struggles for supremacy between contending nations. Meso potamia and its adjacent plains have been asso ciated with some of the most important turn ing-points of human history; for milleniums these lands contained the capitals of great world-empires and have been closely connected with the most thrilling epochs of history. Even in the World War of 1914-18, Mesopo tamia— by reason of the Bagdad Railway schemes — played a role the Importance of which is as yet but inadequately recognized, for that railroad was the keystone in the Ger man aspirations toward a world-empire. The Mesopotamians sprang from the Chaldmans, the primitive inhabitants; from the Cushites, who in the reign of Nimrod built the cities of Edessa and Nisibis; and from the descendants of Shem, of the tribe of Thara. The Hebrew race took its rise from this land when Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees and settled in Canaan. It was also in this plain of Shinar that the confusion of tongues occurred. Baby lonia was the mother of astronomy, and the 12 divisions on the dials of our clocks originated there, while the influence of Hammurabi's famous laws has penetrated down the ages into the legal codes of modern times through the intricate systems of Greek and Roman legislators. Mesopotamia was originally a
part of Nimrod's donunions, the founder of Calneh or Nippur. After an interval of more than 700 years (2000 ac.) Cushan Rishathaim reigned in Mesopotamia, who extended his ter ritory over the Euphrates. The Israelites, who then possessed Palestine, were compelled to pay him tribute for the space of eight years. In the Golden Age of the Assyrian power (790 ac.) Mesopotamia was entirely subjected to that empire, and suffered the fate of its subse quent conquerors. Trajan brought it under Roman dominion in 106 A.D., but the Persians did not permit the Romans to remain long in undisturbed possession, for it was a constant cause of war between the Roman and Persian empires, and at last jovian surrendered it to the Persians in 363 A.D. When the Arabs in 651 established a new empire upon the ruins of the Sassanide kingdom, Mesopotamia was also obliged to submit to the storm. In 1040 it fell into the hands of the Seljuks. From that time it had many rulers in rapid succession. Genghiz Khan made himself master of it in 1218, but in 1360 it fell into the hands of Tur Ali Bey. Timur conquered it 40 years later, and in 1514 it was incorporated in the Persian Empire under Ismael Sophi. In 1554, however, the Persians were compelled to surrender more than half of it to the Turks; and though they again recovered the lost portion in 1613, they were unable to withstand the attacks of Amurath IV, who united this in 1637, with many other provinces, to his empire. Despite its vicissitudes and the wars fought on its soil, the country remained rich and prosperous until the battle of Kadisia (635 A.D.) placed it at the mercy of the Arabs. Assyria and Babylonia were the wealthiest countries of antiquity, and Mesopotamia was the richest .part of the great Persian Empire. In olden times Babylonia was perfectly irrigated, but the wonderful_system of canals fell into ruins under the Turks. As the nomads pressed forward the peasants were driven from their lands, and the great irriga tion works were neglected, and the Euphrates, no longer controlled, spread out into wide fever-bearing marshes. The work of devasta tion commenced by the Arabs was completed by Tartars, Mongols and Turks, with the result that one of the most fertile regions in the world became practically a desert abandoned to nomads. Arabs now form the majority of the population, though the original inhabitants are still represented by Kurds, Yezidis or *devil worshipers,* Nestorians, Chaldmans or Roman Catholic Aramceans and Jacobites in the north; and by Salians in the south. There are about 80,000 Arabic-speaking Jews resident in Mesopotamia who guard with reverence the traditional tombs of Joshua near Bagdad, of the prophet Ezekiel near the banks of the Euphrates, and of Ezra the Scribe on the Tigris near Kurnah. Besides its wealth of biblical associations, Mesopotamia is a land of sacred memories to hundreds of .millions of Mohammedans. Two gilded domes on the splendid mosque at Kazmain cover the tombs of eminent teachers; this and the mosque at Samarra are Sf :A shrines. A mile away, on the left bank of he Tigris, the stately Hanifi mosque of the Sunnis at Muaththam, and the famous mosque of Abd ul Kadir is in Bagdad. The tomb of Mohammed's barber, Salman Pik, is near the ruined arch of Ctesiphon. The holy Mohammedan cities of Kerbela and Nejif are near the banks of the Euphrates, to which thousands of embalmed corpses are brought by pilgrims every year from India and Persia for interment. Under the blighting misrule of the Turk Mesopotamia has become one of the most desolate countries on earth, swarming with vermin and insects. What little manufac ture is carried on is used for home consumption. 'Sugar, cloth, coffee, iron, indigo and copper are imported; the chief exports are dates, wool, cereals, gum, rice and hides. The foreign trade is mainly with Great Britain, India and Persia. Passengers and merchandise are carried down the Tigris from Diarbekr to Bagdad on rafts of inflated sheepskins. Sailing boats are used below Samara, while from Bagdad to Basra on the gulf river steamers ply. Steamers can navigate the Euphrates as far up as Meskineh. The principal towns are Diarbekr, Urfa (Edessa), Harran, Mosfil and Bagdad. Basra, on the Shatt el-Arab (the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates from Kurna) is the port of transhipment from. river to ocean craft. Mesopotamia has .the evil reputation of being the home of the bubonic plague, and British mission doctors have labored there for many years to grapr'c with that disease and the deadly cholera.