iii. Character of Surface.^[1]—(1) The tract between the Belikh and the Euphrates is in its middle section exceedingly fertile, as is implied in the name Anthemusia, and according to v. Oppenheim (Z. d. Gesellsch. f. Erdkunde, 36, 1901, p. 80) the same is true of the southern portion also. The plain extending from Urfa to a dozen miles below Iglarran has a rich red-brown humus derived from the Nimrid Dagh east of Edessa. (2) The rolling plains north of the Abd al 'Aziz Sin'§ .r mountain wall are intersected by the man streams of the lihabur system (the Arab geographer Mustaufi speaks of 300.feeders), which under favourable political and administrative conditions would produce a marked fertility. At Nasibin (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). It consists mainly of grey dreary flats covered with selenite; and a little below the surface, ypsum. 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. Climate.^[3]—Mesopotamia combines strong contrasts of climate, and isla connecting link between the mountain region of western Asia and the desert of Arabia. At Der ez-Zor, for example, the heat is intense. (1) In the steppe, during the sandstorms which frequently blow from the West Arabian desert the temperature may rise to 122° F. On the other hand, in winter the warm currents comin in from the Persian Gulf being met to a large extent by northeiily currents from the snow-covered tracts of Armenia, are condensed down on to the plain and discharge moisture enough to cover the ravel steppes with spring herbage. (2) In the higher plains, in mill winter, since the high temperature air from the gulf is drawn up the valleys of the Euphrates and the Tigris there may be, e.g. at Mosul, a “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 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 lain the influence of the snow covered ridges can be felt, and in the higher parts of the plain snow and ice are not infrequent; and although there is no point of sufficient altitude to retain snow for long, the temperature -may fall as low as 14° F., especially if the cold north winds are blowing. The cycle of vegetation begins in November. The first winter rains clothe the plain with verdure, and b the beginning of the year various bulbous plants are in bloom. The full summer development is reached in June. By the end of August, everything-is burnt up; August and September are the low-water months in the rivers, March to May the time of flood.

v. Flora.^[4]—(1) Botanical lists have been published by Von Oppenheim (Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf, ii. 373–388) of a collection made in 1893 containing 43 entries for Mesopotamia, and by E. Herzfeld (Herbaraufnahmen aus Kalʽat-Serkat-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 zone of Mesopotamia: wheat, barley, rice (e.g. at Sarūj, the Khābūr), millet, sesemum (for oil, instead of olive), dura (Halrus vor hum and H. bicolor); lentils, peas, beans, vetches; cotton, hemp, safflower, tobacco; Medicago sativa (for horses); cucumber, melons, water-melons, figs (those of Sinjar famed for sweetness), dates (below, ʽAna and Tekrit); 'a few timber trees; lane and white poplar (by streams), willow and sumach (by the Eiiiphrates). The sipes of Ḳaraja-Dāgh, J. ʽAbd el-ʽAziz and Sinjār are wooded, but not now the nel hbourhood of Nisibis. (3) In the steppe the vegetation is that which prevails in similar soil from Central Asia to Algeria; but many of the arborescent plants that grow in the rockier and more irregular plateaux of western Asia, and especially of Persia, have been reported as missing. Endless masses of tall weeds, belonging to a few species, cover the face of the country large Cruciferae, Cynareae and Umbelliferae—also large quantities of liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra and echinata) and Lagonychium, and the white ears of the Imperata. In autumn the withered weeds are torn up by the wind and driven immense distances.

vi. Fauna.^[5]—The following abound: wild swine, hyaena, jackal, cheetah, fox; gazelle (in herds), antelope species (in the steppe); jerboa, mole, orcupine, and especially the common European rat (in the desert); bat, lon -haired desert hare. The following are rare: wild ass; beaver, saidg 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. On the Euphrates are the following: vulture, owl, raven, &c., also the falcon (Tinnanculus alaudarius), trained to hunt. Among game birds are: wild duck and goose, partridge, francolin, some kinds of dove, and in the steppe the buzzard. The ostrich seems almost to have disappeared. Large tortoises abound, and, in the ʽAin el-ʽArus pool, resh-water turtles and carp. Of domestic animals in the steppe the first place belongs, to the camel; next come goat and sheep (not the ordinary fat-tailed variety); the common buffalo 'is often kept by the Arabs and the Turkomans on the Euphrates and the Tigris; on the Euphrates is found the Indian zebu.

vii. Towns.^[6]—The towns that have survived are on the rivers. Such are Samsat (see Ṣamosata), Raḳḳa .(Nicephorium) above the mouth of the Belikh, Dér ez-Z6r, a rising town on the right bank, where there is (since 1897) a stone bridge, ʽAna (on an island; see ANA), Hit (Is, Bab. Id), on the Euphrates; Jeziret ibn ʽOmar, Mosul (q.v.), Tekrit, on the Tigris; Edessa (q.v.), Harran (q.v.); on con fluents of the Belikh; Véranshehr (Tela), Ras al-ʽAin (Rhesaena), Mardin (half-way up the mountain wall), and Nasibin (Assyr. Nasibina Nisibis), on con fluents of the Khabflr; Sinjar (Singara) on the Tharthar. Villages are more numerous than has often been supposed. Von Oppenheim counted in the district west of Edessa, and Ḥarran, in a stretch of two days' march, 300 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 Caliphate times. Such are Birejiḳ, Jerablus, Tell Ahmar, Kal ʽat en-Najm, Balis, Karkisiya . (Qarqisi a, Circesium), on the Euphrates; Kuyunjik, Nimrud on the Tigris; Khorsabad on a small tributary; ʽArban, Tell Khalaf, on the Khābūr. The interesting oasis town el-Hadr (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 ʽIshara, a few miles below Karkisiya, are referred to below (§ 4). At Anaz(＝Dur of Tiglathpileser IV.) was found in 1901 a slab (Pognon, Inscripl. sém. de la Syrié, Plate xxvi. No. 59) with a bas-relief and an -inscription of the governor of Dfir, Mushézib-Shamash.^[7] The stele referred to below (§ 7, end) as being probably^[8] Nabonidus's was found in 1906 some 15–20′ W. of Eski-Harran, a little nearer to it than to Hmeira, which is west of Eski-Harran an hour and -a half north-east of the ruins of Harranf 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 (Shaft Cut to India, p. 134) insists that in the undulating plains the direct rainfall is quite sufficient for agricultural purposes.

viii. Political Divisions.-On the whole the natural lie of. the country has been reliected in the political divisions, whichihave of course varied in detail. We only mention some of those most often occurring. In the pre-Persian period, besides those referred to elsewhere, we may cite Kashyari (Tir ʽAbdin), Guzanu (Gozan of 2 Kings xvii. 6; in the Khabfir district), Bit Adini (Osroene), Kummukh (north-west corner and beyond); in the Roman period, Osroene (q.v .), , My donia (in the east), and in Syriac' usage Beth: ʽArbaye (between lgisibis and Mosul); in the Arab period, Diarbekr (Tir 'Abdin), Diar Rebi'a (Mygdonia), Di5.r'Mudar (Osroene).

ix. Roads.^[9]—The routes of communication have probably chan d little in the last 5000 Vyears., It has not et been proved that Edessa is an ancient city (see EDESSA: § zll but it probably was, and its neighbour Harran, the tower ofiwhich can be seen"from it bearsva name which seems to indicate its position as a highway? centre. (1) An obvious series of routes followed the course of the rivers: from Thapsacus (Dibse) down the Euphrates, from Jeziret ibn 'Omar down the Tigris, from Circesium u the Khablir. The Euphrates was crossed at Birejik (Til Barsip ?), or jerablus (Carchemish P), 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 doubtless true of the route from Osroene by Reis al-'Ain and Nasibin, and that by Véranshehr and Mardin to the Tigris. About other cross-roads, such as those from Harran to Tell Shaddada on the lower Khabiir, or from 'Ana by al-Hadr to Mosul it is difficult to say.