Part II

A glance at the map will show some of the reasons why civilization developed at so early a period in the Euphrates Valley. The main feature of the region is formed by the two streams that water it the Euphrates and Tigris and bring about the high degree of fertility which Herodotus emphasizes. ^[1] Of these rivers, the Euphrates the correct form of which is Purattu and described in texts as "the great river" is the stream that properly belongs to the southern district or Babylonia, while the Tigris or more properly Idiklat, pictured as "the rapid" stream, is the river of the northern district or Assyria.

Both rivers start in the mountain regions of Armenia, ^[2] but they are quite diverse in character. The Euphrates is on the whole a quiet and, in parts, a sluggish stream. It flows along in majestic dignity, and receiving many tributaries on its way while still in the mountains, proceeds first in a westerly direction as though making directly for the Mediterranean Sea but veers suddenly to the southeast, after which it receives only a few tributaries until it is joined by the Tigris in the extreme south.

Of its entire length of 1780 miles it is navigable for a short distance only, cataracts forming a hinderance in the north and, owing to the increasing sluggishness of the stream, sand banks in the south. As a consequence, it never became at any time an important avenue for commerce, rafts and wicker baskets, coated within and without with bitumen, being the only method of transportation which was possible under such circumstances.

The Tigris, though only 1146 miles long, is quite a different stream. After leaving its source in the mountains, it gains steadily in power, forcing its way through rugged clefts. It is joined by numerous tributaries before it reaches the plain, its volume being continually increased so that even when it reaches the alluvial soil of the south, its rapid course is not checked. It flows in a slightly fluctuating southerly direction, advances towards the Euphrates and recedes from it again until at last the two rivers join at Kurna and together, pour their waters as the Shatt el Arab or "Arabic River" into the Persian Gulf.

The Tigris is navigable from Diarbekr in the north to its junction with the Euphrates. Large rafts can be floated down to Baghdad and small steamers can ascend almost up to Mosul. The Tigris is, therefore, the avenue of commerce for Mesopotamia to use the conventional designation for the country and forms the link that connects Babylonia and Assyria through the Persian Gulf with India on the one hand, and Egypt and the Red Sea and the Mediterranean districts on the other.

The contrast presented by the two streams is paralleled by the diverse features distinguishing Assyria, the northern section, from Babylonia, the southern section. Assyria, with a length of about 350 miles and a width ranging from 190 to 300 miles, ^[3] is shut off to the north, northeast, and northwest by mountain ranges and retains for a considerable portion of its extent, and particularly towards the east, a rugged aspect.

The Kurdish Mountains run close to the Tigris for some distance below Mosul, though after that the region changes its character. Plains without any break succeed the hills, the soil becomes alluvial and the Tigris and its tributaries, swollen by the rains of winter, regularly overflow their banks and submerge entire districts. As a consequence of this overflow, to which also the united rivers were subject, and which until a canal system was perfected was also a source of danger to life and brought about much destruction, the southern region or Babylonia, with a length of about 300 miles and a maximum breadth of almost 125 miles, ^[4] developed an astounding fertility.

According to the statement of Herodotus, ^[5] grain yielded a return of "two hundred fold and even up to three hundred fold", while "the blade of the wheat plant and the barley plant is often four fingers in breadth, and the stalks of the millet and sesame are surprisingly tall". It would appear, indeed, that Babylonia was the home of cultivated cereals whence wheat and barley were disseminated throughout the ancient world.

The richness of the soil in Babylonia is due to its being a deposit made by the rivers after the overflowing waters during the rainy season have receded. This deposit which is still going on at the average rate of 90 feet per year may in ancient times have proceeded more rapidly, but, at all events, in this increase we have a fairly definite standard by means of which to determine the age of Babylonian settlements through the distance at present separating cities from the Persian Gulf that once lay on or near that great body of water. So, e.g., a city, Eridu, which we know once lay on the Persian Gulf, is now some 130 miles away.

Taking 90 feet as the average yearly increase, this would take us back some 7000 years for the period when Eridu still lay on the Persian Gulf. Since it is also known that at one time the Euphrates and Tigris entered the Persian Gulf independently, it follows that the entire district below their present juncture at Kurna is land made during the historical period.

The natural conditions, therefore, such as the presence of two rivers that bring about unusual fertility, the fact that one of them is an avenue of commerce from the extreme north to the Persian Gulf, and that this gulf again constitutes a means of access to distant lands, explain why this region should have been at so early a period the seat of a population which took up agriculture as a pursuit and under conditions which with a minimum of effort yielded a maximum of sustenance.

To these conditions there is to be added as a third factor the climate, which, although according to our views intolerable, is not unhealthy and is precisely of the kind suitable for a population that cannot adequately protect itself against cold and inclemency. There are two seasons in Babylonia a rainy season, which sets in in November and lasts until March or April, when the overflow of the rivers begins, which reaches its height in May and ceases about the middle of June, and a dry season, which lasts from March to November.

The heat during this season becomes excessive according to European ideas, but it is regarded as pleasant by the natives, to whom even the moderate cold of the rainy season is decidedly more vexatious. The greater part of the year one can thus live in the open air an important item to a people in a primitive state of culture.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Book I, 193.

[2]:

See Lehmann-Haupt, Die historische Semiramis und ihre Zeit., (Tubingen 1910), p. 16 seq.

[3]:

A total area of some 75,000 square miles, or somewhat smaller than the state of Nebraska.

[4]:

A total area of about 23,000 square miles, or about the size of West Virginia.

[5]:

Book I, 193.