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[German version] (Sumerian Idigna, Assyrian/Babylonian Idiqlat, Greek Τίγρης/ Tígrēs (Hdt. 1,189; 1,193; 2,150; 5,52; 6,20), Latin Tigris (Plin. HN 6,129 f. et passim), Arabic Diǧla, Turkish Dicle), at about 1850 km the second longest river of the Near East. The Euphrates [2] and the T. enclose the 'land between two rivers' called Mesopotamia. In Antiquity unclear ideas on the sources of the T. circulated. Assyrian inscriptions at the source cave of the Sebene locate its origin there. Plin. HN 6,127 f., who cites the etymology from Iranian tigri-, 'arrow', mentions a partly su…

[German version] (Μάσκας; Máskas). Xen. An. 1,5,4 locates the River M. south of the confluence of the Chabora ( Ḫabur) and the Euphrates and describes it as encircling the city of Corsote in the desert. It may well have been only a canal. Etymologically, it is perhaps connected with the Akkadian mašqû, ‘watering hole/place’. There was a Neo-Assyrian town called Mašqite in the north of Anatolia. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography R. D. Barnett, Xenophon and the Wall of Media, in: JHS 73, 1963, 4f. F. H. Weissbach, s.v. M., RE 14, 2069f.

[German version] Founder of a Babylonian family enterprise, often characterised as a firm. M.'s activities began under Darius [1] I. Evidence is provided by more than 830 cuneiform tablets from an archive in Nippur, which are dated between 454 and 404 BC. Most of them concern the enterprises of Ellil-šum-iddin und Rīmūt-Inurta, son and grandson of M. The family was involved in agriculture in the region of Nippur, e.g., in tenancy and subletting of land plots, leasing, tax collection, short-term mo…

[German version] Fortified location in the hills on the road from Mardin to Amida (Diyarbakır). Amm. Marc. 18,6,6 describes the location of M. in a forested region with winegrowing and orchards. According to Amm. Marc. 18,10,1 Šābuhr moved before the siege of Amida in AD 359 from Horre (Horren) via M. to Carcha (Kerh). Not. Dign. Or. 36,36 names the Cohors XIV Valeria Zabdenorum as occupation force. The name M. means ‘cold water in Aramaic. M. can not be localized exactly yet, but should probably be searched for near modern Ceyhan. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography L. Dillemann,…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Καιναί; Kainaí). Settlement on the western bank of the Tigris close to the confluence of the Lower Zab; according to Xen. An. 2,4,28 a large, flourishing polis; cf. also Κάναι in Steph. Byz.; its identity with the Neo-Assyrian Kannu near Assur is doubtful, see [1]. In the Bible it is attested as Kannē(h) (Ez 27,23) and located near Tekrit [2]. Its etymology is unclear; perhaps it is related to Aramaic gannā, ‘wall’. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography 1 F. R. Weissbach, s.v. Καιναί, RE 10, 1508 2 R. D. Barne…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Κορσωτή, Korsōtḗ). Xen. An. 1,5,4 mentions C. as a large city situated in the desert south of the confluence of the Chaboras ( Habur) and the Euphrates. He describes it as being surrounded by the river  Mascas, probably more of a canal. Attempts to locate it near Bāġūẓ or Hirbat ad-Dīnīya are dubious. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography R. D. Barnett, Xenophon and the Wall of Media, in: JHS 73, 1963, 3-5.

[German version] In Neo-Assyrian sources from the 9th cent. BC onwards, I. is a centre of viticulture, the mountainous area between  Ḥarran,  Amida (modern Diyarbakır) and Mardin in north-eastern Mesopotamia. In Babylonian the toponym is also still used later. Darius I defeated (Old Persian Izalā, Elamite Izzila) the Armenians in I. (TUAT 1, 433 § 29,53). In AD 359, the mons Izala (Amm. Marc. 18,6,12; 19,9,4) was the scene of Roman battles against the Persians. In Syrian and Byzantine texts (Bar Hebraeus; Theophylaktes Simocatta: Ἰζάλας/ Izáles) I. can also include the Mardin…

[German version] (Νάαρδα/ Náarda, also Νέερδα/ Néerda). Mesopotamian town on the Euphrates close to Sippar, exact location as yet unknown (Arr. FGrH 2,861 fr. 42; Ptol. Geog. 5,17,10); mainly inhabited by Jews, the Nehardea of the Talmud. The brothers Anilaeus and Asinaeus established their own Jewish rule in Mesopotamia from N. c. AD 20-35 (Jos. Ant. Iud. 18,9,1ff.). In the 2nd/3rd cents., N. was the seat of an important Jewish academy, whose most important representative was Samuel. N. was destroyed (by Odaenathus?) in AD 260, and gradually dwindled in importance. Kessler, Karlhein…

[German version] (Σωφηνή/ Sōphēnḗ; Byzantine also Τζοφηνή/ Tzophēnḗ). Region to the east of the Euphrates, opposite the Melitene and to the north of Commagene, Urartian Ṣūpā, Assyrian Ṣuppu; Syrian and Armenian documentation. S. was often administratively linked with Sophanene to the east. Geographically S. was usually considered part of Armenia. Kings of S. are documented from the 2nd cent. BC until 54 AD (Tac. Ann. 13,7). Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography L. Dillemann, Haute Mésopotamie Orientale et pays adjacents, 1962, 116-124  F. H. Weissbach, s. v. S., RE …

[German version] The name Assyria goes back to Assyrian māt-Aššur ‘land (of the city of)  Assur’. In the narrower sense, understood as the heartland of the Assyrian empire to the west and, above all, to the east of the Tigris (today approximately northern Iraq); in post-Assyrian times the term is often used in a wider sense. The Medes may have already taken over A. as the name of the conquered non-Babylonian regions of the former Assyrian empire. The Achaemenid inscriptions use Old Persian Aθurā (Accad. Aššur, Aramaic twr), partly more comprehensive…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Byzantium | Urarṭu | Christianity | Xenophon | Zenobia | | Commerce | Ḫattusa | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Legio | Limes | Limes | Mesopotamia | Pompeius (Μελιτηνή/ Melitēnḗ; Lat. Melitene). Name of a town and region in eastern Cappadocia. M. controlled the access to Elbistan and the near-by Euphrates crossing at Tomisa. Remains of the ancient town are found in the ruin field of Eski Malatya, while the Ancient Oriental settlement (inhabited from the Chalcolithic…

(Τηλεβόας; Tēlebóas). [German version] [1] Mythical people in western Acarnania See Teleboae. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) [German version] [2] Greek name of a river in Armenia Greek name for a river in Armenia described in Xen. An. 4,4,3 as beautiful but small. It is usually identified with the Karasu, an eastern tributary of the Euphrates in the Muh region. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen) Bibliography F. H. Weissbach, s. v. T. (3), RE 5 A, 313.

[German version] (Μυλίσσα/ Mylíssa, Μυλίττα/ Mylítta). Hdt. 1,131 reports on prostitution in Babylon in conjunction with the cult of M., the Babylonian Aphrodite, in which every unmarried Babylonian woman supposedly had to participate. This was the cult of the Babylonian goddess Mulliltu/Mullittu (Assyrian Mulissu; Aramaic mlsṯ; older reading Ninlil), the wife of Enlil (see [2] for earlier evidence from Babylonia). Hsch. also cites M. In Nicolaus of Damascus (FGrH 2, 332 F 4) she is encountered as Molís (Μολίς). In late antique Mandaic incantations she appears as Mulit. Kessler, Ka…

[German version] (Κοσσαῖοι; Kossaîoi). A mountain people of the Zagros that was divided into tribes, approximately in the area of modern  Luristan, cf. Latin Cossiaei (Plin. HN 6,134); Cossaei (Curt. 4,12,10). Kossaía as the name of a region is found in Diod. Sic. 17,111,5. The relationship to the Kíssioi and the Kissía region (Hdt. 5,49; 5,52; Diod. Sic.11,7,2) remains uncertain. The C. were probably identical to the Cassites ( Kaššu) whose clans infiltrated  Mesopotamia after the 17th cent. BC. Subsequently, a durable Cassitic dynasty, which retained certain Ca…

[German version] (Νήραβος/ Nḗrabos). Town in Syria (Nicolaus of Damascus FGrH 2,341 Fr. 17), modern Nairab south of Aleppo, Arama ic nrb, Neo-Assyrian Nirabu/ Nērebu, part of the province of Arpad. During archaeological investigations two steles with Aramaic funereal inscriptions of priests of the moon god Šahr (moon deity) were uncovered, as well as Babylonian cuneiform texts ( c. 560-500 BC) which attest to the business of a local family that lived temporarily (in exile) in a town in Babylonia that was also called N. Not to be confused with this N. …

[German version] [1] City in eastern Assyria This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Xenophon | Zenobia | Commerce | Limes | Pompeius City in eastern Assyria on the road leading to the Iranian highlands; settled since the end of the 3rd millennium BC (Urbilum), Assyrian Arbail(u), Greek Ἄρβηλα ( Árbēla) and the Ἀρβηλῖτις ( Arbēlîtis) region (Ptol. 6,1, 2; Plin. HN 6, 41), today Erbīl. A. was the centre of a cult of Ištar and the seat of the governor in both Middle and New Assyria. The temple in A. was particularly favoured under …

[German version] (Τόπαζος; Tópazos). Island, of which Pliny gives a detailed account, allegedly the place of origin of the name of the precious stone topaz. According to Plin.  HN 37,24;108 it was 300 stadia from the Arabian coast in the Red Sea, and  in the language of the Trogodytae T. means 'seek', since the fog-enshrouded island often had to be looked for by seafarers. It appears as an Indian island in Steph. Byz. s.v. Τοπάζιος. Kessler, Karlheinz (Emskirchen)

[German version] (Μάρδη/ Márdē, Μάρδις/ Márdis, Lat. Maride). Fortress on the southern edge of the Izala mountain range (Ṭūr Abdīn), modern Mardin. Apart from a dubious identification with the ancient Oriental settlement of Mardaman, there are no indications that M. was of major significance prior to late antiquity. In Amm. Marc. 19,9,4, M. is one of the castella praesidiaria against the Persians. Under Iustinianus (AD 527-565) M. was refortified (Procop. Aed. 2,4,14) and according to Byzantine, Syrian and Armenian sources, it continued to be an impor…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Christianity | Coloniae | Mesopotamia Settlement 40 km south-east of Edessa, old Oriental Ḫarrān(u), Greek Κάρραι; Kárrai, Latin Carrhae, Aramaic Ḥrn, modern Harran, important commercial centre and important cult centre of the moon god  Sin; documented since the 3rd millennium BC, Assyrian provincial capital and, from 611-610 BC, residence of the last Neo-Assyrian king; new temple construction under  Nabonid (finds of steles). In the biblical tradition, H. wa…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Sassanids | Syria | Xenophon | Zenobia | Commerce | India, trade with | Asia Minor | Limes | Pompeius | Rome (Νίσιβις/ Nísibis, Byz. Νισίβιν/ Nisíbin). Town in Mesopotamia, also Nesibis, Assyrian Naṣībīna, Arabian Naṣībīn, present-day Nusaibīn, probably ‘the pillars’ in Aramaic folk etymology. N. was situated in a strategically important position on the Ǧaġǧaġa river (Mygdonius), at the foot of the mountains of Mardin (Mons Izala, Ṭūr Abdīn). In Assyrian sources N. is mentioned f…