Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

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al-Rass
(376 words)

, the name in Arabic geographical writing for the Araxes River (Perso-Turkish form Aras, Armenian Eraskʿ, Georgian Rak̲h̲s̲h̲ī, modern Aras). It rises in what is now eastern Turkey near Erzurum and flows generally in an eastwards direction for 1,072 km/670 miles into the Caspian Sea. Its middle reaches, from a point near Mount Ararat, today form the boundary between the former Azerbaijan SSR and Persia, with the lower stretch receiving the Kur River and flowing through the Mūḳān [q.v.] steppes and what is now wholly Azerbaijani territory.

The early Arabic name al-Rass led the Musl…

Cite this page
Bosworth, C.E., “al-Rass”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_6246>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007



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