Editing Mesopotamia (section)

==Etymology==

The regional toponym ''Mesopotamia'' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɛ|s|ə|p|ə|ˈ|t|eɪ|m|i|ə}}, {{langx|grc|Μεσοποταμία}} '[land] between rivers'; {{langx|ar|بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن}} {{Transliteration|ar|Bilād ar-Rāfidayn}} or {{lang|ar|بَيْن ٱلنَّهْرَيْن}} {{Transliteration|ar|Bayn an-Nahrayn}}; {{langx|fa|میان‌رودان}} {{Transliteration|fa|miyân rudân}}; {{langx|syr|ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ}} {{Transliteration|syr|[[Beth Nahrain]]}} "(land) between the (two) rivers") comes from the [[ancient Greek]] root words {{lang|grc|μέσος}} ({{Transliteration|grc|mesos}}, 'middle') and {{lang|grc|ποταμός}} ({{Transliteration|grc|potamos}}, 'river')<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Mesopotamia |volume=18 |pages=179–187 |first=Hope Waddell |last=Hogg}}</ref> and translates to '(land) between rivers', likely being a [[calque]] of the older [[Aramaic]] term, with the Aramaic term itself likely being a calque of the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''birit narim''. It is used throughout the Greek [[Septuagint]] ({{circa|250 BC}}) to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic equivalent ''Naharaim''. An even earlier Greek usage of the name ''Mesopotamia'' is evident from ''[[The Anabasis of Alexander]]'', which was written in the late 2nd century AD but specifically refers to sources from the time of [[Alexander the Great]]. In the ''Anabasis'', Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the [[Euphrates]] in north [[Syria]].

The [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] term {{Transliteration|arc|biritum/birit narim}} corresponded to a similar geographical concept.<ref>{{citation |last1=Finkelstein |first1=J. J. |title=Mesopotamia |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=73–92 |year=1962 |doi=10.1086/371676 |jstor=543884 |s2cid=222432558}}.</ref> Later, the term ''Mesopotamia'' was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the [[Tigris]], thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of [[Iraq]] and southeastern [[Turkey]].<ref name=fosterpolingerfoster>{{citation |title=Civilizations of ancient Iraq |last1=Foster |first1=Benjamin R. |last2=Polinger Foster |first2=Karen |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-13722-3 }}</ref> The neighbouring [[steppe]]s to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the [[Zagros Mountains]] are also often included under the wider term ''Mesopotamia''.<ref name="canard">{{citation |last1=Canard |first1=M. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |year=2011 |editor1-last=Bearman |editor1-first=P. |chapter=al-ḎJazīra, Ḏjazīrat Aḳūr or Iḳlīm Aḳūr |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=Brill Online |oclc=624382576 |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C. E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth}}.</ref><ref name="wilkinson2000">{{citation |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Tony J. |title=Regional approaches to Mesopotamian archaeology: the contribution of archaeological surveys |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=219–267 |year=2000 |doi=10.1023/A:1009487620969 |issn=1573-7756 |s2cid=140771958}}.</ref><ref name="matthews2003">{{citation |last=Matthews |first=Roger |title=The archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and approaches |year=2003 |series=Approaching the past |location=Milton Square |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-25317-8}}.</ref>

A further distinction is usually made between ''Northern'' or ''[[Upper Mesopotamia]]'' and ''Southern'' or ''[[Lower Mesopotamia (region)|Lower Mesopotamia]]''.<ref name="miqueletal">{{citation |last1=Miquel |first1=A. |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |year=2011 |editor1-last=Bearman |editor1-first=P. |chapter=ʿIrāḳ |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=Brill Online |oclc=624382576 |last2=Brice |first2=W. C. |last3=Sourdel |first3=D. |last4=Aubin |first4=J. |last5=Holt |first5=P. M. |last6=Kelidar |first6=A. |last7=Blanc |first7=H. |last8=MacKenzie |first8=D. N. |last9=Pellat |first9=Ch. |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor2-first=Th. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor3-first=C. E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor4-first=E. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor5-first=W. P. |editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth}}.</ref> Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the ''Jazira'', is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to [[Baghdad]].<ref name=canard/> Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the [[Persian Gulf]] and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran.<ref name=miqueletal/>

In modern academic usage, the term ''Mesopotamia'' often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the [[Early Muslim conquests|Muslim conquests]], with names like ''Syria'', ''Jazira'', and ''Iraq'' being used to describe the region after that date.<ref name=fosterpolingerfoster/><ref name="bahrani">{{citation |last1=Bahrani |first1=Z. |title=Archaeology under fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East |pages=159–174 |year=1998 |editor1-last=Meskell |editor1-first=L. |chapter=Conjuring Mesopotamia: imaginative geography and a world past |location=London, England |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-19655-0 |author-link=Zainab Bahrani}}.</ref> It has been argued{{by whom|date=January 2025}} that these later euphemisms{{clarify|date=September 2021}} are [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments.<ref name=bahrani/><ref>{{cite journal|last=Scheffler|first=Thomas|year=2003|title='Fertile crescent', 'Orient', 'Middle East': the changing mental maps of Southwest Asia|journal=European Review of History|volume=10|issue=2|pages=253–272|doi=10.1080/1350748032000140796|s2cid=6707201 }}
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