Editing Tigris (section)

==Geography==
The Tigris is {{convert|1,750|km|mi|abbr=on}} long, rising in the [[Taurus Mountains]] of eastern [[Turkey]] about {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} southeast of the city of [[Elazığ]] and about {{convert|30|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} through Southeastern Turkey before forming part of the [[Syria-Turkey border]]. This stretch of {{convert|44|km|mi|abbr=on}} is the only part of the river that is located in Syria.<ref name="Isaev"/> Some of its affluences are Garzan, Anbarçayi, [[Batman River|Batman]], and the [[Great Zab|Great]] and the [[Little Zab]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.europeanwalledtowns.org/diyarbakir|title=Diyarbakir|website=europeanwalledtowns|language=en|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-date=2023-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025123209/https://www.europeanwalledtowns.org/diyarbakir|url-status=live}}</ref>

Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels. First, the artificial [[Shatt al-Hayy]] branches off, to join the Euphrates near [[Nasiriyah]]. Second, the Shatt al-Muminah and [[Majar al-Kabir]] branch off to feed the [[Central Marshes]]. Further downstream, two other [[distributary channel]]s branch off (the [[Al-Musharrah]] and [[Al-Kahla]]), to feed the [[Hawizeh Marshes]]. The main channel continues southwards and is joined by the [[Al-Kassarah]], which drains the Hawizeh Marshes. Finally, the Tigris joins the Euphrates near [[al-Qurnah]] to form the [[Shatt-al-Arab]]. According to [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris.<ref>Pliny: Natural History, VI, XXVI, 128-131</ref>

[[Baghdad]], the capital of [[Iraq]], stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of [[Basra]] straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of [[Mesopotamia]] stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the [[Sumer]]ians. Notable Tigris-side cities included [[Nineveh]], [[Ctesiphon]], and [[Seleucia on the Tigris|Seleucia]], while the city of [[Lagash]] was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2900 B.C.