MESOPOTAMIA = Aram-naharaim (see Aram).

Mesopotamia is referred to in Acts 2:9, where it is evidently the well-known district between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris with which the name is generally associated, and also in Acts 7:2, where it is roughly parallel with ‘the land of the Chaldaeans’ in v. 4. The name ‘Mesopotamia’ represents the Hebrew Aram-Naharaim in the OT, which is usually rendered ‘Aram of the two rivers,’ but is more correctly Aram Naharim or Naharin, i.e. ‘Aram of the river-lands’ (Encyclopaedia Biblica i. 287). Mesopotamia reached, on the north, to the plains beneath the Masius range of hills. To the south its limits were about where Babylonia begins, at the so-called Median Wall, which runs from a little below Is (Hit), on the Euphrates, to a point just above Opis (Kadisiya), on the Tigris. It thus formed a deep triangle with the apex to the south and the base along the foot of the northern mountains. The country fell steadily from 1,100 ft. in the north to 65 ft. at its southern extremity, and consisted for the most part of a single open stretch of steppe-land. The river Chaboras (Khabur), entering the Euphrates from the east near Circesium, marks off the three divisions of Mesopotamia-(a) the northern tracts on its west side, (b) the similar tracts to east of it, and (c) the steppe-land stretching away south to the Median Wall. As to (a), the north-western tracts bore the name of Osrhœne, or Orrhœne, in Seleucid times, and the chief city of the district was Urfa, the Edessa of the Greeks and Romans. To the south of Urfa lie the ruins of Harran, and along the western bank of the Habor stretched Gauzanitis, the Hebrew Gozan, to which Israelites were deported by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:6). As to (b), the principal city of the north-eastern region was Nisibis, a busy trading centre and a place of frequent conflict between Roman and Persian armies. As to (c), the southern region of Mesopotamia contained several cities of importance. Among these may be mentioned Corsothe, Anatho, and Is (on the Euphrates), and Atrae and Caenae (on the Tigris). Along the banks of the two rivers, in this southern country, was a belt of cultivated land, outside of which the conditions were (for the most part) those of the Syrian Desert. Mesopotamia was constantly being crossed and traversed by armies and caravans in ancient times, and was repeatedly a scene of conflict between the nations of the West and of the Farther East. In the earliest times, its history was closely bound up with that of Babylonia on the south. The Babylonians held predominance for long periods, influencing the civilization to a very considerable extent. At the same time, the land lay open to Syria and Arabia, whose tribes were constantly breaking across its borders. From the Tel-el-Amarna tablets and certain Egyptian tribute-lists, it appears that a non-Semitic people, called Mitani, occupied the district of Naharin between 1700 and 1400 b.c. Harran was probably their capital city. After the Mitani supremacy, the country fell under the rule of the Assyrian kings, and in the 10th cent. b.c. seems to have become part of Assyria proper. When the Assyrian power declined, Mesopotamia was overrun (as it had been more or less all along) by Aramaean hordes from the west and south. Literature.-Encyclopaedia Biblica iii. 3050-3057; H. Winckler, History of Babylonia and Assyria, Eng. translation , 1907. A. W. Cooke.

Between two rivers

A province rendered remarkable for the first peopling of the earth after the deluge. The meaning of the word is, between two rivers—perhaps from Potamos, river.

This name signifies 'midst of the rivers.' It is the district lying between the rivers Euphrates and the Upper Tigris, especially in the N.W. It is first mentioned as the abode of Nahor and his family. Isaac's wife came from thence, and Jacob served Laban there. Mention is made of but one king of Mesopotamia, Chushanrishathaim, who ruled over Israel — no doubt a part of them — for eight years. Judges 3:8-10 . Mesopotamia became absorbed in the great nations, belonging successively to the Assyrians, Medes and Persians, Greeks, and Romans, and then the Turks, it is now Iraq. Genesis 24:10 ; Deuteronomy 23:4 ; 1 Chronicles 19:6 ; Acts 2:9 ; Acts 7:2 . See ARAM-NAHARAIM.

an extensive province of Asia, the Greek name of which denotes "between the rivers," and on this account Strabo says, οτι κειται μεταξυ του Ευφρατου και του Τιγρος , that "it was situated between the Euphrates and the Tigris." In Scripture this country is called Aram, and Aramea. But as Aram also signifies Syria, it is denominated Aram Naharaim, or the Syria of the rivers. This province, which inclines from the southeast to the north-west, commenced at 33 20' N. lat., and terminated near 37 30' N. lat. Toward the south it extended as far as the bend formed by the Jordan at Cunaxa, and to the wall of Semiramis which separated it from Messene. Toward the north, it comprehended part of Taurus and the Mesius, which lay between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The modern name, given by the Arabs to this part, is of the same import with the ancient appellation; they call it "isle," or, in their language, Al- Dgezera. In this northern part is found Osrhoene, which seems to have been the same place with Anthemusir. The northern part of Mesopotamia is occupied by chains of mountains passing from north-west to south-east, in the situation of the rivers. The central parts of these mountains were called Singarae Montes. The principal rivers were Chaboras, (Al Kabour,) which commenced at Charrae, (Harran,) east of the mountains, and discharged itself into the Euphrates at Circesium (Kirkisieh;) the Mygdonius, (Hanali,) the source of which was near Nisibis, and its termination in the Chaboras. The principal towns in the eastern part along the Tigris and near it, are Nisibis, (Nisibin,) Bezabde, (Zabda,) Singora, (Sindja,) Labbana on the Tigris, (Mosul,) Hatru, (Harder,) and Apamea-Mesenes. At some distance to the south, upon the Tigris and on the borders of Mesopotamia, was the town of Antiochia, near which commenced the wall that passed from the Tigris to the Euphrates, under the name of Murus Mediae, or Semiramidis. In the western part were Edessa, called also Callin-Rhae, (Orfa,) Charrae, (Harran,) Nicephorium, (Racca,) Circesium at the mouth of the Chaboras, Anatho, (Anah,) Neharda, (Hadith Unnour,) upon the right of the Euphrates. There are several other towns of less importance. According to Strabo, this country was fertile in vines, and afforded abundance of good wine. According to Ptolemy, Mesopotamia had on the north a part of Armenia, on the west the Euphrates on the side of Syria, on the east the Tigris on the borders of Assyria, and on the south the Euphrates which joined the Tigris. Mesopotamia was a satrapy under the kings of Syria. In the earliest accounts we have of this country, subsequent to the time of Abraham, it was subject to a king, called Cushan-Rishathaim, then perhaps the most powerful potentate of the east, and the first by whom the Israelites were made captive, which happened soon after the death of Joshua, and about B.C. 1400, Judges 3:8 . The name of this king bespeaks him a descendant of Nimrod; and it was probably of the Lower Mesopotamia only, or Babylonia, of which he was sovereign; the northern parts being in the possession of the Arameans. This is implied in the history of Abraham; who, when ordered to depart from his country, namely, Chaldea, in the southern part of Mesopotamia, removed to Charran, still in Mesopotamia, but beyond the boundary of the Chaldees, and in the territory of Aram. About four hundred years after Cushan-Rishathaim, we find the northern parts of Mesopotamia in the hands of the Syrians of Zobah; as we are told, in 2 Samuel x, that Hadarezer, king of Zobah, after his defeat by Joab, "sent and brought out the Syrians that were beyond the river" Euphrates. The whole country was afterward seized by the Assyrians; to whom it pertained till the dissolution of their empire, when it was divided between the Medes and the Babylonians. It subsequently formed a part of the Medo-Persian, second Syrian or Macedonian, and Parthian empires, as it does at the present day of the modern Persians. The southern part of Mesopotamia answers nearly to the country anciently called the land of Shinar; to which the Prophet Daniel 1:2 , refers, and Zechariah 5:11 . "On the fifth or sixth day after leaving Aleppo," says Campbell in his Overland Journey to India, "we arrived at the city of Diarbeker, the capital of the province of that name; having passed over an extent of country of between three and four hundred miles, most of it blessed with the greatest fertility, and abounding with as rich pastures as I ever beheld, covered with numerous herds and flocks. The air was charmingly temperate in the day time, but, to my feeling, extremely cold at night. Yet notwithstanding the extreme fertility of this country, the bad administration of government, conspiring with the indolence of the inhabitants, leaves it unpeopled and uncultivated. Diarbeker Proper, called also Mesopotamia from its lying between two famous rivers, and by Moses called PADANARAM, that is, ‘the fruitful Syria,' abounds with corn, wine, oil, fruits, and all the necessaries of life. It is supposed to have been the seat of the earthly paradise; and all geographers agree that here the descendants of Noah settled immediately after the flood. To be treading that ground which Abraham trod, where Nahor the father of Rebecca lived, where holy Job breathed the pure air of piety and simplicity, and where Laban the father-in-law of Jacob resided, was to me a circumstance productive of delightful sensations. As I rode along, I have often mused upon the contemptible stratagems to which I was reduced, in order to get through this country, for no other reason than because I was a Christian; and I could not avoid reflecting with sorrow on the melancholy effects of superstition, and regretting that this fine tract of country, which ought to be considered above all others as the universal inheritance of mankind, should now be cut off from all except a horde of senseless bigots, barbarous fanatics, and inflexible tyrants."

Between the rivers, the Greek name of the country between the Euphrates and the Tigris, called in Arabic, Al Jezira, the island. See ARAM 2, and PADAN-ARAM . In its fullest sense, Mesopotamia extended from the Persian Gulf to mount Taurus; but the name usually denotes only the tract above Babylonia, now called Dearbekr and celebrated for its exuberant fertility; while the part below, now Irak-Arabi, is sterile and without water. Mesopotamia was including the territories of the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, and Roman empires successively, and belongs now to that of the Turks. This region is associated with the earliest history of the human race both before and after the flood. Eden was not far off; Ararat was near to it on the north, and the land of Shinar on the south. The traveler here reaches what is truly "the Old World," and is surrounded by objects compared with which the antiquities of Greece and Rome are modern novelties. This was the home of the patriarchs who proceeded Abraham-Terah, Heber, Peleg, etc. Here Abraham and Sarah were born, and the wives of Isaac, and Jacob, and most of the sons of Jacob, the heads of the twelve tribes. Mesopotamia is also mentioned in Scripture as the abode of the first oppressor of Israel in the time of the judges, Judges 3:8-10 ; in the history of the wars of David, 2 Samuel 10:16 ; and as furnishing a delegation of Jews, and perhaps proselytes, to attend the Passover at Jerusalem, Acts 2:9 .

Seat of a Chaldean and a Syrian episcopal see. The Chaldean diocese was founded, 1852. There has been no bishop since Philip Abraham, shot by the Turks, 1915. The Syrian see, founded, 1863, has been vacant since the massacre of Right Reverend Flavian Malke, 1915.

See of the Latin and Syrian Rites. (1) In the Latin Rite the see is directly dependent on the Holy See. Founded at Ispahan, 1629, transferred to Baghdad, 1742, and raised to an archbishopric, 1848, it comprises the missions of Baghdad, founded, 1721, and entrusted to the Discalced Carmelites, and that of Mosul, dating from 1750 and placed in care of the Dominicans. The archiepiscopal residence is at Mosul. Francis Berre was appointed to the see, 1921, succeeding John Drure, archbishop from 1902. See also: Catholic-Hierarchy.Org (2) The see of the Syrian Rite was established in 1862, and comprises Baghdad and Bassorah. See also: Catholic-Hierarchy.Org