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Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Mesopotamia mĕsˌəpətāˈmēə [key] [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian...

Haran, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Haran or Harran both: häränˈ [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, now in SE Asian Turkey, 24 mi (39 km) SE of Şanlıurfa. It was an important center on the trade route from Nineveh to Carchemish an...

Mari, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Mari mäˈrē [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia (modern Syria). It is on the middle Euphrates, south of its junction with the Habor (Khabur). The site was discovered by chance in the early 1930s by A...

Kish, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Kish kĭsh [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia, in the Euphrates valley, 8 mi (12.9 km) E of Babylon and 12 mi (19 km) east of the modern city of Hillah, Iraq. It was occupied from very ancient times, ...

Babylon, ancient city, Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Babylon băbˈəlŏn [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia. One of the most important cities of the ancient Middle East, it was on the Euphrates River and was north of the cities that flourished in S Mes...

Eridu

(Encyclopedia)Eridu āˈrĭdo͞o [key], ancient city of Sumer, Mesopotamia, near the Euphrates, S of Ur (in present-day S Iraq). Excavations conducted from 1946 to 1949 revealed that Eridu was the earliest known se...

Sargon, king of Akkad

(Encyclopedia)Sargon särˈgŏn [key], king of Akkad in Mesopotamia (reigned c.2340–c.2305 b.c.). By conquest he established a great empire that included the whole of Mesopotamia and extended over Syria and Elam,...

Jarmo

(Encyclopedia)Jarmo: see Mesopotamia.

Harran

(Encyclopedia)Harran: see Haran, Mesopotamia.

Lagash

(Encyclopedia)Lagash shĭrpo͝orˈlə [key], ancient city of Sumer, S Mesopotamia, now located at Telloh, SE Iraq. Lagash was flourishing by c.2400 b.c., but traces of habitation go back at least to the 4th millenn...