The Euphrates According to Medieval Islamic Geographers

Abstract

Today, in the broad sense, the name given to the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates is Mesopotamia. It was founded the first cities and the first organized states on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris. One of the two rivers that make up Mesopotamia is the Euphrates and this river has found considerable space in the geography books of Arab scientists. The Euphrates word has taken place both in the old sources as a river name and as a good water source. The Euphrates River, considered to have been born from the heavens and has been regarded as a sweet and lush source of water like the rivers of heaven. The 8th and 14th centuries are regarded as the Golden Age of Islam in science. In this period, as in other branches of science, many works have been taken in the field of geography. Islamic geographers have portrayed the geographical features of the areas they visited in accordance with the understanding of that period. These works were also discussed with the Euphrates River maps and miniatures. In this study, the characteristics of cities taking place in and near the Euphrates River will be discussed with the expression of Islamic geographers. For this purpose the geographical works written between the X and XIV centuries will be examined and thus the Euphrates River will be tried to be revealed about a thousand years ago.

Keywords

• Historical geography,The Euphrates,Islamic geographers

References

1. Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Bakrī (1945). Mucam ma Isti’cam min Asma al Bilad. Alam al Kitab. Bairout, Lebanon Al-Idrisi (2002). Abu Abd Allah Mohammad al-Qurtubi al-Hasani al-Sabti, Kitab Nuzhat Al-Mushtaq, reprinted by Maktab al Saqafat al Diyniyye, Cairo, Egypt. Al-Baghdadi, Safi ad-Din Abd al-Mu'min Abd al Haqq (1954). Marasid al-Ittila ala Asma al-Amkina wa al-Biqa, A. Mohammed al Bacawi, Ed., Dar al-Ma'rifa, Beirout, Lebanon. Al-Himyari (1975). Mohammed bin Abd al-Mun’eem, Kitab al-Rawd al-Mitar, I. Abbas, Ed., Beirout. Lebanon, Al Maqdisi, Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhamad (1902). Ahsan al-Taqasim Fi Ma’rifat al-Aqaim. Leiden, Matb’t Brill. Al-Masʿudi, Abu l-Ḥasan ʿAli ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAli (1973). Muruj al-Dhahab wa-Maʿadin al-Jawhar, vol. 1-2, ed. Mohammad Muhyi al-Din ʿAbd al-Hamid; Dar al-Fikr, Beirout, Lebanon. Ibn Batuta, Abu ʿAbd al-Lah Mohammad ibn ʿAbd al-Lah l-Lawatī Ṭangi (1987). al-Rihla, ed. by Sheikh Mohammed Abd al Muneem al Arian and Mostafa al Qassas, Dar al Ihya al uloom, Beirout. Lebanon. Ibn Hawqal (1992). Surat al-Ard, Mansurat Dar Maktabat al-Haya, Beirout, Lebanon. Yaqut al-Hamawi (1977). Kitab mu'jam al-buldan, reprinted Dar Sadeer lil-Ṭibaʿah wa-al-Nashr, Beirout, Lebanon. Zakariya al-Qazwini (1849). Athar al-bilad ‘Aja'ib al-Makhluqat, F. Wüstenfeld, Ed., Göttingen.