The Euphrates According to Medieval Islamic Geographers

Year 2018, Volume: 10 , 261 - 268, 12.09.2018

Abdullah Balcıogulları

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

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