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Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning 'between two rivers') was an ancient region located in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to modern-day Iraq and parts of Iran, Syria, Kuwait, and Turkey and known as the Fertile Crescent and the cradle of civilization.

The 'two rivers' of the name refer to the Tigris and the Euphrates and the land was known as 'Al-Jazirah' (the island) to the Arabs as a fertile land surrounded by water. The term "Fertile Crescent" was coined by Egyptologist J.H. Breasted (l. 1865-1935) in 1916 to describe the region at the north-end of the Persian Gulf, associated with the biblical Garden of Eden.

The Cradle of Civilization

Unlike the more unified civilizations of Egypt or Greece, Mesopotamia was a collection of varied cultures whose only real bonds were their script, their gods, and their attitude toward women. The social customs, laws, and even language of the Sumerian people differs from the Akkadian Period, for example, and cannot be assumed to correspond to those of the Babylonian Civilizations; it does seem, however, that the rights of women (during some periods), the importance of literacy, and the pantheon of the gods were indeed shared throughout the region, though the gods had different names in various regions and periods.

As a result of this, Mesopotamia should be more properly understood as a region that produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single civilization. Even so, Mesopotamia is known as the "cradle of civilization" primarily because of two developments that occurred there, in the region of Sumer, in the 4th millenium BCE:

the rise of the city as recognized today.

the invention of writing (although writing is also known to have developed in Egypt, in the Indus Valley, in China, and to have taken form independently in Mesoamerica).

The invention of the wheel is also credited to the Mesopotamians and, in 1922 CE, the archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley discovered "the remains of two four-wheeled wagons, [at the site of the ancient city of Ur] the oldest wheeled vehicles in history ever found, along with their leather tires" (Bertman, 35). Other important developments or inventions credited to the Mesopotamians include, but are by no means limited to, domestication of animals, agriculture and irrigation, common tools, sophisticated weaponry and warfare, the chariot, wine, beer, demarcation of time into hours, minutes, and seconds, religious rites, the sail (sailboats), and legal codes. Orientalist Samuel Noah Kramer, in fact, has listed 39 `firsts' in human civilization that originated in Sumer. These include:

The First Schools, The First Case of `Apple Polishing', The First Case of Juvenile Delinquency, The First ` War of Nerves', The First Bicameral Congress, The First Historian, The First Case of Tax Reduction, The First ` Moses', The First Legal Precedent, The First Pharmacopoeia, The First `Farmer's Almanac', The First Experiment in Shade-Tree Gardening, Man's First Cosmogony and Cosmology, The First Moral Ideals, The First `Job', The First Proverbs and Sayings, The First Animal Fables, The First Literary Debates, The First Biblical Parallels, The First `Noah', The First Tale of Resurrection, The First `St. George', The First Case of Literary Borrowing, Man's First Heroic Age, The First Love Song, The First Library Catalogue, Man's First Golden Age, The First `Sick' Society, The First Liturgic Laments, The First Messiahs, The First Long-Distance Champion, The First Literary Imagery, The First Sex Symbolism, The First Mater Dolorosa, The First Lullaby, The First Literary Portrait, The First Elegies, Labor's First Victory, The First Aquarium.

Archaeological excavations starting in the 1840s CE have revealed human settlements dating to 10,000 BCE in Mesopotamia that indicate that the fertile conditions of the land between two rivers allowed an ancient hunter-gatherer people to settle in the land, domesticate animals, and turn their attention to agriculture and the development of irrigation. Trade soon followed, and with prosperity came urbanization and the birth of the city. It is generally thought that writing was invented due to trade, out of the necessity for long-distance communication, and for keeping more careful track of accounts.

There were over 1,000 deities in the pantheon of the gods of the Mesopotamian cultures.

Mesopotamia was known in antiquity as a seat of learning, and it is believed that Thales of Miletus (l. c. 585 BCE, known as the 'first philosopher') studied there. As the Babylonians believed that water was the 'first principle' from which all else flowed, and as Thales is famous for that very claim, it seems probable he studied in the region.

Intellectual pursuits were highly valued across Mesopotamia, and the schools (devoted primarily to the priestly class) were said to be as numerous as temples and taught reading, writing, religion, law, medicine, and astrology. There were over 1,000 deities in the pantheon of the gods of the Mesopotamian cultures and many stories concerning the gods (among them, the creation myth, the Enuma Elish). It is generally accepted that biblical tales such as the Fall of Man and the Great Flood (among many others) originated in Mesopotamian lore, as they first appear in Mesopotamian works such as The Myth of Adapa and the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest written story in the world. The Mesopotamians believed that they were co-workers with the gods and that the land was infused with spirits and demons (though `demons' should not be understood in the modern, Christian, sense).

The beginning of the world, they believed, was a victory by the gods over the forces of chaos but, even though the gods had won, this did not mean chaos could not come again. Through daily rituals, attention to the deities, proper funeral practices, and simple civic duty, the people of Mesopotamia felt they helped maintain balance in the world and kept the forces of chaos and destruction at bay. Along with expectations that one would honor one's elders and treat people with respect, the citizens of the land were also to honor the gods through the jobs they performed every day.

Jobs

Men and women both worked, and "because ancient Mesopotamia was fundamentally an agrarian society, the principal occupations were growing crops and raising livestock" (Bertman, 274). Other occupations included those of the scribe, the healer, artisan, weaver, potter, shoemaker, fisherman, teacher, and priest or priestess. Bertman writes:

At the head of society were the kings and priests served by the populous staff of palace and temple. With the institution of standing armies and the spread of imperialism, military officers and professional soldiers took their place in Mesopotamia's expanding and diverse workforce. (274)

The earliest beer receipt in the world comes from Mesopotamia, known as the Alulu Receipt (c. 2050 BCE), written in the city of Ur. The early brewers of beer and wine, as well as the healers in the community, were initially women. These trades were later taken over by men, it seems, when it became apparent they were lucrative occupations. The work one did, however, was never considered simply a `job' but one's contribution to the community and, by extension, to the gods' efforts in keeping the world at peace and in harmony.

Buildings & Government

The domestic architecture of Mesopotamia grew out of the soil upon which it stood. Unlike Egypt, Mesopotamia -especially in the south- was barren of stone that could be quarried for construction." The land was equally devoid of trees for timber, so the people "turned to other natural resources that lay abundantly at hand: the muddy clay of its riverbanks and the rushes and reeds that grew in their marshes. With them, the Mesopotamians created the world's first columns, arches, and roofed structures. (285)

Simple homes were constructed from bundles of reeds lashed together and inserted in the ground, while more complex homes were built of sun-dried clay brick (a practice followed later by the Egyptians). Cities and temple complexes, with their famous ziggurats, were all built using oven-baked bricks of clay which were then painted.

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Prior to the concept of a king, the priestly rulers are believed to have dictated the law according to religious precepts.

The gods were thought to be present in the planning and execution of any building project and very specific prayers, recited in a set order to the proper deity, were considered of utmost importance in the success of the project and the prosperity of the occupants of the home.

Whichever kingdom or empire held sway across Mesopotamia, in whatever historical period, the vital role of the gods in the lives of the people remained undiminished. This reverence for the divine characterized the lives of both the field worker and the king. The historian Helen Chapin Metz writes:

The precariousness of existence in southern Mesopotamia led to a highly developed sense of religion. Cult centers such as Eridu, dating back to 5000 BCE, served as important centers of pilgrimage and devotion even before the rise of Sumer. Many of the most important Mesopotamian cities emerged in areas surrounding the pre-Sumerian cult centers, thus reinforcing the close relationship between religion and government. (2)

The role of the king was established at some point after 3600 BCE and, unlike the priest-rulers who came before, the king dealt directly with the people and made his will clear through laws of his own devising. Prior to the concept of a king, the priestly rulers are believed to have dictated the law according to religious precepts and received divine messages through signs and omens; the king, while still honoring and placating the gods, was considered a powerful enough representative of those gods to be able to speak their will through his own dictates, using his own voice.

This is most clearly seen in the famous laws of Hammurabi of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 BCE), but a ruler claiming direct contact with the gods was quite common throughout Mesopotamian history, most notably in the Akkadian king Naram-Sin (r. 2261-2224 BCE) who went so far as to proclaim himself a god incarnate. The king was responsible for the welfare of his people and a good king, who ruled in accordance with divine will, was recognized by the prosperity of the region he reigned over.

Still, even very efficient rulers, such as Sargon of Akkad (r. 2334-2279 BCE), had to deal with perpetual uprisings and revolts by factions, or whole regions, contesting his legitimacy. As Mesopotamia was so vast a region, with so many different cultures and ethnicities within its borders, a single ruler attempting to enforce the laws of a central government would invariably be met with resistance from some quarter.

The History of Mesopotamia

The history of the region, and the development of the civilizations which flourished there, is most easily understood by dividing it into periods:
Pre-Pottery Neolithic Age
Also known as The Stone Age (c. 10,000 BCE though evidence suggests human habitation much earlier). There is archaeological confirmation of crude settlements and early signs of warfare between tribes, most likely over fertile land for crops and fields for grazing livestock. Animal husbandry was increasingly practiced during this time with a shift from a hunter-gatherer culture to an agrarian one. Even so, the historian Marc Van De Mieroop notes:

There was not a sudden change from hunting-gathering to farming, but rather a slow process during which people increased their reliance on resources they managed directly, but still supplemented their diets by hunting wild animals. Agriculture enabled an increase in continuous settlement by people. (12)

As more settlements grew, architectural developments slowly became more sophisticated in the construction of permanent dwellings.

In this period there was a widespread use of tools and clay pots and a specific culture begins to emerge in the Fertile Crescent. Scholar Stephen Bertman writes, "during this era, the only advanced technology was literally 'cutting edge'" as stone tools and weapons became more sophisticated. Bertman further notes that "the Neolithic economy was primarily based on food production through farming and animal husbandry" (55) and was more settled, as opposed to the Stone Age in which communities were more mobile. Architectural advancements naturally followed in the wake of permanent settlements as did developments in the manufacture of ceramics and stone tools.
Copper Age (5,900 - 3,200 BCE)
Also known as The Chalcolithic Period owing to the transition from stone tools and weapons to ones made of copper. This era includes the so-called Ubaid Period (c. 5000-4100 BCE, named for Tell al-`Ubaid, the location in Iraq where the greatest number of artifacts were found) during which the first temples in Mesopotamia were built and unwalled villages developed from sporadic settlements of single dwellings. These villages then gave rise to the urbanization process during the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) when cities rose, most notably in the region of Sumer, including Eridu, Uruk, Ur, Kish, Nuzi, Lagash, Nippur, and Ngirsu, and in Elam with its city of Susa.

The earliest city is often cited as Uruk, although Eridu and Ur have also been suggested. Van De Mieroop writes, "Mesopotamia was the most densely urbanized region in the ancient world" (as cited in Bertman, 201), and the cities which grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, as well as those founded further away, established systems of trade which resulted in great prosperity.

This period saw the invention of the wheel (c. 3500 BCE) and writing (c. 3600 BCE), both by the Sumerians, the establishment of kingships to replace priestly rule, and the first war in the world recorded between the kingdoms of Sumer and Elam (2700 BCE) with Sumer as the victor. During the Early Dynastic Period (2900-2334 BCE), all of the advances of the Uruk Period were developed and the cities, and government in general, stabilized.

Increased prosperity in the region gave rise to ornate temples and statuary, sophisticated pottery and figurines, toys for children (including dolls for girls and wheeled carts for boys), and the use of personal seals (known as Cylinder Seals) to denote ownership of property and to stand for an individual's signature. Cylinder Seals would be comparable to one's modern-day identification card or driver's license and, in fact, the loss or theft of one's seal would have been as significant as modern-day identity theft or losing one's credit cards.
Early Bronze Age (3,000 - 2119 BCE)
During this period, bronze supplanted copper as the material from which tools and weapons were made. The rise of the city-state laid the foundation for economic and political stability which would eventually lead to the rise of the Akkadian Empire (2334-2218 BCE) and the rapid growth of the cities of Akkad and Mari, two of the most prosperous urban centers of the time. The cultural stability necessary for the creation of art in the region resulted in more intricate designs in architecture and sculpture, as well as the following inventions or improvements:

a number of specific and momentous inventions: the plough and the wheel, the chariot and the sailboat, and the cylinder-seal, the single most distinctive art form of ancient Mesopotamia and a pervasive demonstration of the importance of property ownership and business in the country's daily life. (Bertman, 55-56)

Hammurabi, King of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE), rose from relative obscurity to conquer the region & reign for 43 years.
Middle Bronze Age (2119-1700 BCE)
Hammurabi, King of Babylon, rose from relative obscurity to conquer the region and reign for 43 years. Among his many accomplishments was his famous code of laws, inscribed on the stele of the gods. Babylon became a leading centre at this time for intellectual pursuit and high accomplishment in arts and letters. This cultural centre was not to last, however, and was sacked and looted by the Hittites who were then succeeded by the Kassites.
Late Bronze Age (1700-1100 BCE)
The rise of the Kassite Dynasty (a tribe who came from the Zagros Mountains in the north and are thought to have originated in modern-day Iran) leads to a shift in power and an expansion of culture and learning after the Kassites conquered Babylon. The collapse of the Bronze Age followed the discovery of how to mine ore and make use of iron, a technology which the Kassites and, earlier, the Hittites made singular use of in warfare.

The period also saw the beginning of the decline of Babylonian culture due to the rise in power of the Kassites until they were defeated by the Elamites and driven out. After the Elamites gave way to the Aramaeans, the small Kingdom of Assyria began a series of successful campaigns, and the Assyrian Empire was firmly established and prospered under the rule of Tiglath-Pileser I (r. 1115-1076 BCE) and, after him, Ashurnasirpal II (r. 884-859 BCE) consolidated the empire further. Most Mesopotamian states were either destroyed or weakened following the Bronze Age Collapse c. 1250-c.1150 BCE, leading to a brief "dark age".
Iron Age (1000 - 500 BCE)
This age saw the rise and expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Tiglath-Pileser III (r. 745-727 BCE) and that Empire's meteoric rise to power and conquest under the rule of great Assyrian kings such as Sargon II (r. 722-705 BCE), Sennacherib (r. 705-681 BCE), Esarhaddon (r. 681-669 BCE) and Ashurbanipal (r. c. 668-627 BCE, who conquered Babylonia, Syria, Israel, and Egypt). The Empire suffered a decline as rapid as its rise due to repeated attacks on central cities by Babylonians, Medes, and Scythians in 612 BCE.

The tribes of the Hittites and the Mitanni consolidated their respective powers during this time which resulted in the rise of the Neo- Hittite and Neo-Babylonian Empires. King Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605/604-562 BCE) of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (588 BCE) during this period and forced the inhabitants of Israel into the "Babylonian Exile". He was also responsible for extensive construction in Babylon, creating famous buildings such as the Ishtar Gate and the Great Ziggurat (the "Tower of Babel"). The fall of Babylon to Cyrus II of Persia (the Great, r. c. 550 - 530 BCE) in 539 BCE effectively ended Babylonian culture.

After Cyrus II took Babylon, the bulk of Mesopotamia became part of tHe Persian Empire & Saw a rapid cultural decline.
Classical Antiquity (500 BCE - 7th century CE)
After his death, Alexander's general Seleucus I Nicator (r. 305 - 281 BCE) took control of the region and founded the Seleucid Empire (312 - 63 BCE) which ruled until 63 BCE when the land was conquered by the Parthians who were, in turn, dominated by the Sassanians who established the Sassanian Empire (224 - 651 CE). The Sassanians honored the legacies of earlier Mesopotamian civilizations and preserved their contributions.

Between the Parthian Empire (247 BCE - 224 CE) and the Sassanians, the Roman Empire established itself in the region in c. 198 CE, (though Rome had arrived earlier in 116 - 117 CE but withdrew). The Romans improved the infrastructure of their colonies significantly through their introduction of better roads and plumbing and brought Roman Law to the land. Even so, the region was constantly caught up in the wars various Roman emperors waged, first with the Parthians and then Sassanians, over control of the land.

The ancient culture of the region, preserved by the Sassanians, was devastated by the conquest of Mesopotamia by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE which resulted in the unification of law, language, religion and culture under Islam. Aspects of the culture were retained but, as Bertman notes, "With the Islamic conquest of 651 CE the history of ancient Mesopotamia ends" (58). Today the great cities that once rose along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are largely unexcavated mounds or broken bricks on arid plains, and the region of the Fertile Crescent has steadily dwindled into areas resembling wastelands due to human factors (such as overuse of the land through agricultural pursuits or urban development) and climate change.

Legacy

The legacy of Mesopotamia endures today through many of the most basic aspects of modern life such as the sixty-second minute and the sixty-minute hour. Helen Chapin Metz writes,

Because the well-being of the community depended upon close observation of natural phenomena, scientific or protoscientific activities occupied much of the priests' time. For example, the Sumerians believed that each of the gods was represented by a number. The number sixty, sacred to the god An, was their basic unit of calculation. The minutes of an hour and the notational degrees of a circle were Sumerian concepts. The highly developed agricultural system and the refined irrigation and water-control systems that enabled Sumer to achieve surplus production also led to the growth of large cities. (4)

Urbanization, the wheel, writing, astronomy, mathematics, wind power, irrigation, agricultural developments, animal husbandry, and the narratives which would eventually be re-written as the Hebrew Scriptures and provide the basis for the Christian Old Testament all came from the land of Mesopotamia.

As noted, Kramer lists 39 `firsts' from Mesopotamia in his book History Begins at Sumer and yet, as impressive as those `firsts' are, Mesopotamian contributions to world culture do not end with them. The Mesopotamians influenced the cultures of Egypt and Greece through long-distance trade and cultural diffusion and, through these cultures, impacted the culture of Rome which set the standard for the development and spread of Western Civilization. Mesopotamia generally, and Sumer specifically, gave the world some of its most enduring cultural aspects and, even though the cities and great palaces are long gone, that legacy continued into the modern era.

In the 19th century CE, archaeologists of varying nationalities arrived in Mesopotamia to excavate for evidence which would corroborate the biblical tales of the Old Testament. At this time, the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world and the stories found in its pages were thought to be original compositions. The archaeologists who sought physical evidence to support the biblical stories found exactly the opposite once the ancient clay tablets were discovered and it was understood that the marks on them were not designs but a form of writing.

These cuneiform tablets were deciphered by the scholar and translator George Smith (l. 1840-1876 CE) in 1872 CE and this opened up the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia to the modern world. The story of the Great Flood and Noah's Ark, the story of the Fall of Man, the concept of a Garden of Eden, even the complaints of Job had all been written centuries before the biblical texts by the Mesopotamians.

Once cuneiform could be read, and the ancient world of Mesopotamia opened up to the modern age, it transformed people's understanding of the history of the world and themselves. The discovery of the Sumerian Civilization and the stories of the cuneiform tablets encouraged a new freedom of intellectual inquiry into all areas of knowledge. It was now understood that the biblical narratives were not original Hebrew works, the world was obviously older than the church had been claiming, there were civilizations which had risen and fallen long before anyone previously thought and, if these claims by authorities of church and schools had been false, perhaps others were as well.

The spirit of inquiry in the late 19th century was already making inroads into challenging the paradigms of accepted thought when Smith deciphered cuneiform but the discovery of Mesopotamian culture and religion encouraged this further. In ancient times, Mesopotamia impacted the world through its inventions, innovations, and religious vision; in the modern day it literally changed the way people understood the whole of history and one's place in the continuing story of human civilization.

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Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning 'between two rivers') was an ancient region located in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian...

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La Sociedad Mesopotamica: La región de Mesopotamia fue habitada durante largos periodos por Sumerios, babilonios, hititas, asirios, caldeos. Entre los innumerables pueblos que habitaron la antigua Mesopotamia existieron diferencias contrastables. Los asirios, por ejemplo, eran guerreros y organizaron una sociedad militarista. (gobierno Militarista -Teocrático) Los sumerios se dedicaron con énfasis a la agricultura y desarrollo una sociedad con un gobierno teocrático.

Pero, hay puntos comunes en relación a la economía, organizacion social, religión, etc. entre las civilizaciones que se desarrollaron en Mesopotamia.

Organizacion de la Sociedad Mesopotamica

Las clases sociales: la sociedad mesopotamica estaba dividida jerarquizada: en la cima piramidal se hallaban los nobles, sacerdotes (dominaban las artes y ciencias), nobleza guerrera, ricos comerciantes y en la parte inferior se encontraban los campesinos, artesanos y esclavos

La organizacion social de Mesopotamia varió, durante siglos, entre las clases superiores (nobleza y clero que se turnaban en el gobierno), pero no en las clases marginales. en modo general podemos decir que:

1. Dominantes: fueron los gobernantes (pertenecientes a la nobleza), sacerdotes, militares y ricos comerciantes.

La clase dominante detentaba el poder por sus riquezas, astucia política, dotes guerreros y sus conocimientos (sabiduría - en el caso de los sacerdotes). La posición mas elevada era la de Rey que se apropiaba de poderes políticos, religiosos y militares. El no era considerado un Dios, pero si un representante de los dioses.

2. Dominados : Los campesinos, pequeños artesanos y esclavos (generalmente prisioneros de guerra)
La clase social subyugada consumía lo que producía y eran obligados a entregar gran parte de su producción (tributos) para el sustento de la clase privilegiada gobernante.

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La Sociedad Mesopotamica : La región de Mesopotamia fue habitada durante largos periodos por Sumerios, babilonios, hititas, asirios, caldeo...

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The Tigris-Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia that discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributaries.

From their sources and upper courses in the mountains of eastern Turkey, the rivers descend through valleys and gorges to the uplands of Syria and northern Iraq and then to the alluvial plain of central Iraq. Other tributaries join the Tigris from sources in the Zagros Mountains to the east. The rivers flow in a south-easterly direction through the central plain and combine at Al-Qurnah to form the Shatt al-Arab and discharge into the Persian Gulf. The rivers and their tributaries drain an area of 879,790 km ², including almost the entire area of Iraq as well as portions of Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Kuwait.

The region has historical importance as part of the Fertile Crescent region, where Mesopotamian civilization first emerged.

The Tigris-Euphrates Basin is shared between Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait. Many tributaries of the Tigris river originate in Iran, and the Shatt al-Arab, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, makes up a portion of the Iran-Iraq border, with Kuwait's Bubiyan Island being part of its delta. Since the 1960s and in the 1970s, when Turkey began the GAP project in earnest, water disputes have regularly occurred in addition to the associated dam's effects on the environment. In addition, Syrian and Iranian dam construction has also contributed to political tension within the basin, particularly during drought.

The ecoregion is characterized by two large rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. The high mountains in the upper watershed receive more rain and snow than the lower watershed, which has a hot and arid subtropical climate. Annual snow melt from the mountains brings spring floods, and sustains permanent and seasonal marshes in the lowlands.

The plain between the two rivers is known as Mesopotamia. As part of the larger Fertile Crescent, it saw the earliest emergence of literate urban civilization in the Uruk period. For this reason, it is often described as a " Cradle of Civilization".

There is a large floodplain in the lower basin where the Euphrates, Tigris, and Karun rivers converge to create the Mesopotamian Marshes, which include permanent lakes, marshes, and riparian forests. The hydrology of these vast marshes is extremely important to the ecology of the entire upper Persian Gulf.

The confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was the place where some of the first civilisations emerged. From ancient times empires arose and fell in the river basin, including Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Abbasid Caliphate.

The most abundant fishes are species of barbs (), some of which can reach up to two meters in length. Some species have been important food sources for residents for thousands of years. Many species move seasonally between the river and the marshes for spawning, feeding, and overwintering. The Hilsa shad ( Tenualosa ilisha) is an important food fish that lives in the coastal waters and spawns in the lower reaches of the basin. Other ocean species occasionally visit the lower reaches of the rivers; bull sharks ( Carcharhinus leucas) used to swim up the Tigris as far as Baghdad.

Endemic fish species in the lower basin include Glyptothorax steindachneri and Hemigrammocapoeta elegans, and as well as two cave fishes, Caecocypris basimi and the Iraq blind barb ( Typhlogarra widdowsoni), from a cave habitat near Haditha on the Euphrates.

One-third of the fish species in the upper watersheds are endemic, including species of , and . Two blind fish species, the Iran cave barb ( Iranocypris typhlops) and the Zagros blind loach ( Eidinemacheilus smithi), are endemic to cave systems in Iran's upper Karun River watershed. The Batman River loach ( Paraschistura chrysicristinae) is a Critically Endangered fish species endemic to the Batman and Ambar rivers, Turkish tributaries of the Tigris. The species is endangered by drought, habitat destruction, and habitat fragmentation from the construction of the Batman Dam. It had not been observed since 1974 and was feared extinct until a 2021 expedition netted 14 fish living above the Batman Dam.

Mesopotamian Marshes

Marsh Arabs poling a mashoof in the marshes of southern Iraq

The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq were historically the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. The aquatic vegetation includes reeds, rushes, and papyrus, which support numerous species. Areas around the Tigris and the Euphrates are very fertile. Marshy land is home to water birds, some stopping here while migrating, and some spending the winter in these marshes living off the lizards, snakes, frogs, and fish. Other animals found in these marshes are water buffalo, two endemic rodent species, antelopes and gazelles and small animals such as the jerboa and several other mammals. The wetland birds Basra reed warbler ( Acrocephalus griseldis) and Iraq babbler ( Argya altirostris) are endemic to the Mesopotamian Marshes. The Basra reed warbler is endangered. Another wetland endemic species, Bunn's short-tailed bandicoot rat ( Nesokia bunnii), is possibly extinct.

Their drainage began in the 1950s, to reclaim land for agriculture and oil exploration. Saddam Hussein extended this work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as part of ecological warfare against the Marsh Arabs, a rebellious group of people in Baathist Iraq. However, with the breaching of the dikes by local communities after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ending of a four-year drought that same year, the process has been reversed and the marshes have experienced a substantial rate of recovery. The permanent wetlands now cover more than 50% of pre-1970s levels, with a remarkable regrowth of the Hammar and Hawizeh Marshes and some recovery of the Central Marshes.

This visualization shows variations in total water storage from normal, in millimeters, in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, from January 2003 through December 2009. Reds represent drier conditions, while blues represent wetter conditions. The effects of the seasons are evident, as is the major drought that hit the region in 2007. The majority of the water lost was due to reductions in groundwater caused by human activities.

Iraq suffers from desertification and soil salination due in large part to thousands of years of agricultural activity. Water and plant life are sparse. Saddam Hussein's government water-control projects drained the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting streams and rivers. Shi'a Muslims were displaced under the Ba'athist regime. The destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations. There are also inadequate supplies of potable water.

The marshlands were an extensive natural wetlands ecosystem, which developed over thousands of years in the Tigris-Euphrates basin and once covered 15-20,000 square kilometers. In the 1980s, this ecoregion was put in grave danger during the Iran-Iraq War. The Mesopotamian Marshes, which were inhabited by the Marsh Arabs, were almost completely drained. Although they had started to recover after the fall of Ba'athist Iraq in 2003, drought, intensive dam construction and irrigation schemes upstream have caused them to dry up once more. According to the United Nations Environmental Program and the AMAR Charitable Foundation, between 84% and 90% of the marshes have been destroyed since the 1970s. In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Hussein's regime - drained to permit military access and greater political control of the native Marsh Arabs. Canals, dykes and dams were built routing the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around the marshes, instead of allowing water to move slowly through the marshland. After part of the Euphrates was dried up due to re-routing its water to the sea, a dam was built so water could not back up from the Tigris and sustain the former marshland. Some marshlands were burned and pipes buried underground helped to carry away water for quicker drying.

The drying of the marshes led to the disappearance of the salt-tolerant vegetation; the plankton rich waters that fertilized surrounding soils; 52 native fish species; the wild boar, red fox, buffalo and water birds of the marsh habitat.

Climate change in Turkey and climate change in Iraq are also a threat.

The issue of water rights became a point of contention for Iraq, Turkey and Syria beginning in the 1960s when Turkey implemented a public-works project (the GAP project) aimed at harvesting the water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through the construction of 22 dams, for irrigation and hydroelectric energy purposes. Although the water dispute between Turkey and Syria was more problematic, the GAP project was also perceived as a threat by Iraq. The tension between Turkey and Iraq about the issue was increased by the effect of Syria and Turkey's participation in the UN embargo against Iraq following the Gulf War. However, the issue had never become as significant as the water dispute between Turkey and Syria.

The 2008 drought in Iraq sparked new negotiations between Iraq and Turkey over trans-boundary river flows. Although the drought affected Turkey, Syria and Iran as well, Iraq complained regularly about reduced water flows. Iraq particularly complained about the Euphrates River because of the large number of dams on the river. Turkey agreed to increase the flow several times, beyond its means in order to supply Iraq with extra water. Iraq has seen significant declines in water storage and crop yields because of the drought. To make matters worse, Iraq's water infrastructure has suffered from years of conflict and neglect.

In 2008, Turkey, Iraq and Syria agreed to restart the Joint Trilateral Committee on water for the three nations for better water resources management. Turkey, Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding on September 3, 2009, in order to strengthen communication within the Tigris-Euphrates Basin and to develop joint water-flow-monitoring stations. On September 19, 2009, Turkey formally agreed to increase the flow of the Euphrates River to 450 to 500 m³/s, but only until October 20, 2009. In exchange, Iraq agreed to trade petroleum with Turkey and help curb Kurdish militant activity in their border region. One of Turkey's last large GAP dams on the Tigris - the Ilisu Dam - is strongly opposed by Iraq and is the source of political strife.

Adamo, Nasrat, Nadhir Al-Ansari, and Varoujan K. Sissakian. "Global climate change impacts on Tigris-Euphrates Rivers basins." Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 10.1 (2020): 49-98. online

Al-Ansari, Nadhir, et al. "Water Quality and its Environmental Implications within Tigris and Euphrates Rivers." Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering 9.4 (2019): 57-108. online

Husain, Faisal. Rivers of the Sultan: The Tigris and Euphrates in the Ottoman Empire (Oxford University Press, 2021) online review

Hussein, Omar Ahmed, and Khadijah Mohamed. "Legal Rights of International Water Resources: A Case of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers." International Journal of Law, Government and Communication 6.22 (2021): 130-137. online

Jawad, Laith A., ed. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers: Their Environment from Headwaters to Mouth (Springer Nature, 2021) online

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Tigris-Euphrates river system - Wikipedia

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The Tigris-Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia that discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributaries. From their sources and upper courses in the mountains of eastern Turkey, the rivers descend through valleys and gorges to the uplands of Syria and northern Iraq and then to the alluvial plain of central Iraq.