Tigris
River
About 100 km from its source, the Tigris enables rich agriculture outside Diyarbakır, Turkey.
Countries	Turkey, Syria, Iraq
Basin area	Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran
Tributaries
- left	Batman, Khabur, Greater Zab, Lesser Zab, 'Adhaim, Diyala, Cizre
- right	Wadi Tharthar
Cities	Diyarbakır, Mosul, Baghdad
Source	Lake Hazar
- elevation	1,150 m (3,773 ft)
- coordinates	38°29′0″N 39°25′0″E / 38.483333°N 39.416667°E / 38.483333; 39.416667
Mouth	Shatt al-Arab
- location	Al-Qurnah, Basra Governorate, Iraq
Length	1,850 km (1,150 mi)
Basin	375,000 km2 (144,788 sq mi)
Discharge	for Baghdad
- average	1,014 m3/s (35,809 cu ft/s)
- max	2,779 m3/s (98,139 cu ft/s)
- min	337 m3/s (11,901 cu ft/s)
Map of the Tigris-Euphrates basin area
[1][2]

The Tigris River (/ˈtaɪɡrɪs/; Arabic: دجله) is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.

Geography[link]

The Tigris is 1,850 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey. This stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. The remaining 1,418 km are entirely within the Iraqi borders.^[1]

The Tigris unites with the Euphrates near Basra, and from this junction to the Persian Gulf the mass of moving water is known as the Shatt-al-Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris.^[3]

Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2400 BC.

Navigation[link]

The Tigris has long been an important transport route in a largely desert country. Shallow-draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul.

General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which sank and killed twenty. Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft. Later, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company. They had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river. Tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaelological tourism, and the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular to European travelers.

In the First World War during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia, Indian and Thames River paddlers were used to supply General Townsend's Army. See Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad (1917).^[4] The Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Espiegle, Lawrence, Odin, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Miner, Shaitan, Sumana, and stern wheelers Muzaffari/Mozaffir. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly-class Butterfly, Cranefly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, Sawfly, Snakefly, and Mantis, Moth, and Tarantula.

After the war, river trade declined in importance during the 20th century as the Basra-Baghdad-Mosul railway, an unfinished portion of the Baghdad Railway, was completed and roads took over much of the freight traffic.

Etymology[link]

The Ancient Greek form Tigris was borrowed from Old Persian Tigrā, which was in turn borrowed from Elamite ti-ig-ra, itself from Sumerian idigna.

The original Sumerian Idigna or Idigina was probably from *id (i)gina "running water",^[5] which can be interpreted as "the swift river", contrasted to its neighbor, the Euphrates, whose leisurely pace caused it to deposit more silt and build up a higher bed than the Tigris. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, and from there into the other Semitic languages (cf. Syriac Deqlaṯ, Arabic Dijla).

Another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud, literally "swift river". Today, however, Arvand Rud refers to the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers - known in Arabic as Shatt al-Arab.

The name of the Tigris in languages that have been important in the region:

Outside of Mosul, Iraq

Language	Name for Tigris
Akkadian	Idiqlat
Arabic	دجلة, Dijla; حدٌاقل, Ḥudaqil
Aramaic	ܕܝܓܠܐܬ, Diglath
Armenian	Տիգրիս, Tigris
Greek	ἡ Τίγρης, -ητος, hē Tígrēs, -ētos; ἡ, ὁ Τίγρις, -ιδος, hē, ho Tígris, -idos
Hebrew	חידקל , Ḥîddeqel Biblical
Hurrian	Aranzah[6]
Kurdish	Dîcle دیجلە
Persian	Old Persian:Tigrā; Middle Persian:Tigr; Modern Persian:دجله Dijle
Sumerian	Idigna/Idigina
Syriac	ܕܹܩܠܵܬ Deqlaṯ
Turkish	Dicle

Baghdad

Management and water quality[link]

Mosul, Iraq

The Tigris is heavily dammed in Iraq and Turkey to provide water for irrigating the arid and semi-desert regions bordering the river valley. Damming has also been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris has historically been notoriously prone following melting of snow in the Turkish mountains around April.

Recent Turkish damming of the river has been the subject of some controversy, for both its environmental effects within Turkey and its potential to reduce the flow of water downstream. Mosul Dam is the largest dam in Iraq.

Religion and mythology[link]

The Tigris appears twice in the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, the Tigris is the third of the four rivers branching off the river issuing out of the Garden of Eden.^[7] Daniel received one of his visions "when I was by that great river the Tigris".^[8]

In Sumerian mythology, the Tigris was created by the god Enki, who ejaculated and filled the river with flowing water.^[9]

In Hittite and Hurrian mythology, Aranzah (or Aranzahas in the Hittite nominative form) is the Hurrian name of the Tigris River, which was divinized. He was the son of Kumarbi and the brother of Teshub and Tašmišu, one of the three gods spat out of Kumarbi's mouth onto Mount Kanzuras. Later he colluded with Anu and the Teshub to destroy Kumarbi (The Kumarbi Cycle).

See also[link]

• Assyria
• Cradle of civilization
• Euphrates
• Ilisu Dam Campaign campaign against a planned dam on Tigris in Turkey
• List of places in Iraq
• Mesopotamia

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th ed.) article Tigris.

• Livius.org: Tigris
• Hausleiter, A., M. Roaf, St J. Simpson, R. Wenke, P. Flensted Jensen, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. "Places: 912964 (Tigris/Diglitus fl.)". Pleiades. http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/912964. Retrieved March 9, 2012 8:45 am. 
• Managing the Tigris and Euphrates Watershed
• Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law Peace Palace Library
• [1]

v t e Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Jezirah Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hatti Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre- and protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Zarzian Natufian PPNA PPNB Halaf Samarra Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr History Early Dynastic Akkadian Ur III Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sassanid Muslim conquest Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Iranian (Old Persian Parthian Middle Persian) Luwian Proto-Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture and society Architecture Art Cuneiform Literature Akkadian Sumerian Music Religion Archaeology Iraq Museum Looting Tell Portal

v t e  Iraq topics Society Iraqi people · Iraqi diaspora · Demographics · Minorities (Kurds · Assyrians · Turkmen · Mandaeans) · Languages (Arabic · Kurdish · Aramaic · Turkmen) · Religion (Islam · Christianity · Mandaeism) · Culture · Cuisine · Music · Education · Health · Sports History Ancient Iraq (Sumer · Akkadian Empire · Babylonia · Assyria · Neo-Assyrian Empire · Neo-Babylonian Empire · Achaemenid Assyria · Seleucid Babylonia · Parthian Babylonia · Sassanid Asuristan) · Islamic conquest of Iraq · Abbasid Caliphate · Ottoman Iraq · Mandatory Mesopotamia · Kingdom of Iraq · Arab Federation · Iraqi Republic (1958–1968) · Ba'athist Iraq · U.S. occupation · Republic of Iraq (2011-present) Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party · Saddam Hussein · Kurdish–Iraqi conflict · Iran–Iraq War · Invasion of Kuwait · Gulf War · Sanctions · Iraq War (Invasion · Iraqi insurgency) Economy Iraqi Dinar · Stock Exchange · Central Bank · Oil reserves · Media Infrastructure Communications · Transportation · Schools · Hospitals · Roads · Reconstruction Government Constitution · Legislative branch · Executive branch (President · Cabinet · Prime Minister) · Judiciary · Law · Police · Iraqi Armed Forces (Army · Air Force · Navy) Politics Political parties · Elections · Minority politics · Foreign relations · Human rights · Foreign aid · War conflicts Geography Mesopotamia · Tigris · Euphrates · Provinces · Districts · Notable Places · Syrian Desert · Zagros Mountains · Hamrin Mountains · Umm Qasr · Al-Faw Peninsula · Shatt al-Arab · Al-Jazira · Mesopotamian Marshes · Lake Habbaniyah · Lake Tharthar · Lake Hammar · Lake Milh · Islands

v t e The Tigris Countries Turkey (523 km) Syria (40 km) Iraq (1,377 km) Cities Diyarbakır Bismil Hasankeyf Cizre Mosul Tikrit Samarra Kadhimiya Baghdad Amarah Al-Kūt Tributaries Ambar Kuru Pamuk Hazro Batman Garzan Göksu Savur Botan Little Khabur Great Zab Little Zab ‛Adhaim Diyala List of crossings

v t e Rivers of Turkey Black Sea basin Sakarya Bartın Kızılırmak Terme Yeşilırmak Yağlıdere Aksu Gelevara Kara Dere Çoruh Marmara basin Biga Susurluk (Simav) Aegean basin Meriç (Maritsa) Karamenderes Bakırçay Gediz Küçükmenderes Büyükmenderes Mediterranean basin Aksu Manavgat Köprüçay Göksu Limonlu Müftü (Efrenk) Berdan Seyhan Ceyhan Asi (Orontes) Persian Gulf basin Fırat (Euphrates) Dicle (Tigris) Hezil Caspian basin Aras Kura

Coordinates: 38°26′0″N 39°46′22″E / 38.433333°N 39.77278°E / 38.433333; 39.77278