A review of the historical geography of Tigris and Euphrates and the impact of these two rivers on the Mesopotamia economy

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of History/ University of Tehran

Abstract

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers originate from the mountains in Anatolia and after passing through Turkey, Syria, and Iraq join the Persian Gulf. These two rivers are among the longest and full-water rivers in West Asia, and both of them are very important both in the past and today. After presenting a report on the historical geography of the Tigris and Euphrates, this research sought to determine what effect these two rivers had on the Mesopotamian economy. The results of this research show that the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Anatolia are mostly located in mountainous areas, but in Mesopotamia, they flow in the plains and provide the water resources needed for agriculture. As a result of providing water resources for agriculture by these two big rivers, Mesopotamia has thriving agriculture. In addition to agriculture, these two rivers are also important for trade and transportation of goods by water, and they have always been used for this purpose from the past until today. By benefiting from the water of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Mesopotamia was able to have thriving agriculture and thus, it gained a lot of economic benefits, although sometimes it suffered losses due to the floods of these two rivers.

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