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MESOPOTAMIA

(Gk. Mesopotamía)

A Greek term meaning “(land) in the middle of the river(s).” It originally referred to a satrapy formed by Alexander the Great between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, specifically the area east of the great bend of the Euphrates in modern Syria and northern Iraq. An earlier Hebrew term, ʾăram nahărayim, designated only “land within the river,” i.e., the area within the bend of the Euphrates itself. A still earlier Akkadian term, bīrinārim, referred to the same area as early as the Old Babylonian period. Aram. beyn nahrin, whose semantic range differed slightly from the Hebrew and Akkadian expressions, was the first to imply the area between the two rivers. English versions of the Bible render both the Hebrew and Greek terms as “Mesopotamia.”

In modern archaeology, Mesopotamia is an area roughly defined by the two rivers and their tributaries. This differs from earlier usage in denoting the area between the Taurus Mountains in Anatolia and the Arabo-Persian Gulf in the south. In broad terms, this area formed a cultural unit distinct from the Levant, Anatolia, and Iran from perhaps 5000 b.c. until Alexander’s conquest.

Bibliography. J. J. Finkelstein, “ ‘Mesopotamia,’ ” JNES 21 (1962): 73-92.

Geoff Emberling

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

MESOPOTAMIA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)