Euphrates and Tigris, Mesopotamian Ecology and Destiny

ISBN-13: 9789400991736 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 132 str.

J. Rzoska

Opis

Scope and limitations of this book I am trying here to present the natural history of a land largely created and dominated by two great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris. All rivers have two main functions, quite different from lakes; they transport water and eroded material sometimes over large distances. The astute Greeks, who penetrated here in the 4th century B.C., called the land Mesopotamia, an apt name; it is the only region in the Near East, except Egypt, having the benefit of large rivers. Another name coined in antiquity was 'Fertile Crescent', stretching from Egypt to present day Iraq; Herodotus marvelled at the fertility of the soils, the abundance of water and the magnificent cities of Mesopotamia. Thus a further role of some great rivers is recognized as foci of human development. The desire to collate this book arose from a similar motif as in the Nile book (1976), the intricate connection between man and rivers.

Spis treści

I. The land and its life.- 1. Panorama of Mesopotamian Iraq.- Geology, morphology, climate and soils.- 2. Response of the living world to present conditions.- Vegetation. Crops and plants used by man. Remarks on the land fauna.- 3. Palaeo-ecology.- ‘Geologic’ aspects of the archaeology of Iraq. Prehistoric man in Mesopotamia. Historic man. The era of written evidence. The tumult of history..- II. Mesopotamian Waters, Regime and Hydrobiology.- 4. Near East waters as wider background.- Lake Kinneret. The Dead Sea. Azraq Oasis. The waters of Iran..- 5. Rivers of Mesopotamia as dominating factor.- Origin, length, slope. Standing waters. The Shatt al Arab. Hydrology, Currents, Sediments and their deposition. The Delta, advance and retreat. The Mesopotamian rivers as life arteries for man..- 6. Water characteristics, by J. F. Tailing.- 1. The regional factors. 2. Temperature. 3. Turbidity and transparency. 4. Salinity. 5. Major ions. 6. Dissolved gases. 7. Plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and silica..- 6a. Phytoplankton, by J. F. Tailing.- References.- 7. General biology of Iraq waters.- Water vegetation. Animal life in the marshes and waters. Benthos. Anopheles and Malaria in the Near East..- 8. The fishes of the Euphrates and Tigris, by K. E. Banister.- References.- Epilogue.- Summary. Reflections general and personal.- Annexe. The Mesopotamian past as seen by eyewitnesses.- References to chapters 1–5 and 7.- Remark. Chapters 6, 6a and 8 have their own references, as they will be available as reprints..