''Beth Nahrain'' (, ); is the name for the region known as

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

in the

Syriac language The Syriac language ( ; ), also known natively in its spoken form in early Syriac literature as Edessan (), the Mesopotamian language () and Aramaic (), is an Aramaic#Eastern Middle Aramaic, Eastern Middle Aramaic dialect. Classical Syriac is ...

. Geographically, it refers to the areas between and surrounding the

Euphrates The Euphrates ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of West Asia. Tigris–Euphrates river system, Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (). Originati ...

and

Tigris The Tigris ( ; see #Etymology, below) is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian Desert, Syrian and Arabia ...

rivers (as well as their tributaries). The

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

name also refers to the area ''around'' the rivers, not only literally between the rivers. This area roughly encompasses almost all of present-day

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

, parts of southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and, more recently, northeastern

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The Assyrians are considered to be

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

inhabitants of ''Beth Nahrain''. "Nahrainean" or "Nahrainian" is the anglicized name for "''Nahrāyā''" (), which is the Aramaic equivalent of "Mesopotamian".

History

Etymology

The Aramaic name has been attested since the adoption of

Old Aramaic Old Aramaic refers to the earliest stage of the Aramaic language, known from the Aramaic inscriptions discovered since the 19th century. Emerging as the language of the city-states of the Arameans in the Fertile Crescent in the Early Iron Age, ...

as the

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, link language or language of wider communication (LWC), is a Natural language, language systematically used to make co ...

of the

Neo Assyrian Empire The Neo-Assyrian Empire was the fourth and penultimate stage of ancient Assyrian history. Beginning with the accession of Adad-nirari II in 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire grew to dominate the ancient Near East and parts of South Caucasus, Nort ...

in the 8th century BCE,Finkelstein, J. J.; 1962. “Mesopotamia”, ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' 21: 73–92 but the Greek name ''Mesopotamia'' was first coined in the 2nd century BCE by the historian

Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...

during the

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, a ...

periodGeoffrey Wigoder, ''The Illustrated Dictionary & Concordance of the Bible'',

Sterling Publishing Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. is a publisher of a broad range of subject areas, with multiple imprints and more than 5,000 titles in print. Founded in 1949 by David A. Boehm, Sterling also publishes books for a number of brands, including AA ...

(2005). and introduced the misnomer that Beth Nahrain strictly referred to the "land ''between'' the rivers" rather than the "land of the rivers". The name ''Bayn al-Nahrayn'' found in Arabic (, "between the two rivers") is a near literal translation of the word Mesopotamia where the Arabic suffix ''-ān'' (used to indicate that the noun is dual) introduced another misnomer that Beth Nahrain specifically referred to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. A more accurate Syriac variant is the name Bêṯ Nahrawwāṯā (, "home of the rivers").

Modern culture

The term "Beth Nahrain" is commonly used by both Eastern and Western Assyrians and acts as a united front for an autonomous Assyrian region. Political and military organizations have developed using the "Beth Nahrain" name, including: *

Bethnahrain Women's Protection Forces The Bethnahrain Women's Protection Forces (; HSNB) is an all-female Assyrian military and police organization based in al-Qahtaniyah, al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. HSNB was set up as a female brigade of the Syriac Military Council and assume ...

Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party The Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party (), usually abbreviated as BNDP, is an Assyrian political party based in Iraq. For much of its lifespan and involvement in politics, the party has been led by Romeo Hakkari. One of the party's goals was to creat ...

Bethnahrin Patriotic Revolution Organization The Bethnahrin National Council or Mesopotamia National Council (, MUB), formerly the Bethnahrin Freedom Party (, GHB) and the Patriotic Revolutionary Organization of Bethnahrin (, PROB) is a militant socialist Assyrian-Syriac party in the Dawron ...

Bethnahrin Freedom Party The Bethnahrin National Council or Mesopotamia National Council (, MUB), formerly the Bethnahrin Freedom Party (, GHB) and the Patriotic Revolutionary Organization of Bethnahrin (, PROB) is a militant socialist Assyrian-Syriac party in the Dawron ...

People

The Assyrians (also referred to as Syriacs, Arameans or Chaldeans) are the indigenous people of Beth Nahrain. They speak different dialects of

Neo-Aramaic The Neo-Aramaic or Modern Aramaic languages are varieties of Aramaic that evolved during the late medieval and early modern periods, and continue to the present day as vernacular (spoken) languages of modern Aramaic-speaking communities. Within ...

depending on their geographical location within Beth Nahrain. Today, Assyrians in Iraq and Iran as well as the Khabur River Valley in Syria speak varieties of

Northeastern Neo-Aramaic Northeastern Neo-Aramaic (NENA) is a grouping of related dialects of Neo-Aramaic spoken before World War I as a vernacular language by Jews and Assyrian Christians between the Tigris and Lake Urmia, stretching north to Lake Van and southwards t ...

while the Assyrians in Turkey and Syria mainly speak

Turoyo Turoyo (), also referred to as Surayt (), or modern Suryoyo (), is a Central Neo-Aramaic language traditionally spoken by the Syriac Christian community in the Tur Abdin region located in southeastern Turkey and in northeastern Syria. Turoyo ...

, a dialect of

Central Neo-Aramaic Central Neo-Aramaic, or Northwestern Neo-Aramaic (NWNA), languages represent a specific group of Neo-Aramaic languages, that is designated as ''Central'' in reference to its geographical position between Western Neo-Aramaic and other Eastern A ...

. Other prominent ethnic groups present in Beth Nahrain include Arabs,

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

Mandaeans Mandaeans (Mandaic language, Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ) ( ), also known as Mandaean Sabians ( ) or simply as Sabians ( ), are an ethnoreligious group who are followers of Mandaeism. They believe that John the Baptist was the final and ...

Yazidis Yazidis, also spelled Yezidis (; ), are a Kurdish languages, Kurdish-speaking Endogamy, endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The major ...

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

and Turks.

Geography

Beth Nahrain encompasses the land between and surrounding the

and

, and their tributaries. The Tigris-Euphrates river system covers and forms a major river system originating from the

Taurus Taurus is Latin for 'bull' and may refer to: * Taurus (astrology), the astrological sign ** Vṛṣabha, in vedic astrology * Taurus (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Taurus (mythology), one of two Greek mythological ch ...

mountains of Eastern Turkey through Syria and Iraq towards the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

Notes

References

{{reflist Cultural regions Historical geography of Syria Aramaic words and phrases arc:ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ