Geography

​Now Mesopotamia is named from its circumstance; and it has been said that it lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris, and that the Tigris washes its eastern side only, whereas the Euphrates washes its western and southern sides; and to the north is the Taurus, which separates the Armenians from Mesopotamia. Thus, the greatest distance they are apart from one another is at the mountains; and this would be the same as that which Eratosthenes has stated, namely, from Thapsacus, where the ancient bridge of the Euphrates was, to the crossing of the Tigris, where Alexander crossed it, twenty-four hundred stadia; while the least distance is somewhere near Seleucia and Babylon, slightly more than two hundred stadia. And the Tigris flows through the middle of the breadth of the lake called Thopitis; and having crossed to the other shore, it sinks underground with a great noise and pantings, and after being carried invisible for a long distance, it rises again not far from Gordyaia; and it forces its way through the lake so violently, as Eratosthenes says, that although the lake is salty and without fish, it is sweet in this part, rapid, and full of fish.

​The narrowing of Mesopotamia extends forward to a considerable length and is somewhat like a boat; and the Euphrates makes the greater part of its circumference; and the distance from Thapsacus to Babylon, as Eratosthenes has said, is four thousand eight hundred stadia; and that from the bridge at Commagene, which is the beginning of Mesopotamia, to Thapsacus is not less than two thousand stadia.

​And the country along the mountains is quite fertile; and those who were named Mygdones by the Macedonians hold the parts of it near the Euphrates and the bridges, both the present one at Commagene and the ancient one at Thapsacus; among these people is Nisibis, which they also called Antioch in Mygdonia, situated below Mount Masius, and Tigranocerta, and the places around Carrhae and Nicephorium, and Chordiraza, and Sinnaca, in which Crassus was destroyed, having been taken by guile by Surena, the general of the Parthians.

​And near the Tigris are the places of the Gordyaeans, whom the ancients called Carduchians, and their cities are Sareisa, Satalca, and Pinaca, a very strong fortress, having three acropolises, each fortified with its own wall, so as to be, as it were, a threefold city. Yet, nevertheless, the Armenian king also held them in subjection, and the Romans took them by force, although the Gordyaeans were thought to be exceptionally skilled in architecture and experienced in siege engines; wherefore Tigranes used them for these purposes. The rest of Mesopotamia also came under the Romans, and Pompey assigned most of its noteworthy parts to Tigranes; for the country is good for pasture and rich in vegetation, so that it even nurtures evergreen trees and the spice amomum; and it is a land that breeds lions; and it also produces naphtha and the Gangitis stone, which reptiles avoid.

​And it is said that Gordys, the son of Triptolemus, settled Gorduene, and later also the Eretrians who were carried away by the Persians. Concerning Triptolemus, then, we shall show in our Syrian history immediately.