Tigris - wikipedia Tigris For other uses, see Tigris ( disambiguation ). Tigris Sumerian : 𒁇𒄘𒃼 Idigna or Idigina, Akkadian : 𒁇𒄘𒃼 Idiqlat, Arabic : دجلة ‎ Dijlah, error : ( ( lang - xx ) ) : text has italic markup ( help ), error : ( ( lang - xx ) ) : text has italic markup ( help ), error : ( ( lang - xx ) ) : text has italic markup ( help ), biblical Hiddekel, Turkish : Dicle, Kurdish : Dîcle, Dîjla دیجلە ‎ River About 100 km from its source, the Tigris enables rich agriculture outside Diyarbakır, Turkey. Countries Turkey, Syria, Iraq Tributaries - left Batman, Garzan, Botan, Khabur, Greater Zab, Lesser Zab, ' Adhaim, Cizre, Diyala - right Wadi Tharthar Cities Diyarbakır, Mosul, Baghdad Source Lake Hazar - elevation 1,150 m ( 3,773 ft ) - coordinates 38 ° 29 ′ 0 '' N 39 ° 25 ′ 0 '' E ﻿ / ﻿ 38.48333 ° N 39.41667 ° E ﻿ / 38.48333 ; 39.41667 Mouth Shatt al - Arab - location Al - Qurnah, Basra Governorate, Iraq Length 1,850 km ( 1,150 mi ) Basin 375,000 km ( 144,788 sq mi ) Discharge for Baghdad - average 1,014 m / s ( 35,809 cu ft / s ) - max 2,779 m / s ( 98,139 cu ft / s ) - min 337 m / s ( 11,901 cu ft / s ) Map of the Tigris - Euphrates basin area Batman River The Tigris ( / ˈtaɪɡrɪs / ; Sumerian : 𒁇𒄘𒃼 Idigna or Idigina ; Akkadian : 𒁇𒄘𒃼 Idiqlat ; Arabic : دجلة ‎ Dijlah ( didʒlah ) ; error : ( ( lang - xx ) ) : text has italic markup ( help ) ; Armenian : Տիգրիս Tigris ; Դգլաթ Dglatʿ ; Hebrew : Ḥîddeqel חידקל ‎, biblical Hiddekel ; Turkish : Dicle ; Kurdish : Dîcle, Dîjla دیجلە ‎ ) is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq and empties itself into the Persian Gulf. Contents 1 Geography 2 Navigation 3 Etymology 4 Management and water quality 5 Religion and mythology 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links Geography The Tigris is 1,750 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river then flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey. This stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river that is located in Syria. Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels. First, the artificial Shatt al - Hayy branches off, to join the Euphrates near Nasiriyah. Second, the Shatt al - Muminah and Majar al - Kabir branch off to feed the Central Marshes. Further downstream, two other distributary channels branch off ( the Al - Musharrah and Al - Kahla ), which feed the Hawizeh Marshes. The main channel continues southwards and is joined by the Al - Kassarah, which drains the Hawizeh Marshes. Finally, the Tigris joins the Euphrates near al - Qurnah to form the Shatt - al - Arab. According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates originally had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris. Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris. The port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al - Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris - side cities included Nineveh, Ctesiphon, and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2900 B.C. Navigation The Tigris has long been an important transport route in a largely desert country. Shallow - draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul. General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which sank and killed twenty. Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft. Later, the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company. They had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river. Tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaeological tourism, and the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular to European travellers. In the First World War, during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia, Indian and Thames River paddlers were used to supply General Townsend 's Army. See Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad ( 1917 ). The Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Espiegle, Lawrence, Odin, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Miner, Shaitan, Sumana, and stern wheelers Muzaffari / Mozaffir. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly - class gunboats Butterfly, Cranefly, Dragonfly, Mayfly, Sawfly, Snakefly, and Mantis, Moth, and Tarantula. After the war, river trade declined in importance during the 20th century as the Basra - Baghdad - Mosul railway, an unfinished portion of the Baghdad Railway, was completed and roads took over much of the freight traffic. Etymology Bedouin crossing the river Tigris with plunder ( c. 1860 ) The Ancient Greek form Tigris ( Τίγρις ) meaning `` tiger '', if treated as Greek ) was adapted from Old Persian Tigrā, itself from Elamite Tigra, itself from Sumerian Idigna. The original Sumerian Idigna or Idigina was probably from * id ( i ) gina `` running water '', which can be interpreted as `` the swift river '', contrasted to its neighbour, the Euphrates, whose leisurely pace caused it to deposit more silt and build up a higher bed than the Tigris. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, and from there into the other Semitic languages ( cf. Hebrew Ḥîddeqel, Syriac Deqlaṯ, Arabic Dijlah ). Another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud, literally `` swift river ''. Today, however, Arvand Rud ( New Persian : اروند رود ) refers to the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers ( known in Arabic as the Shatt al - Arab ). In Kurdish, it is also known as Ava Mezin, `` the Great Water ''. The name of the Tigris in languages that have been important in the region : Outside of Mosul, Iraq Language Name for Tigris Akkadian 𒁇𒄘𒃼, Idiqlat Arabic دجلة, Dijlah ; حداقل, Ḥudaqil Aramaic ܕܝܓܠܐܬ, Diglath Armenian Տիգրիս, Tigris, Դգլաթ, Dglatʿ Greek ἡ Τίγρης, - ητος, hē Tígrēs, - ētos ; ἡ, ὁ Τίγρις, - ιδος, hē, ho Tígris, - idos Hebrew חידקל ‎, Ḥîddeqel biblical Hiddekel Hurrian Aranzah Kurdish Dîcle, Dîjla دیجلە Persian Old Persian : 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎠 Tigrā ; Middle Persian : Tigr ; Modern Persian : دجله Dejle Sumerian 𒁇𒄘𒃼 Idigna / Idigina Syriac ܕܹܩܠܵܬ Deqlaṯ Turkish Dicle Baghdad Management and water quality Mosul, Iraq The Tigris is heavily dammed in Iraq and Turkey to provide water for irrigating the arid and semi-desert regions bordering the river valley. Damming has also been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris has historically been notoriously prone following April melting of snow in the Turkish mountains. Recent Turkish damming of the river has been the subject of some controversy, for both its environmental effects within Turkey and its potential to reduce the flow of water downstream. Mosul Dam is the largest dam in Iraq. Water from both rivers is used as a means of pressure during conflicts. In 2014 a major breakthrough in developing consensus between multiple stakeholder representatives of Iraq and Turkey on a Plan of Action for promoting exchange and calibration of data and standards pertaining to Tigris river flows was achieved. The consensus which is referred to as the `` Geneva Consensus On Tigris River '' was reached at a meeting organized in Geneva by the think tank Strategic Foresight Group. In February 2016, the United States Embassy in Iraq as well as the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al - Abadi issued warnings that Mosul Dam could collapse. The United States warned people to evacuate the floodplain of the Tigris because between 500,000 and 1.5 million people were at risk of drowning due to flash flood if the dam collapses, and that the major Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit, Samarra, and Baghdad were at risk. Religion and mythology In Sumerian mythology, the Tigris was created by the god Enki, who filled the river with flowing water. In Hittite and Hurrian mythology, Aranzah ( or Aranzahas in the Hittite nominative form ) is the Hurrian name of the Tigris River, which was divinized. He was the son of Kumarbi and the brother of Teshub and Tašmišu, one of the three gods spat out of Kumarbi 's mouth onto Mount Kanzuras. Later he colluded with Anu and the Teshub to destroy Kumarbi ( The Kumarbi Cycle ). The Tigris appears twice in the Old Testament. First, in the Book of Genesis, it is the third of the four rivers branching off the river issuing out of the Garden of Eden. The second mention is in the Book of Daniel, wherein the prophet states he received one of his visions `` when I was by that great river the Tigris ''. The Tigris River is also mentioned in Islam. The tomb of Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal and Syed Abdul Razzaq Jilani is in Baghdad and the flow of Tigris restricts the number of visitors. Tigris River in Baghdad ( 2016 ) Coat of arms of the Kingdom of Iraq 1932 - 1959 depicting the two rivers, the confluence Shatt al - Arab and the date palm forest, which used to be the largest in the world The river featured on the coat of arms of Iraq from 1932 - 1959. See also Assyria Cradle of civilization Ilisu Dam Campaign campaign against a planned dam on Tigris in Turkey List of places in Iraq Wildlife of Iraq Notes ^ Jump up to : Isaev, V.A. ; Mikhailova, M.V. ( 2009 ). `` The hydrology, evolution, and hydrological regime of the mouth area of the Shatt al - Arab River ''. Water Resources. 36 ( 4 ) : 380 -- 395. doi : 10.1134 / S0097807809040022. Jump up ^ Kolars, J.F. ; Mitchell, W.A. ( 1991 ). The Euphrates River and the Southeast Anatolia Development Project. Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press. pp. 6 -- 8. ISBN 0 - 8093 - 1572 - 6. Jump up ^ Pliny : Natural History, VI, XXVI, 128 - 131 Jump up ^ `` Mesopotamia, Tigris - Euphrates, 1914 - 1917, despatches, killed and died, medals ''. naval-history.net. Retrieved 28 November 2015. Jump up ^ F. Delitzsch, Sumerisches Glossar, Leipzig ( 1914 ), IV, 6, 21. ^ Jump up to : Genesis 2 : 14 Jump up ^ E. Laroche, Glossaire de la langue Hourrite, Paris ( 1980 ), p. 55. Jump up ^ Vidal, John. `` Water supply key to outcome of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, experts warn '' The Guardian, 2 July 2014. Jump up ^ `` Analysis & Water Agenda ''. ORSAM. Retrieved 2015 - 11 - 28. Jump up ^ Borger, Julian ( 29 February 2016 ). `` Iraqi PM and US issue warnings over threat of Mosul dam collapse ''. The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 29 February 2016. Jump up ^ `` US warns of Mosul dam collapse in northern Iraq ''. BBC News. BBC. BBC. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016. Jump up ^ Jeremy A. Black, The Literature of Ancient Sumer, Oxford University Press 2004, ISBN 0 - 19 - 926311 - 6 p. 220 - 221 Jump up ^ Daniel 10 : 4 External links Wikisource has the text of the Encyclopaedia Britannica ( 9th ed. ) article Tigris. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tigris. Livius.org : Tigris Hausleiter, A., M. Roaf, St J. Simpson, R. Wenke, P. Flensted Jensen, R. Talbert, T. Elliott, S. Gillies. `` Places : 912964 ( Tigris / Diglitus fl. ) ''. Pleiades. Retrieved March 9, 2012. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Managing the Tigris and Euphrates Watershed Bibliography on Water Resources and International Law Peace Palace Library Outline of WWI Battles involving the Tigris River The Tigris Countries Turkey ( 523 km ) Syria ( 40 km ) Iraq ( 1,377 km ) Cities Diyarbakır Bismil Hasankeyf Cizre Mosul Tikrit Samarra Kadhimiya Baghdad Amarah Al - Kūt Tributaries Ambar Kuru Pamuk Hazro Batman Garzan Göksu Savur Botan Little Khabur Great Zab Little Zab ' Adhaim Diyala Dams Dicle Ilısu Cizre Mosul Badush Samarra Kut Ancient Mesopotamia Geography Modern Euphrates Upper Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Marshes Persian Gulf Syrian Desert Taurus Mountains Tigris Zagros Mountains Ancient Akkad Assyria Babylonia Chaldea Elam Hittites Media Mitanni Sumer Urartu Cities History Pre - / Protohistory Acheulean Mousterian Trialetian Zarzian Natufian Nemrikian Khiamian Pre-Pottery Neolithic A ( PPNA ) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B ( PPNB ) Hassuna / Samarra Halaf Ubaid Uruk Jemdet Nasr Kish civilization History Early Dynastic Akkadian Ur III Old Babylonian Kassite Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Seleucid Parthian Roman Sasanian Muslim conquest Timeline of the Assyrian Empire Languages Akkadian Amorite Aramaic Eblaite Elamite Gutian Hittite Hurrian Luwian Middle Persian Old Persian Parthian Proto - Armenian Sumerian Urartian Culture / Society Architecture Art Cuneiform script Akkadian literature Sumerian literature Music Religion Archaeology Looting Destruction by ISIL Tell Portal Iraq articles History Ancient Sumer Akkadian Empire Babylonia Assyria Neo-Assyrian Empire Neo-Babylonian Empire Achaemenid Assyria Seleucid Babylonia Parthian Babylonia Sassanid Asorestan 638 -- 1958 Muslim conquest of Persia Abbasid Caliphate Buyid dynasty Kara Koyunlu Ak Koyunlu Safavids Ottoman Iraq ( Mamluk dynasty ) Mandatory Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Arab Federation Republic 1958 -- 68 1968 -- 2003 2003 -- 11 2011 -- present Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party -- Iraq Region ( National Command ) Saddam Hussein Iran -- Iraq War Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War Sanctions Iraq War U.S. invasion Iraqi insurgency U.S. troop withdrawal Insurgency ( 2011 -- 2013 ) Civil War ( 2014 -- present ) Mosul liberation Geography Al - Faw Peninsula Al - Jazira Euphrates Hamrin Mountains Persian Gulf Islands Mesopotamia Mesopotamian Marshes Places Lakes Shatt al - Arab Syrian Desert Tigris Umm Qasr Zagros Mountains Politics Administrative divisions Constitution Council of Representatives ( legislative ) Elections Foreign aid Foreign relations Government Council of Ministers Presidency Council President Prime Minister Human rights in pre-Saddam Iraq in Saddam Hussein 's Iraq in post-invasion Iraq in ISIL - controlled territory LGBT Freedom of religion Women Law Military Police Political parties Judiciary Wars and conflicts Economy Central Bank Dinar ( currency ) Infrastructure Oil Industry Oil reserves Reconstruction Stock Exchange Telecommunications Transportation Society Cuisine Culture Education Health Media Music Smoking Sports Demographics Iraqis diaspora refugees Languages Arabic Aramaic Kurdish Persian Iraqi Turkmen dialect Minorities Armenians Assyrians Circassians Kurds Mandaeans Marsh Arabs Persians Solluba Turkmen / Turcoman Religion Islam Christianity Jews Mandaeism Yazidis Outline Index Portal Rivers of Turkey by drainage basin Black Sea Sakarya Filyos Bartın Kızılırmak ( Halys ) Gök Terme Yeşilırmak Yağlıdere Aksu Gelevara Kara Dere Çoruh Marmara Biga Susurluk ( Simav ) Aegean Meriç ( Maritsa ) Tunca Karamenderes ( Scamander ) Bakırçay Gediz Küçük Menderes Büyük Menderes Mediterranean Aksu Manavgat Köprüçay Kaledran Dragon Sini Babadıl Göksu Limonlu Alata ( Sorgun ) Tömük Karacaoğlan Tece Mezitli ( Liparis ) Efrenk ( Müftü ) Deliçay Berdan ( Tarsus ) Seyhan Ceyhan Payas Asi ( Orontes ) Deli Çay Persian Gulf Fırat ( Euphrates ) Dicle ( Tigris ) Hezil Caspian Aras Kura Coordinates : 38 ° 26 ′ 0 '' N 39 ° 46 ′ 22 '' E ﻿ / ﻿ 38.43333 ° N 39.77278 ° E ﻿ / 38.43333 ; 39.77278 VIAF : 236538332 GND : 4372014 - 6 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tigris&oldid=813721290 '' Categories : Tigris River International rivers of Asia Rivers of Iraq Rivers of Kurdistan Rivers of Syria Rivers of Turkey Mesopotamia Upper Mesopotamia Tur Abdin Levant Geography of Iraqi Kurdistan Landforms of Elazığ Province Landforms of Diyarbakır Province Landforms of Batman Province Landforms of Siirt Province Landforms of Şırnak Province Border rivers Hidden categories : Articles containing Akkadian - language text Articles containing Arabic - language text Lang and lang - xx template errors Articles containing Turkish - language text Articles containing Kurdish - language text Geobox usage tracking for river type Articles containing Armenian - language text Articles containing Hebrew - language text Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Articles containing Persian - language text Articles containing Aramaic - language text Articles containing Amharic - language text Articles containing Old Persian - language text Articles containing Syriac - language text CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list Coordinates on Wikidata Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Talk Navigation Contents About Wikipedia Languages Afrikaans Alemannisch አማርኛ ܐܪܡܝܐ Asturianu Azərbaycanca تۆرکجه বাংলা Bân - lâm - gú Башҡортса Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ भोजपुरी Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Frysk Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Ido Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ ქართული Қазақша Kiswahili Kurdî Кыргызча Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Lingála Lumbaart Magyar मैथिली Македонски മലയാളം मराठी მარგალური Bahasa Melayu Mìng - dĕ̤ng - ngṳ̄ Монгол မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands नेपाल भाषा 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча ਪੰਜਾਬੀ پنجابی Polski Português Română Русиньскый Русский Саха тыла Scots Sicilianu Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Soomaaliga کوردی Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog தமிழ் Татарча / tatarça ไทย Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська اردو Tiếng Việt West - Vlams Winaray ייִדיש 粵語 Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 4 December 2017, at 22 : 13. 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Question: what is the source of the tigris river
Answer: Lake Hazar