Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1916-06-30
A LONG the flooded banks of the
~ Tigris river the English cam.
paign in Mesopotamia is still


~ paign in Mesopotamia is still
being waged. 1t has brought
into the limelight this great water
course of western Asia which has al
most as many historical associations
as the Euphrates, which flowed
through the Garden of Eden A bull
letin issued by the National Geo
graphic society gives an interesting
account of this highway of ancient civ
1lization, which seems to have assumed
once more the role of history maker.
The great Tigris, upon whose banks
there fiourished the magnificent city of
Lagash and the great Babylonian en-
pire more than three thousand years
before the Christian era, today has
fallen to such lowly estate that even
the Turks and Arabs, whom it sus-
tains, scorn to do 1t honor Almost
contemporary they have given it the
sobriquet, 1.-The cheap cameleer," be-
cause it is used by the natives of it's
upper reaches to bring down RATS or
keleks from Diarbekir to Bagdad,
Vhere the wood is sold while the in
fiated skins used as floats are debated.
On its turbid course through Meso-
potamia, the Tigris, which is ira
versed by small boats for a distance
nearly four times as great as the nav
igable reaches of the Hudson river,
flows past many ruins which have
proved an almost 1neXhaustible mine
Ix,c Co.. r.rfr
posite Mosul, from which we have de-
rived the word muslin, applied to the
fabric first imported into Europe from
this town in the twelfth century, there
are to be found the extensive remains
of what was once naughty Nineveh,
with the Biblical account of Jonah, the
great fish and the gourd vine.
Ruins of Once Mighty Assur.
Sixty miles down the river from Nj
neveh, which was the last capital of
Assyria, there squats the mean little
Arab village of Kal'at-Shergat, on the
buried ruins of Assur, the first great
city of the Assyrian empire. 1t was
In honor of their god Assur that high
priests founded the city OF the same
name. These priestly builders and adj
ministrators were at first under the
suzerainty of Babylonia, but when that
empire fell into decay they succeeded
in establishing themselves as lnde-
pendent kings, founding a dynasty
which held ruthless sway over this
section of the world for centuries.
Another historic place on the banks
of the Tigris is Nimrud, which legend
tells us was built by the Biblical hero
who in addition to being a mighty
hunter is credited with having been
the protector of the Tower OF Babel
and also with having cast Abraham III
Tn the fire because the father OF the
Israelites refused to worship Idols
Not long ago British soldiers were
contending with the Turks in the en-
virons of the ancient capital or the
Parthian kings, Ctesiphon, few miles
south of Bagdad. Here one hnds the
ruins of the great palace known az
ethe throne of Khosrau," the most re
markable example of sassanian archi
lecture extant.
The Tigris has two main sources IL
the Taurus mountains, at an elevator
of 5000 feet. The headwaters OF th'
western branch are only two or thre'
miles from one of the sources or the
Eliminates. After the two branches
toin the river flows in a soutneastert
direction for 500 miles until 1t unlte'
with the Euphrates 70 miles above thl
Persian gulf, and forms the Shatt-ei
Arab The two principal towns OF
This waterway of ancient glory arr
Bagdad and Basra.
Diarbekir Once Was Rich.
Diarbekir. situated on the uppe
Tigris. has an impressive SITUATION
Rnilt upon a basaltic table lana' sur
ro,,pded nv walls constructed of basal
tic rock. the city overlooks Droa'
bend of the Tigris, which nows oy IL
eastern side. Beneath the walls Oh tn'
oitv and within the bend or the rive
Iies q nlain covered with vegetation o
every shade of green that the H"S
can produce. 10.
Few cities of the earth have unoel
gone greater vicissitudes than Diarpe
Si- Roman and Persian. Armenian
and Parthian, Arab and Turk have u II
npted its possession. In one Oh II
many changes alone, more than so'oo
of its people were put to the sworn, .
heavy has been the toll that war NC
levied upon it that where once II wa
larger than the capital OF the onlee'
states. today less than 10000 peopi
dwell there. - ;,
The city is rich in remnants OF II !,
s,,,,ar greatness. Old Jacobite, Gree
and Armenian churches raise tnel
sn,ras m heaven along with the NINA
rets of a host OF Mohainineu"'
mosques. .,a, ,r5ustr,