The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1922-02-08

s<"psrso ~ the National Geographic b.
| ciety. Washington. D. CO.
Irak, the new Arab state, of which
Emir Feisal recently was proclaimed
provisional king, under British man
date, strikes new note to many ears
but despite its unfamiliar name II
u a land whose influence upon the
history Of the human race It would
scarcely be possible to overestimate.
For Irak IL none other than Mesopo-
tamia, that between-the-rivers strip
Of land which IL believed BY many to
have been the original home Of the
human race-the Garden Of Eden.
There In the dim and misty ages be.
fore history began, men first attempted
to form themselves into organized
communities, there the Hebrew race
found its origin, and thence their
first leader, Abraham, went out in
search Of the land which he should
afterward receive for an inheritance.
1t Is long and comparatively mar
row stretch Of country. running up
from the Persian Gulf toward the
Taurus mountains and that lofty table
land which we now know as Armenia,
On Its northern and northeastern side
1t 10 bordered by a fringe of noun
tains, gradually sloping up toward the
great northern ranges. On the south
ern and southwestern side it fades
away into the great Arabian desert.
its Two Famous Rivera.
Far up in the tableland of Armenia,
about 800 miles in straight line from
the gulf, rise two great rivers-the
Tigris and the Euphrates. The former
breaks through the mountain wall Of
the tableland on its eastern flank
and flows In southeasterly direction
throughout almost its entire course.
The latter breaks through on the
western flank and flows at first west
ward, as though making for the
Mediterranean. 1t then turns south
and flows directly southwark for
awhile; then sweeps around in a great
bend to the southeast and follows a
course gradually converglng upon that
OF Its sister stream. Finally, near
the sea, the two unite and issue as
one river into the Persian Gulf.
The land traversed by these two
rivers has, like the sister overland Of
Egypt, been from time immemorial
one Of the great historic centers of
human development. It divides into
two portions Of fairly equal length.
For the first 400 miles the country
In
from the mountains. forming an IT.
regular triangle between the two
rivers, within which the land becomes
less and less billy, as it sinks south
ward. till, a. It nears the Euphrates,
1t becomes a broad steppe, which.
beyond the river. rolls of into the
desert. This portion Is strictly the
land called by the Greeks "Mesopo-
tamia."
The second division is totally DIFF
ferent in character. It Is simply
great delta, like that Of the Nile-a
nat, alluvial plain, which has been
entirely formed Of the silt brought
down from the mountains by the two
great rivers.
The process Of land making 10 still
going on, and the waters of the Per
sian Gulf are being pushed back at the
rate Of about e feet per annum.
What this slow process may achieve
In many centuries is evidenced by the
fact that we know that the ancient
town Of Eridu was. about 5000 r. c.,
an important seaport on the Persian
Gulf. It Is now 126 miles from the
sea.
Control Of Waters Necessary,
Both lands were entirely dependent
for their Availability and fertility on
the rivers which traversed them. In
Mesopotamia the Tigris and the Eu-
pirates have for Tong stretches chan
neled deep into the soil and flow be-
low the level Of the land. In the low
er NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. ordinary
level Of the rivers is frequently above
that Of the surrounding plain; SO that
foundations are Of frequent occur
renee. and large tracts Of the country
are now unhealthy marshland.
In both cases, therefore, though for |
opposite reasons. the hand Of man was |
needed to make the rivers helpful In
Aesopotamia the water was con-
trollsd ~ dikes and dams. which held