Greek name (literally ‘between the rivers’) for the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, mainly within the borders of present-day Iraq. This land was the home of the world’s earliest civilization, that of the Sumerians, and of the later Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations. The chronology of the prehistoric periods is based on radiocarbon dates (see Table 2, page 320). For the historical periods the chronology is based on a combination of documentary sources and calendrical information and there is room for differing interpretations. Most scholars today prefer what is known as the Middle Chronology, but others favour a longer or High Chronology; both are shown in Table 3, page 321. See also Babylon, Eridu, Gawra, Halaf, Hassuna, Jemdet Nasr, Kish, Lagash, Larsa, Mari, Nimrud, Nineveh, Samarra, Taya, Ubaid, Ur, Uruk.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied