RESOURCESfi-I-ma~adir al-'arabiyyati," Sumer 23 (1967): 47-65, which is partly
translated into English as "AI-Mada'in and Its Surrounding Area in
Arabic Literary Sources," Mesopotamia 3-4 (1968-69): 417-39, and
of J. Fiey, "Topographie chretienne de Mahoze," L'Orient Syrien 12
(1967): 397-420, and "Topography of Al-Mada'in," Sumer 23 (1967):
3-38.
A. Musil's The Middle Euphrates (New York, 1927) is a pioneering
work which includes remarks on the geography of this part of Iraq in
early Islamic times. Musil's attempt to identify historical place names
with modern sites is suggestive but subject to revision. For this region
in the Sas ani an period, see L. Dillemann, "Ammien Marcellin et les
pays de l'Euphrate et du Tigre," Syria 38 (1961): 87-158, which has
a map. S. El-'Ali exploited Arabic literature fairly thoroughly to de-
scribe the environs of Hira and Kufa in "Mintaqat al-J::Iira," Jam'at
Baghdad Kulliyat al-Adab, Majallat 5 (1962), 17-44, and "Mintaqat
al-Kiifa," Sumer 21 (1965): 229-53.
S. A. Jamal ad-Dill's "Mu'jam jughrafiyyat Wasir," Sumer 13 (1957):
119-47, is a geographical dictionary of the Wasit region. S. El-'Ali's
"Mintaqat Wasi!," Sumer 26 (1970): 237-62; 27 (1971): 153-83, is
a very useful topographical survey based on Arabic literature.
Historical geography in the region below Wasit goes back to A.-J.
Saint-Martin's Recherches sur l'histoire et la geographie de la Mesene
et de la Characene (Paris, 1838) and J. Reinaud's "Memoire sur le
commencement et la fin du royaume de la Mesene et de la Kharacene,"
JA 18 (1861): 161-262. For a more modern treatment, see S. Nodelman,
"A Preliminary History of Characene," Berytus 13 (1960): 83-121,
which is based on coins. One should also consult J. Hansman's "Charax
and the Karkheh," Iranica Antiqua 7 (1967): 21-58. On the swamps
of lower Iraq, see M. Streck, "al-Batiha," El(1), I: 692-97, which is
brought up to date by S. El-'Ali, "Ba!iha," EI(2), I: 1093-97. Streck's
"Maisan," EI(l), Ill: 146-54, should also be consulted, along with
Y. Sarkis, "Madinat Bayth Rima hiya bigarbi khara'ib Te1l6 ash-sha-
hira," in his Mahahith Iraqiyah (Baghdad, 1955), II: 103-13. For
maps which accompanied the Arabic geographical literature, see
A. Siisa's al-'Iraq fi-l-khawarit al-qadtma (Baghdad, 1959).
Aramaeans
Arabic-writing geographers have a great deal to say about ethnog-
raphy but have been unevenly exploited. When populations are not
treated according to religious categories in modern scholarship, they