عنوان

Euphrates and Tigris, Mesopotamian Ecology and Destiny

9400991711

9400991738

9789400991712

9789400991736

b594074

Euphrates and Tigris, Mesopotamian Ecology and Destiny

[Book]

by Julian Rzóska.

Dordrecht

Springer Netherlands

1980

(132 pages)

Monographiae biologicae, 38.

I. The land and its life --; 1. Panorama of Mesopotamian Iraq --; 2. Response of the living world to present conditions --; 3. Palaeo-ecology --; II. Mesopotamian Waters, Regime and Hydrobiology --; 4. Near East waters as wider background --; 5. Rivers of Mesopotamia as dominating factor --; 6. Water characteristics, by J.F. Tailing --; 6a. Phytoplankton, by J.F. Tailing --; 7. General biology of Iraq waters --; 8. The fishes of the Euphrates and Tigris, by K.E. Banister --; Epilogue --; Summary. Reflections general and personal --; Annexe. The Mesopotamian past as seen by eyewitnesses --; References to chapters 1-5 and 7 --; Remark. Chapters 6, 6a and 8 have their own references, as they will be available as reprints.

Scope and limitations of this book I am trying here to present the natural history of a land largely created and dominated by two great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris. All rivers have two main functions, quite different from lakes; they transport water and eroded material sometimes over large distances. The astute Greeks, who penetrated here in the 4th century B.C., called the land Mesopotamia, an apt name; it is the only region in the Near East, except Egypt, having the benefit of large rivers. Another name coined in antiquity was 'Fertile Crescent', stretching from Egypt to present day Iraq; Herodotus marvelled at the fertility of the soils, the abundance of water and the magnificent cities of Mesopotamia. Thus a further role of some great rivers is recognized as foci of human development. The desire to collate this book arose from a similar motif as in the Nile book (1976), the intricate connection between man and rivers.

Aquatic biology.

Ecology.

Life sciences.

by Julian Rzóska.

Julian Rzóska

[Book]

Y