Tigris
The Tigris is the eastern of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf; the Tigris is 1,750 km long, rising in the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey about 25 km southeast of the city of Elazig and about 30 km from the headwaters of the Euphrates. The river flows for 400 km through Turkish territory before becoming the border between Syria and Turkey; this stretch of 44 km is the only part of the river, located in Syria. Close to its confluence with the Euphrates, the Tigris splits into several channels. First, the artificial Shatt al-Hayy branches off. Second, the Shatt al-Muminah and Majar al-Kabir branch off to feed the Central Marshes. Further downstream, two other distributary channels branch off, which feed the Hawizeh Marshes; the main channel continues southwards and is joined by the Al-Kassarah, which drains the Hawizeh Marshes. The Tigris joins the Euphrates near al-Qurnah to form the Shatt-al-Arab.
According to Pliny and other ancient historians, the Euphrates had its outlet into the sea separate from that of the Tigris. Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, stands on the banks of the Tigris; the port city of Basra straddles the Shatt al-Arab. In ancient times, many of the great cities of Mesopotamia stood on or near the Tigris, drawing water from it to irrigate the civilization of the Sumerians. Notable Tigris-side cities included Nineveh and Seleucia, while the city of Lagash was irrigated by the Tigris via a canal dug around 2900 B. C; the Tigris has long been an important transport route in a desert country. Shallow-draft vessels can go as far as Baghdad, but rafts are needed for transport upstream to Mosul. General Francis Rawdon Chesney hauled two steamers overland through Syria in 1836 to explore the possibility of an overland and river route to India. One steamer, the Tigris, was wrecked in a storm which killed twenty. Chesney proved the river navigable to powered craft; the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company was established in 1861 by the Lynch Brothers trading company.
They had 2 steamers in service. By 1908 ten steamers were on the river. Tourists boarded steam yachts to venture inland as this was the first age of archaeological tourism, the sites of Ur and Ctesiphon became popular with European travelers. In the First World War, during the British conquest of Ottoman Mesopotamia and Thames River paddlers were used to supply General Townsend's Army. See Siege of Kut and the Fall of Baghdad; the Tigris Flotilla included vessels Clio, Lawrence, armed tug Comet, armed launches Lewis Pelly, Shaitan and sternwheelers Muzaffari/Muzaffar. These were joined by Royal Navy Fly-class gunboats Butterfly, Dragonfly, Sawfly and Mantis, Tarantula. After the war, river trade declined in importance during the 20th century as the Basra-Baghdad-Mosul railway, an unfinished portion of the Baghdad Railway, was completed and roads took over much of the freight traffic; the Ancient Greek form Tigris meaning "tiger" was adapted from Old Persian Tigrā, itself from Elamite Tigra, itself from Sumerian Idigna.
The original Sumerian Idigna or Idigina was from *id gina "running water", which can be interpreted as "the swift river", contrasted to its neighbour, the Euphrates, whose leisurely pace caused it to deposit more silt and build up a higher bed than the Tigris. The Sumerian form was borrowed into Akkadian as Idiqlat, from there into the other Semitic languages. Another name for the Tigris used in Middle Persian was Arvand Rud "swift river". Today, Arvand Rud refers to the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. In Kurdish, it is known as Ava Mezin, "the Great Water"; the name of the Tigris in languages that have been important in the region: The Tigris is dammed in Iraq and Turkey to provide water for irrigating the arid and semi-desert regions bordering the river valley. Damming has been important for averting floods in Iraq, to which the Tigris has been notoriously prone following April melting of snow in the Turkish mountains. Recent Turkish damming of the river has been the subject of some controversy, for both its environmental effects within Turkey and its potential to reduce the flow of water downstream.
Mosul Dam is the largest dam in Iraq. Water from both rivers is used as a means of pressure during conflicts. In 2014 a major breakthrough in developing consensus between multiple stakeholder representatives of Iraq and Turkey on a Plan of Action for promoting exchange and calibration of data and standards pertaining to Tigris river flows was achieved; the consensus, referred to as the "Geneva Consensus On Tigris River" was reached at a meeting organized in Geneva by the think tank Strategic Foresight Group. In February 2016, the United States Embassy in Iraq as well as the Prime Minister of Iraq Haider al-Abadi issued warnings that Mosul Dam could collapse; the United States warned people to evacuate the floodplain of the Tigris because between 500,000 and 1.5 million people were at risk of drowning due to flash flood if the dam collapses, that the major Iraqi cities of Mosul, Tikrit and Baghdad were at risk. In Sumerian mythology, the Ti
Brigid
Brigit, Brigid or Bríg was a goddess of pre-Christian Ireland. She appears in Irish mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán, it has been suggested. She is associated with the spring season, healing and smithcraft. Cormac's Glossary, written in the 10th century by Christian monks, says that Brigid was "the goddess whom poets adored" and that she had two sisters: Brigid the healer and Brigid the smith; this suggests. Saint Brigid shares many of the goddess's attributes and her feast day on 1 February was a pagan festival marking the beginning of spring, it has thus been argued. She is identified in Lebor Gabála Érenn as a daughter of a poet; the same passage mentions that she has two oxen, Fe and Men, that graze on a plain named after them, Femen. She possessed the king of boars, Torc Triath, Cirb, king of wethers, from whom Mag Cirb is named; the animals were said to cry out a warning and thus Brigid is considered the guardian of domesticated animals.
As the daughter of Dagda, she is the half sister of Cermait, Aengus and Bodb Derg. In Cath Maige Tuireadh, Bríg invents keening, a combination of weeping and singing, while mourning for her son Ruadán, after he is slain while fighting for the Fomorians, she is credited in the same passage with inventing a whistle used for night travel. Brigid is considered the patroness of poetry, medicine and crafts, cattle and other livestock, sacred wells and the arrival of early spring. In the Christian era, nineteen nuns at Kildare tended a perpetual flame for the Saint, believed to be a continuation of a pre-Christian practice of women tending a flame in her honour, her festival day, Imbolc is traditionally a time for weather prognostication: In her English retellings of Irish myth, Lady Augusta Gregory describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, poets worshipped her, for her sway was great and noble. And she was a woman of healing along with that, a woman of smith's work, it was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the night."A possible British and continental counterpart Brigantia seems to have been the Celtic equivalent of the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena goddesses with similar functions and embodying the same concept of elevated state, whether physical or psychological.
She is the goddess of all things perceived to be of high dimensions such as high-rising flames, hill-forts and upland areas. In the living traditions, whether seen as goddess or saint, she is associated with the home and hearth and is a favorite of both Polytheists and Catholics. A number of these associations are attested in Cormac's Glossary. In the Middle Ages, the goddess Brigid was syncretized with the Christian saint of the same name. According to medievalist Pamela Berger, Christian "monks took the ancient figure of the mother goddess and grafted her name and functions onto her Christian counterpart," St. Brigid of Kildare. St. Brigid is associated with perpetual, sacred flames, such as the one maintained by 19 nuns at her sanctuary in Kildare, Ireland; the sacred flame at Kildare was said by Giraldus Cambrensis and other chroniclers to have been surrounded by a hedge, which no man could cross. Men who attempted to cross the hedge were said to have been cursed to die or be crippled; the tradition of female priestesses tending sacred occurring eternal flames is a feature of ancient Indo-European pre-Christian spirituality.
Other examples include the Roman goddess Vesta, other hearth-goddesses, such as Hestia. Both the goddess and saint are associated with holy wells, at Kildare and many other sites in the Celtic lands. Well dressing, the tying of clooties to the trees next to healing wells, other methods of petitioning or honoring Brigid still take place in some of the Celtic lands and the diaspora. Saint Brigid's feast day is on 1 February celebrated as St Brigid's Day in the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church and by the Anglican Communion; the Gaelic festival coincides with Imbolc, a pagan festival associated with the goddess Brigid. Brigid is an important figure for modern pagans, she is sometimes worshipped in conjunction with Cernunnos. Old Irish Brigit came to be spelled Brighid by the modern Irish period. Since the spelling reform of 1948, this has been spelled Bríd; the earlier form gave rise to various forms in the languages of Europe, starting from the Medieval Latin Brigit /ˈbriʒit/, suggested by the written form, from there to various modern forms, such as English Bridget and Bridgit, French Brigitte, Swedish Birgitta, Italian Brigida and Finnish Piritta.
The name is derived from Proto-Celtic *Brigantī and means "The High One", cognate with the name of the ancient British goddess Brigantia, the Old High German personal name Burgunt, the Sanskrit word Bṛhatī "high", an epithet of the Hindu dawn goddess Ushas. The ultimate source is Proto-Indo-European *bʰr̥ǵʰéntih₂, derived from the root *bʰerǵʰ-. Brìghde/Brìde Ffraid (also Braint, alt. Breint, the name of a river in Anglese
Jordan River
The Jordan River or River Jordan is a 251-kilometre-long river in the Middle East that flows north to south through the Sea of Galilee and on to the Dead Sea. Jordan and the Golan Heights border the river to the east, while the West Bank and Israel lie to its west. Both Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river; the river has a major significance in Judaism and Christianity since many believe that the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land and that Jesus of Nazareth was baptised by John the Baptist in it. The Jordan River has an upper course from its sources to the Sea of Galilee, a lower course south of the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea. In traditional terminology, the upper course is referred to as passing through the "Hula Valley", as opposed to "Upper Jordan Valley". Over its upper course, fed by the Hasbani River in Banias and Dan, the river drops in a 75-kilometre run to the once large and swampy Lake Hula, above sea level. Exiting the now much-diminished lake, it goes through an steeper drop over the 25 kilometres down to the Sea of Galilee, which it enters at its northern end.
The Jordan deposits much of the silt it is carrying within the lake, which it leaves again near its southern tip. At that point, the river is situated about 210 metres below sea level; the last 120-kilometre -long section follows what is termed the "Jordan Valley", which has less gradient so that the river meanders before entering the Dead Sea, a terminal lake about 422 metres below sea level with no outlet. Two major tributaries enter from the east during this last section: the Yarmouk River and Zarqa River, its section north of the Sea of Galilee is within the boundaries of Israel and forms the western boundary of the Golan Heights. South of the lake, it forms the border between the Kingdom of Jordan, Israel; the streams coming together to create the River Jordan in its upper basin are, west to east: Iyyon, a stream which flows from Lebanon. Hasbani, a stream which flows from the north-western foot of Mount Hermon in Lebanon. Dan, a stream whose source is at the base of Mount Hermon. Banias, a stream arising from a spring at Banias at the foot of Mount Hermon.
South of the Sea of Galilee the Jordan River receives the waters of further tributaries, the main ones being Yarmouk River Zarqa RiverSmaller tributaries in this segment are Wadi al-Far'a Wadi Qelt While several hypotheses for the origin of the river's name have been proposed, the most accepted is that it comes from Semitic Yard|on'flow down' <√ירד reflecting the river's declivity. Cognates of the word are found in Aramaic and other Semitic languages; the first recorded use of the name appears as Yārdon in Anastasi I, an ancient Egyptian papyrus that dates to the time of Rameses II. Early Arab chronicles referred to the river as Al-Urdunn. In the 19th century the River Jordan and the Dead Sea were explored by boat by Christopher Costigan in 1835, Thomas Howard Molyneux in 1847, William Francis Lynch in 1848, John MacGregor in 1869; the full text of W. F. Lynch's 1849 book Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea is available online. In 1964, Israel began operating a pumping station that diverts water from the Sea of Galilee to the National Water Carrier.
In 1964, Jordan constructed a channel that diverted water from the Yarmouk River, another main tributary of the Jordan River to the East Ghor Canal. Syria has built reservoirs that catch the Yarmouk's waters. Environmentalists blame Israel and Syria for extensive damage to the Jordan River ecosystem. In modern times, the waters are 70% to 90% used for human purposes and the flow is reduced; because of this and the high evaporation rate of the Dead Sea, as well as industrial extraction of salts through evaporation ponds, the sea is shrinking. All the shallow waters of the southern end of the sea have been drained in modern times and are now salt flats. A small section of the northernmost portion of the Lower Jordan, the first ca. 3-kilometre below the Sea of Galilee, has been kept pristine for local tourism. Most polluted is the 100-kilometre downstream stretch—a meandering stream from above the confluence with the Yarmouk to the Dead Sea. Environmentalists say the practice of letting sewage and brackish water flow into the river has destroyed its ecosystem.
Rescuing the Jordan could take decades, according to environmentalists. In 2007, Friends of the Earth Middle East named the Jordan River as one of the world's 100 most endangered ecological sites, due in part to lack of cooperation between Israel and neighboring Arab states; the same environmentalist organization had said in a report that the Jordan River could dry up by 2011 unless the decay was stopped. The flow rate of the Jordan River once was 1.3 billion cubic metres per year. Recent literature sho
River Boyne
The River Boyne is a river in Leinster, the course of, about 112 kilometres long. It rises at Trinity Well, Newberry Hall, near Carbury, County Kildare, flows towards the Northeast through County Meath to reach the Irish Sea between Mornington, County Meath, Baltray, County Louth. Salmon and trout can be caught in the river, surrounded by the Boyne Valley, it is crossed just west of Drogheda by the Boyne River Bridge, which carries the M1 motorway, by the Boyne Viaduct, which carries the Dublin-Belfast railway line to the east. The catchment area of the River Boyne is 2,695 km2; the long term average flow rate of the River Boyne is 38.8 cubic metres per second. Despite its short course, the Boyne has historical and mythical connotations; the Battle of the Boyne, a major battle in Irish history, took place along the Boyne near Drogheda in 1690 during the Williamite war in Ireland. It passes through the ancient town of Trim, Trim Castle, the Hill of Tara, the Hill of Slane, Brú na Bóinne, Mellifont Abbey, the medieval town of Drogheda.
In the Boyne Valley can be found other historical and archaeological monuments, including Loughcrew, Celtic crosses, castles. This river has been known since ancient times; the Greek geographer Ptolemy drew a map of Ireland in the 2nd century which included the Boyne, which he called Βουουινδα or Βουβινδα. During the High Middle Ages, Giraldus Cambrensis called it the Boandus. In Irish mythology it is said that the river was created by the goddess Boann, according to F. Dinneen, lexicographer of the Irish Gaelic language, Boyne is an anglicised form of the name. In other legends, it was in this river where Fionn mac Cumhail captured Fiontán, the Salmon of Knowledge; the Meath section of the Boyne was known as Smior Fionn Feidhlimthe. The Boyne Navigation is a series of canals running parallel to the main river from Oldbridge near Drogheda to Navan. Owned by An Taisce and derelict, the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland are restoring the navigation to navigable status; the canal at )Oldbridge which runs through the battle of the Boyne Site was the first to be restored.
A rock with indications of being Prehistoric art was found in August 2013. Cliadh O’Gibne reported through the Archaeological Survey of Ireland that a boulder with geometric carvings had been found in Donore, County Meath; the Boyne Fishermen's Rescue and Recovery Service, near Drogheda, County Louth, were doing one of their regular operations to remove shopping trolleys from the Boyne, in May 2013, when they discovered an ancient log boat, which experts believe may be 5000 years old. Initial examination by an underwater archaeologist, suggests it could be rare because, unlike other log-boats found here, it has oval shapes on the upper edge which could have held oars. Investigations were on-going as of 2013. In 2006, the remains of a Viking ship were found in the river bed in Drogheda during dredging operations; the vessel is to be excavated. See Annals of Inisfallen AI770.2 The battle of Bolg Bóinne against the Uí Néill, by the Laigin. HMS Boyne Salmon fishing on the River Boyne, from Salmon Ireland A canoeing and kayaking guide to the River Boyne, from Irish Whitewater
Irish mythology
The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not survive the conversion to Christianity. However, much of it was preserved in medieval Irish literature, though it was shorn of its religious meanings; this literature represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. Although many of the manuscripts have not survived and much more material was never committed to writing, there is enough remaining to enable the identification of distinct, if overlapping, cycles: the Mythological Cycle, the Ulster Cycle, the Fenian Cycle and the Historical Cycle. There are a number of extant mythological texts that do not fit into any of the cycles. Additionally, there are a large number of recorded folk tales that, while not mythological, feature personages from one or more of these four cycles. Today some of the best known tales are of Tír na nÓg, Fionn MacCumhaill, Na Fianna, The Aos Sí / Aes Sídhe, Sétanta, The Tuatha Dé Danann, the Children of Lir, Táin Bó Cúailnge & the Salmon of Knowledge.
Depending on the sources, the importance of gods and goddesses in Irish mythology varies. The geographical tales, emphasize the importance of female divinities while the historical tradition focuses on the colonizers, inventors, or male warriors with the female characters only intervening in episodes. Goddesses are linked to a place and they seem to draw their power from that place, they are maternal deities caring for the earth itself as well as children. They are connected to poetry, smith craft, healing. Many appear to be prophetic when foretelling death as well as transformational. Zoomorphism is an important feature for many Irish deities. Badb Catha, the Raven of Battle, introduces zoomorphism to celtic deities of both sexes. Male deities are less zoomorphic than the female deities in the Irish tradition, but there are still some instances of shapeshifting among gods. There is a presence in Irish Mythology of the Triad referred to as the "power of three," which expresses the extreme potency of a deity rather than dividing the power.
It is an attribute more pronounced among female deities. Dagda is called by two other names, Lug has two brothers, there is the Three Gods of Skill There is a lack of a goddess of love equivalent to Aphrodite or Venus due to the predominance of the maternal element in the culture of the Celts. There are multiple categories of goddesses in Irish Mythology: the Mother Goddess, Seasonal Goddess, Warrior Goddess are a few; some of these goddesses are considered to be all one goddess while other stories treat them as separate. Among the mother goddesses is Anu the goddess of Danu. Additionally, Brigit is a mother goddess, sometimes considered one goddess and sometimes considered the three sisters Brigit, she is the mother goddess that watches over childbirth. She brings abundance. Brigit can be categorized as a seasonal goddess and one can win her favor by burying a fowl alive at the meeting of three waters as a form of sacrifice, she survives as Saint Brigit in the Christian faith and some modern folklore makes her midwife to the Blessed Virgin.
The function of these goddesses involves the entire cycle of life from birth through adolescence and the fertility. They are protecting forces that provide the necessities of life within the home and are envisioned as being the earth itself, their importance have led some scholars to propose a matrilineal social organization and others highlight this argument as being feminist propaganda and deny all indications of importance. These goddesses are the patronesses of feasts, they appear during great feasts of Ireland and they bring abundance. The main goddesses are the Machas: Carman, Tea, but there are other seasonal goddesses. Warrior Goddesses are linked with warrior women because there is historical evidence of women leading their tribes into battle. Oftentimes, warrior goddesses are depicted in a trio; this trio can change to include different goddesses. They reign over the battlefield without having to physically be involved, they do not need to strike a blow because they control the events while the male deities are depicted as being in the battles.
This aspect leads to the discussion of women as the gods of slaughter. Scholars note that the female deities govern the natural event while the male deities govern the social event; the main goddesses of war are Morrigan and Bodb. The Irish Gods are divided into four main groups. Group one encompasses the older gods of Britain; the second group is the main focus of much of the mythology and surrounds the native Irish gods with their homes in burial mounds. The third group are the gods that dwell in the sea and the fourth group includes stories of the Otherworld; the gods that appear most are Dagda and Lug. Some scholars have argued that the stories of these gods align with the Greek gods. Druids were held in high esteem by the community as religious leaders, their functions and origins are debated which some attribute to the fact that there was no written tradition. This lack of documentary evidence is said to be because the practices become common property and this makes the student relax their diligence.
They are figures in Irish Mythology and study astronomy. Heroes in Irish mythology can be found in two distinct groups. There is the hero outside of the tribe; the first group encompasses all, subject to man and his works must belong to the tribe and live under its laws. Within the tribe, heroes are of the race of humans and gods
Nuada Airgetlám
In Irish mythology, Nuada or Nuadu, known by the epithet Airgetlám, was the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is known as Nechtan, Nuadu Necht and Elcmar, is the husband of Boann, he is thought to have been a god and is related to the British and Gaulish god Nodens, associated with hunting and fishing. His Welsh equivalent is Lludd Llaw Eraint. Nuada was king of the Tuatha Dé Danann for seven years, they made contact with the Fir Bolg, the then-inhabitants of the island, Nuada sought from them half of the island for the Tuatha Dé, which their king rejected. Both peoples made ready for war, in an act of chivalry allowed their numbers and arms to be inspected by the opposing side to allow for a fair battle. During this first great battle at Mag Tuired, Nuada lost an arm in combat with the Fir Bolg champion Sreng. Nuada's ally, Aengaba of Norway fought Sreng, sustaining a mortal wound, while the Dagda protected Nuada. Fifty of the Dagda's soldiers carried Nuada from the field; the Tuatha Dé gained the upper hand in the battle, but Sreng returned to challenge Nuada to single combat.
Nuada accepted, on the condition. Sreng refused; the Tuatha Dé decided to offer Sreng one quarter of Ireland for his people instead of the one half offered before the battle, he chose Connacht. Having lost his arm, Nuada was no longer eligible for kingship due to the Tuatha Dé tradition that their king must be physically perfect, he was replaced as king by Bres, a half-Fomorian prince renowned for his beauty and intellect; the Fomorians were mythological enemies of the people of Ireland equated with the mythological "opposing force" such as the Greek Titans to the Olympians, during Bres's reign they imposed great tribute on the Tuatha Dé, who became disgruntled with their new king's oppressive rule and lack of hospitality. By this time Nuada had his lost arm replaced by a working silver one by the physician Dian Cecht and the wright Creidhne. Bres was removed from the kingship, having ruled for seven years, Nuada was restored, he ruled for twenty more years. Bres, aided by the Fomorian Balor of the Evil Eye, attempted to retake the kingship by force, war and continued oppression followed.
When the youthful and vigorous Lugh joined Nuada's court, the king realised the multi-talented youth could lead the Tuatha Dé against the Fomorians, stood down in his favour. The second Battle of Mag Tuired followed. Nuada was killed and beheaded in battle by Balor, but Lugh avenged him by killing Balor and led the Tuatha Dé to victory. Nuada's great sword was one of the Four Treasures of the Tuatha Dé Danann, brought from one of their four great cities. Nuada is thought to be the same figure as Elcmar. Other characters of the same name include the High Kings Nuadu Finn Fáil and Nuadu Necht, Nuada, the maternal grandfather of Fionn mac Cumhaill. A rival to Conn of the Hundred Battles was Mug Nuadat; the Delbhna, a people of early Ireland, had a branch called the Delbhna Nuadat who lived in County Roscommon. The present day town of Maynooth in County Kildare is named after Nuada. Nuada's name is cognate with that of Nodens, a British deity associated with the sea and healing, equated with the Roman Mars, with Nudd, a Welsh mythological figure.
It is that another Welsh figure, Lludd Llaw Eraint, derives from Nudd Llaw Eraint by alliterative assimilation. The Norse god Týr is another deity equated with Mars; the name Nuada derives from a Celtic stem *noudont- or *noudent-, which J. R. R. Tolkien suggested was related to a Germanic root meaning "acquire, have the use of", earlier "to catch, entrap". Making the connection with Nuada and Lludd's hand, he detected "an echo of the ancient fame of the magic hand of Nodens the Catcher". Julius Pokorny derives the name from a Proto-Indo-European root *neu-d- meaning "acquire, utilise, go fishing"
