Beth Nahrain[a] (Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, romanized: Bêṯ Nahrīn, [be̝θˈnah.rin]); lit. 'home of the (two) rivers'[1] is the name for the region known as Mesopotamia in the Syriac language. Geographically, it refers to the areas between and surrounding the Euphrates and Tigris rivers (as well as their tributaries). The Aramaic name also refers to the area around the rivers, not only literally between the rivers.
This area roughly encompasses almost all of present-day Iraq, parts of southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and, more recently, northeastern Syria.[2] The Assyrians are considered to be indigenous inhabitants of Beth Nahrain.[3] "Nahrainean" or "Nahrainian" is the anglicized name for "Nahrāyā" (Syriac: ܢܗܪܝܐ), which is the Aramaic equivalent of "Mesopotamian".[4]
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- ^ Sokoloff, Michael (2009). A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum. Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press. p. 142a. ISBN 978-1-57506-180-1.
- ^ Donabed, Sargon (2015). Reforging a Forgotten History: Iraq and the Assyrians in the Twentieth Century. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-8605-6.
- ^ Simo Parpola, Assyrian Identity in Ancient Times and Today, Lecture given at the March 27, 2004 historical seminar of the Assyrian Youth Federation in Sweden (AUF)
- ^ Hugoye: Journal of Syriac Studies Past and Present Archived May 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Perceptions of Syriac Literary Tradition by Lucas VAN ROMPAY