Xenophon's Route Through Babylonia and Assyria

Abstract

TheAnabasisof the Greek historian Xenophon describes the march of a mercenary army in 401–400b.c.from the Aegean coast down the Euphrates to Babylonia, and back up the Tigris to the Black Sea and the Aegean. This paper presents the evidence for the army's route through Babylonia and Assyria, and attempts to resolve the main uncertainties.1

Potentialities and Limitations of Research on VHRS Data: Alexander the Great’s Military Camp at Gaugamela on the Navkur Plain in Kurdish Iraq as a Test Case

“…Furthermore, they did not form any reasonable perimeter characteristic of enclosures. Only in one case did the present survey come across traces of undoubtedly ancient remains-the line identified east of the Mahad hills (see Figure 12 and Figure 15), running roughly north-south, accounts for a short stretch of the over-90-km-long Assyrian canal system built by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704-681 BCE) to bring water from Khinis at the footsteps of the Kurdish mountains to Nineveh [44,[112][113][114][115][116][117].…”

“…In fact, it has been suggested that the Mesopotamian water canals could also have been occasionally used for military purposes as barriers [117]. However, given the fact that the Assyrian canal is placed below the Mahad hills, it would have meant placing a military barrier below the uphill positions taken by the Macedonians.…”

“…In this respect, the question has been posed as to whether the Assyrian canal, which encircles the entire eastern and southern border of the hills in question, could have been used as a trench for the purpose of setting up the Macedonian camp (see Figure 15). In fact, it has been suggested that the Mesopotamian water canals could also have been occasionally used for military purposes as barriers [117]. However, given the fact that the Assyrian canal is placed below the Mahad hills, it would have meant placing a military barrier below the uphill positions taken by the Macedonians.…”