ABSTRACT
Assyria lies to the north of Babylonia. It begins with the high plain of Mesopotamia, a little above the junction of the Adhem with the Tigris, and occupies the middle part of the basin of that river as far as the Kurnib. On the east the middle course of the Great Zâb and the spurs of the Zagros separate it from the Kassites. Northward, Mount Masios serves as a frontier. To the west it does not reach the Ilabur or the Euphrates. This land of triangular outline does not possess the geographical unity of Babylonia. The western part in Mesopotamia is a vast undulating plateau, from which rise some chalky hills; in the eastern section, beyond the Tigris, are numerous wooded hills and valleys whence flow important streams, the Kurnib, the two Zabs, and the Adhem, a region rich in metals and fertile in cereals and fruit. On the east the Zagros forms a natural frontier, with its abrupt chains through which only two or three passes, and those impassable during part of the year, exist. On the north, terrace is piled on terrace, buttressing the Armenian massif. To the south the alluvial plain is inhabited by the Babylonians. Only on the west is there no natural boundary, and it is mainly in that direction that the Assyrian power will extend its conquests to the Mediterranean and Egypt. The area of Assyria has been compared by Rawlinson to that of Great Britain, while the extent of Babylonia would be roughly the same as that of Denmark. 1
