Birtha (Mesopotamia)
Encyclopedia
Birtha was an ancient fortress on the river Tigris
, which was said to have been built by Alexander the Great. It would seem, from the description of Ammianus, to have resembled a modern fortification, flanked by bastions, and with its approaches defended by out-works. Shapur II
here closed his campaign in 360, and was compelled to retire with considerable loss. D'Anville identifies this place with modern-day Tikrit
, Iraq
, in which Edward Gibbon
agrees with him.
The word "Birtha" in Syriac
means a castle or fortress, and might be applied to many places. From the known position of Dura
, it has been inferred that the remarkable passage of the Tigris by Jovian in 363 took place near Tikrit. Towards the end of the 14th century, this impregnable fortress was stormed by Timour-Leng. The ruins of the castle are on a perpendicular cliff over the Tigris, about 200 feet (65 m) high. This insulated cliff is separated from the town by a broad and deep ditch, which was no doubt filled by the Tigris. At the foot of the castle is a large gate of brick-work, which is all that remains standing; but round the summit of the cliff the walls, buttresses, and bastions are quite traceable. There are the ruins of a vaulted secret staircase, leading down from the heart of the citadel to the water's edge.
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member 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.-Geography:...
, which was said to have been built by Alexander the Great. It would seem, from the description of Ammianus, to have resembled a modern fortification, flanked by bastions, and with its approaches defended by out-works. Shapur II
Shapur II
Shapur II the Great was the ninth King of the Persian Sassanid Empire from 309 to 379 and son of Hormizd II. During his long reign, the Sassanid Empire saw its first golden era since the reign of Shapur I...
here closed his campaign in 360, and was compelled to retire with considerable loss. D'Anville identifies this place with modern-day Tikrit
Tikrit
Tikrit is a town in Iraq, located 140 km northwest of Baghdad on the Tigris river . The town, with an estimated population in 2002 of about 260,000 is the administrative center of the Salah ad Din Governorate.-Ancient times:...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, in which Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon was an English historian and Member of Parliament...
agrees with him.
The word "Birtha" in Syriac
Syriac language
Syriac is a dialect of Middle Aramaic that was once spoken across much of the Fertile Crescent. Having first appeared as a script in the 1st century AD after being spoken as an unwritten language for five centuries, Classical Syriac became a major literary language throughout the Middle East from...
means a castle or fortress, and might be applied to many places. From the known position of Dura
Dura-Europos
Dura-Europos , also spelled Dura-Europus, was a Hellenistic, Parthian and Roman border city built on an escarpment 90 m above the right bank of the Euphrates river. It is located near the village of Salhiyé, in today's Syria....
, it has been inferred that the remarkable passage of the Tigris by Jovian in 363 took place near Tikrit. Towards the end of the 14th century, this impregnable fortress was stormed by Timour-Leng. The ruins of the castle are on a perpendicular cliff over the Tigris, about 200 feet (65 m) high. This insulated cliff is separated from the town by a broad and deep ditch, which was no doubt filled by the Tigris. At the foot of the castle is a large gate of brick-work, which is all that remains standing; but round the summit of the cliff the walls, buttresses, and bastions are quite traceable. There are the ruins of a vaulted secret staircase, leading down from the heart of the citadel to the water's edge.