TIGRIS
“fast”.
Hebrew form of the name of the Tigris River (Gr.).
(a) Name of one of the four branches of the river that came out of Eden (Gen. 2:10-14). It is evident that great geographical changes have occurred due to Noah’s Flood. The description in this passage does not correspond to the structure of the antediluvian world.
(b) The current Hidekel is called, in Arabic, Dijlah. Its sources are located on the southern slope of the Antitaurus, in central Armenia, and crosses Kurdistan, receiving water from various tributaries, those on the eastern slope being of special importance.
It joins the Euphrates near the Persian Gulf. The river, from the union of the two to the mouth, is called Schat el-Arab. The Dijlah has a length of 1,800 km from its source to its union with the Euphrates.
In its course it passes next to the ruins of Nineveh, on its left bank, almost opposite Mosul on the right bank. Below, the river passes through Baghdad, and then the ruins of Ctesiphon, the ancient capital of the Parthians, and those of Seleucia, which under the Greek dynasty rivaled Babylon.