volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

Ii8 dpis a Base for Shipping.
Kinneir, which placed the ancient city of 6pis on this
spot. The ancient city of 6pis, 'Attis (Xenophon, Anabasis,
ii, 4, §25) was certainly at the mouth of the
Physcus (uo-/cos) river, but it lay on the west bank
of the Tigris, and the mouth of the 'Adhem river must
have been some miles further to the south than it is
to-day. 6pis, the U-pi-i, or U-pi-e, or U-pu-a of the
cuneiform inscriptions,* was a town of importance in
the twelfth century before Christ, and the Tablet of
Synchronous History says it was captured by Tiglath-
Pileser I' (b.c. iioo). Sennacherib used it as a shipping
base during his expeditions against the peoples of the
Persian Gulf and the Elamites, but in Strabo's time
(ii, I, 26; xvi,
than a village.
I, 9) it seems to have been little more
The ruins of Manjur, which lie two or
three miles inland on the west bank, and consist of several
mounds, probably mark the site of 6pis. The downfall
of the city was possibly brought about by the Tigris
changing its bed.
After returning to our raft we floated on for a couple
of hours more in semi-darkness, and just before we
reached Zanbur we saw two or three large camp fires
on the west bank and several Arabs, some squatting
by the fires and others standing up and holding " gaspipe
" guns in their hands. Some of the latter cried
out and asked who we were, and the kalakji shouted a
reply, saying in effect, " English Consuls. Peace be
upon you." In reply to this they shouted, " Liars
Stop, we fire." Our answer was, " Fire," as we floated
on, and fire they did, and we heard their slugs strike
the water near the raft. None of us was hit, but the
slugs pierced several of the skins, and the raft at once
took on an uncomfortable list. As the Arabs made no
attempt to follow us we tied up at Sindiyah, where we
found several caravans halting for the night. Some of
* "-J^yy tyyyp -^^y- t^ (Rawlmson, Cun. Inscr., vol. ii, pi. 53, 1. 10)
-yy tyyye ^y- ty;f {iM.. a. pi. 65,1. 20); -^yy s^yyyt ^^ (Md., m,
y]f
pi. 12, No. 2, 11. 15 and i6) ; the sign »-::yy alu means " town," or
" city."
» Published by Rawlinson, op. cit., ii, pi. 65.