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Tigris River

Ancient name
Tigris River
Modern name
Tigris River
The Tigris River rises in the mountains of Armenia, forms the eastern border of Mesopotamia, and joins the Euphrates River in present-day southern Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf. Isidore of Seville (Etymologies 21.13.10) notes that "it is called by this name on account of its speed, like that animal, the tiger (tigris), which runs exceedingly fast." In Dati's day it was considered one of the four rivers (along with the Tigris, Pishon, and Gihon) described in Genesis as flowing out of Paradise.
Coordinates
34.53, 44.79

The toponym Tigris River appears in La Sfera in the following places:

Click on any citation to view it in context in the edition.

Map of the location P141

Variant spellings of Tigris River in Sfera manuscripts

Variant Manuscripts
.f. Tigris Fo
.f. tigris Marc1
[ti]gris Laur3, Magl2
f[iu]m[e] tigris Ricc1
fiume tighris Ashb4
fiume tigris Luc2, Med1
tigis He3
tigris Fn9, He2, ME2, Pad1, Pal8, Par1, Ricc15, Ricc8
Tigris NB, Parm2
Tigris .f. To2
Tigris fiume Wie1
trigris Yale4
Tygris Clas2
Suggested citation
Beneš, Carrie. “Tigris River.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, February 10, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/tigris-river/.