3. =Mesopotamia=, called in Scripture Aram-naharaim, or "Syria of the two rivers," was a land of indefinite boundaries. The name means "between the rivers," and hence it was often applied to all the plain between the Tigris and Euphrates, including even Chaldea and a part of Assyria. A more frequent use of the name restricts it to the northwestern portion of the region between the rivers, above the place where they approach and separate again. The Sinjar hills, crossing, divide it into two sections, a higher and a lower, the former mountainous, and the latter mostly a great desert. The upper section contained the cities of Orfa (Edessa), formerly supposed to be the birthplace of Abraham; Haran, the patriarch's resting place on the way to Canaan; Nisibis and Amida, now _Nisibin_ and _Diarbekr_. The only time when Mesopotamia appears in Bible history as a kingdom was a brief interval during the period of the Judges. (Judg. 3:8.) Earlier it had been occupied by separate and warring tribes; later it was a part of Assyria. 4. =Chaldea= is also called Shinar and Babylonia. The name Chaldea, in its most accurate sense, belongs to the southern portion of the province, but is generally used with reference to all the Mesopotamian plain south of _Baghdad_. It is perfectly level, and by nature one of the most fertile places on the whole earth. Its earliest inhabitants, at least the ruling portion of them, were Cushites, of the stock of Ham. An early Oriental kingdom began at Ur (_Mugheir_) about B.C. 3900. It lasted, with varying fortunes, until B.C. 538. Babylon afterward became the capital, and in a later period was the greatest city of the East. (See diagram on page 93.) Other cities of Chaldea were Erech (_Orchoë_), Calneh, and Sepharvaim. Further details of its political history are given in the account of the Babylonian empire of Nebuchadnezzar, on page 92. 5. The desert of =Arabia= occupies more than half of the map of the Old Testament World. That portion of it included upon the map is a vast triangle, having for its base the 28th parallel of latitude, from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, the Euphrates on its northeastern side, and the border of the Lebanon chain of mountains for its western. It is called in the Bible "the land of Kedar." It is a high, undulating, dry plain, with few oases, and almost impenetrable to travelers. From the days of Abraham until the present, the caravans have gone around it upon the north, following up the Euphrates to Tiphsah (Thapsacus), and then turning southward rather than face its terrors. Only once in history is it related that an army crossed it. This was when Nebuchadnezzar, while ravaging Palestine, learned of his father's death, and crossed this great desert by the most direct route, in order to take possession of the throne. III. LANDS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. These lands will receive more extended treatment in connection with other maps, so that we give them only a brief mention here.