Modern Iraq largely coincides with the ancient region of Mesopotamia.
Historically, Iraq (as a toponym) refers only to the region of the alluvial plain, which begins near Baghdad and extends to the Gulf.
The alluvial plain was once covered by marshes and dense vegetation. Unfortunately, This massive oasis is shrinking fast.
Meaning of Iraq
Iraq meaning is a subject of ongoing debate among scholars, there’s no single, universally accepted interpretation.
Arab medieval writers connect it to words meaning: banks, water, roots, rhizomes and vegetation.
Alternatively, Western etymologists speculate that “Iraq” might be from, or influenced by “Uruk”.
“Uruk” is the Akkadian name for the great Sumerian city of “Unug”, a major urban center in southern Mesopotamia and one of the world’s first major cities. “Uruk” is known in Arabic as: Warka.
Uruk, as a morpheme, has not been found or cataloged in existing dictionaries of the Akkadian language. This could be because it was never written down, an obsolete byform of a newer word, or it was simply missed during the compilation of these dictionaries. Consequently, the semanteme of Uruk is still debated.
It is worth noticing, here, that Sumerian and Akkadian words are characterized by their multiple “spelling variants”, and “many cuneiform signs can be pronounced in more than one way and often two or more signs share the same pronunciation” [01]
With this in mind, here are some Akkadian words that could be byforms of “Uruk”:
In linguistics, a byform refers to a less common or secondary form of a word, stem, or other linguistic element, existing alongside a more standard or frequent form. It’s essentially a variant, often considered a parallel or alternative expression, that may be less frequently used or associated with specific dialects or historical periods.
arāqu → Green
arqu → Green spot
erāqu → Greenish
erqu → Greenery
irqu → Vegetation
urruqu → Verdure
urrīqu → Vegetables
warqu → To become green
warāqu → To make vegetation come up
ikkāru → Farmer, plow animal.
uqūru → heart or shoot of the date palm, a kind of reed.
These Akkadian words have cognates in other Semitic languages:
1- Hebrew:
“יָרוֹק/yarok“: green, the color green.
“אִכָּר/ikkar“: farmer.
2- Syriac:
“ܝܼܪܵܩܵܐ/iraqa“: green, the color green.
3- Arabic:
– “ʿŭrāq/عُراق”:rainfed plants. “مَا خَرَج من النّبات على أثَر الغيْثِ”
– “ʿŭrŭq/عُروق”: plant roots.
– “wărāq/وَراق”: green grass.
– “wărăq/وَرَق”: plant leaves.
– “rĭqqăh/رِّقةُ”: green ground, verdure.
– “wariq/وَرِق”: verdant.
– “ārāk/آراك”: a name of a “sorrel tree”, native to Middle East. (known in English as “Salvadora persica”).
“ārāk” is also a description of a group of plants named “ḥĭmḍ/حمض”.
“ḥĭmḍ” in Arabic means: “sorrel”!
– In modern “Khaleeji Arabic”, the word “ʿaraq” (عَرَق) is still used in expressions such as: “مزرعة عرق” (măz.răʿăt ʿărăq), which denotes: “arable land”.
Clearly, there is a homophonic relationship between (uruk/warka/Iraq) and these Semitic lexical words. They all stem from the same phonetic root : [r-k](or its metathesized variant: [k-r]), which may suggest a semantic relationship as well.
Diachronically, the consonants /k/, /kh/, /q/ and /g/ are free variants. They substitute for one another without causing a change in meaning.
Warka and Warqa:
It is not without significance that the Arabic name for the city of “Uruk” is “Warka” (وركاء).
For Warka on Wikipedia
“Warka” seems to be a by-form of Arabic adjective: “Warqa/ورقاء” ( = being grayish black), derived from “wurqah/وُرْقَةُ” : (= blackness with a grayish tint).
But the word for “blackness”, in Arabic, is: “sawad” (سواد).
The word “sawad” is also used to denote the irrigated and cultivated areas, because of their dark-green color, which is perceived to be “blackish”.
The lands of the Sawad (أرض السواد):
It is interesting that “Sawad” was the name used in early Islamic times for southern Iraq, the region where “Uruk” (warka) is located.
For Sawad on Wikipedia
“Sawad/سواد” (=blackness) and “Warqa/ورقاء” (=dark/grayish black) are synonyms.
“Warqa” can be pronounced “Warka” (وركاء), which is the Arabic name for the city of “Uruk“.
This may lead to the conclusion that “Sawad” and “Warka” are two toponyms with the same naming motivation which is: Shady, dark-green vegetation.
Also It can be inferred that “Uruk” (warka) is NOT originally the name of the Sumerian city, it more likely started as a name for its region.
Sawad and Sumer
“Sawad” region was once called “the land of Sumer”, where the Sumerians built their great cities, including “Uruk”.
For Sumer on Wikipedia
“Sumer” is the English transliteration of “Šumeru”, a place name of an Akkadian origin. The etymology of Šumeru is debated, but some scholars connect it to Aramaic/Syriac “Šemra”, which means “dark” or “black”.
Language & “color”:
According to historical linguists, colors that are perceived to be similar, tend to be colexified, (expressed using a single umbrella term).
Examples:
- In Old Norse, the word “blár” (blue), was also used to describe black people. (It was the common name for people of African descent: blámenn ‘blue/black men’).
- The Welsh, Cornish, and Breton word “glas” is usually translated as ‘blue’; however, it can also refer, variously, to the color of the sea, of grass, or of silver.
- Greek “κυανός” (kuanós), meaning either a “dark blue or green“.
- Aramaic “ירק/yūrāq“: green, lime-yellow, pale.
- Akkadian: arāqu” or “warāqu”: to become green or yellow, to turn pale.
- Arabic: “wariq” (green), “warqa” (grayish-black), “arqan” or “yaraqan” (yellow/Jaundice)
- Syriac: “ܝܼܪܵܩܵܐ/iraqa“: (green),”ܐܘܪܓܐ/awrga” (black), “ܚܪܵܟ݂ܵܐ/ḥirka” (to blacken). These Syriac words are doublets, their Arabic cognates are: “وُرْقَة/wurqa” (blackness), “حرقاني/arqani” (black) and “wariq/وَرِق” (green)
Apparently, Semitic [r-k] is an umbrella term denotes a shade of color that is rather dark: grayish-black, dark-green or brownish-yellow.
Biblical Erech
Erech is an ancient city mentioned in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Genesis. It is one of the cities established by Nimrod, a mighty hunter and a significant figure in the post-Flood world. According to “Genesis 10:10”, “Erech” is located in the region of Shinar, which is often associated with the southern region of Mesopotamia.
The biblical Erech is commonly identified with the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk, a major center in southern Mesopotamia and one of the world’s first major cities.
Yareach in Hebrew means: Moon. (ch in Erech and yareach pronounced: kh)
Erech (Uruk) is the city of the goddess inanna/Ištar. The symbol of this goddess was a moon-crescent!
It has been proposed that Erech is related to the Akkadian word “arāku“: (to be long, to stay long).
The Sumerian city of Ur
Ur is another great Sumerian city, lies about 90 kilometers southeast of Uruk.
“The city’s patron deity was Nanna (in Akkadian, Sin), the Sumerian and Akkadian moon god, and the name of the city is in origin derived from the god’s name, UNUGKI, literally “the abode (UNUG) of Nanna”.” (Wikipedia) In other words: “The land of the Moon”.
Deities are frequently named after geographical features, place-names, concepts, and phenomena, such as Gaia, the Greek goddess of the Earth. Gaia is the feminine form of word “γη/Gi” which means: land or earth.
The ultimate etymology of Iraq
{arak} (or its metathesized variant: akar) is an ancient etymon, Its derivatives can be found in many Afro-asiatic and Indo-European languages.
The “original semanteme” of {arak} is: “curved”, “arched”, “hemisphere-like”, “buttock-shaped“, “gibbous-shaped cavity” or “gibbous-like bowl”, “recessed” or “depressed” place, “concave” or “convex”. The denominal verbs include: to bend, to twist, to become “curved as the crescent”, to turn downward, to fall, to drip. to decline, to grow old, “to become aged”.
Proto-speakers of these languages used {arak} as a description of the “crescent moon” or the “gibbous moon”, and then as a name for the “Crescent” (as well as the Moon).
Metonymically, it also refers to “nighttime”, “darkness” and for the color black.
Interestingly enough, {arak} is the etymon of: the Arabic words: “wărk/ورك” and “ārăk/آرَكَ” as well as Akkadian: “arḫu” (arkhu).
ḫ (h with breve below) represents (kh sound). “kh” (as in the Scottish “loch” or German “Achtung”) is often used in romanized forms to represent the sound of the Greek letter Chi (Χ, χ).
– “wărk” means: “buttock”, but figuratively, it is also a synonym for: “sitting place” “seat”, “couch/أريكة”, or “abode”.
Some scholars speculate that “Uruk” might be from a root meaning “seat” or “residential”.
– “ārăk” is a derived verb from wărk (آركَ في المكان), it means: to reside, to settle down, and hence the sense of “being long-lasting” or “ancient/عريق”. “ārăk” is also used in expressions such as: “آركَ القمر” “ārăk Al-qamar” (= the moon became a waning crescent).
[Cf. Akkadian word “arāku/urku“: (to be long, to stay long).]
[Cf. Old Norse: ríki (= seat of the ruler), and Greek: αρχαίος/archaíos (= longtimer, old)].
It has been suggested that Biblical Erech derives from a Hebrew root, meaning: “length” or “to be long”.
– Akkadian arḫu (ḫ = kh) (variants: warḫu, urḫu) means: The Moon, month, monthly, cognate with Hebrew “תַאֲרִיך/ta’arikh” (history), and “ירח/Yareakh” (Moon).
[Cf. Greek archeío (daily, monthly or annual record) ]
– “arḫu” (ḫ = kh) is also a name for cow or heifer, because cows (and bulls) have crescent-shape horns. arḫu is found in Arabic as “Arkh/أَرْخُ” (= bull) and “irakh/إِرَاخٌ” (= wild buffalos).
Conclusion:
There is a compelling linguistic evidence that the toponym “Iraq” is originally a colouronym, (a word that specifically identifies a particular color or hue). Apparently, Iraq denotes a shade of color that is rather dark: grayish-black, dark-green or brownish-yellow. This would make Iraq a synonym for “Sawad” and a doublet of “Warka“. The latter is more likely a cognate of “Uruk” (an obsolete byform of urruqu).
Iraq, Uruk and Erech are three variants of the same toponym, but more importantly, they are also cognate lexemes, their etymon is “ărăk”, a polysemous word with core and periphery meanings.
“Iraq” denotations include: bull, arch, crescent, Moon, nighttime, shade, darkness and blackness. The latter is an obsolete sense, but still preserved in Syriac and Arabic. In these languages “Iraq” can be translated as ‘black’; however, it can also refer, variously, to “swamp green” and the color of lime fruit.
In a nutshell: The intended denotation of the toponym Iraq is: Blackness. It is a byform of the adjective: ăwrăq/أورَق (= dark). This is not uncommon, ancient Egyptians referred to their country as “Kemet”, which translates to: “The Black Land”.
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