At a glance
- Era
- The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
- Region
- Levant & Iraq
- Review
- Draft Completeness 3/5 · Help complete it
In time
In space
Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph
Summary
In Rabi' I of year 400 the Tigris fell to a low never before known; islands appeared in it that had not existed, and boats could not sail it from Anah and al-Rashidiyya on the upper reaches 2.
The dredging and its strangeness
Ibn al-Jawzi says men were sent to dredge that spot, "and the dredging of the Tigris was found a marvel and wondered at, for the Tigris had never been dredged before this year" 2.
For young visitors
In year 400 the Tigris ran so low that new islands showed and ships stopped moving, so workers were sent to dig out the riverbed — the first time anyone remembered the Tigris being dredged.
Research notes
- Source read: Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, harvested scan (muntazam/AAlexandrina-224011), p.245, first event of year 400.
- Kara = scouring/deepening the riverbed; a striking counterpart to the next year's flood (see event/tigris-flood-401).
Connections
- Located in
- Baghdad
People and things also explored
The Nizamiyya Madrasa of Baghdad· Bayt al-Hikma — the House of Wisdom· The 'Adudi Bimaristan· al-Bimaristan al-Muqtadiri· Bimaristan al-Sayyida· Dar al-'Ilm of Baghdad (Sabur's library)· The Jami' al-Qati'a of Baghdad· The mosque of Qati'at Umm Ja'far
Sources
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , j.7 p.245
- al-Muntazam fi Tarikh al-Muluk wa'l-Umam — Ibn al-Jawzi , p.245
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Low Water and Dredging of the Tigris in 400 AH”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/tigris-dredging-400/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.