The Zagros Mountains
Facts about southern Iraq and Ancient Sumer
by James W. Bell © 2002-3
The Zagros Mountains are parallel ranges of folded mountains, almost impassable when traveling east-west, that run some 1,100 miles, beginning near the Turkish border, southeast along the western border of Iran down to the Strait of Hormuz. Many of the ranges crest at 10,000 feet or above and the Zard Kuh, which is the highest peak in the Zagros, is almost 15,000 feet high. Snow is common throughout the ranges in winter and some higher peaks remain snow-covered throughout the year.
For a map of the Zagros Mountains, click here.
For a space photo of the Zagros, click here.
The Karun River, which starts in the Zagros near the Zard Kuh, twists through deep canyons with sheer mountain walls until it reaches the plain of Khuzestan (the current name for Luristan, once known as Susiana, a province of ancient Elam), through which it flows to the Arabian Gulf.
Huge salt domes, measuring as high as 5,000 feet high, are found near the center of the mountains. Oil and bitumen seeps and naphtha springs are found in the vicinity. The oil and bitumen seeps sometimes spontaneously ignite.
The mountains have mostly been denuded, leaving stands of oak and pistachio trees. Animals found in the mountains include wild sheep and goats, wolves, bears, hyenas and leopards. Eagles nest in the higher elevations.
The valleys of the northern half of the Zagros support agriculture and are heavily populated. In the central range, shepherds graze their flocks in upland pastures. In the southern part, dates and cereal grains are grown in oases. From north to south, Kurds, Lurs, Bakhtiaris and Kashkais inhabit the mountains.
For a photo of a valley in the central Zagros, click here.
There are tremendous climate differences in the Zagros, depending in large part on elevation. In the central range, weather varies from below 0 in winter on the mountaintops to winds from the southwest that scorch the lower elevations in summertime. Annual rainfall varies from 10 inches in the lower elevations to almost 20 inches on the crest.
Land of the Gods
In ancient days, the plain of Khuzestan was known as Susiana and the adjoining mountains to the southeast were known as Anshan, the two provinces making up a country called Elam, which can be interpreted as 'The Land of the Gods.' Elam was a long-lived country, often the enemy of the Sumerian city-states.
For a photo of a snow-covered mountain in the Zagros, click here.
The End
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