The former of these two districts is shaped like an ancient amphora, the mouth extending from Hit to Samarah, the neck lying between Baghdad and Ctesiphon on the Tigris, Mohammed and Mosaib on the Euphrates, the full expansion of the body occurring between Serut and El Khithr, and the pointed base reaching down to Kornah at the junction of the two streams.

This tract, the main region of the ancient Babylonia, is about 320 miles long, and from 20 to 100 broad.

It may be estimated to contain about 18,000 square miles.

The tract west of the Euphrates is smaller than this.

Its length, in the time of the Babylonian Empire, may be regarded as about 350 miles, its average width is from 25 to 30 miles, which would give an area of about 9000 square miles.