Is

IS

IS(Ἴς, Herod. i; 179), a town of Mesopotamia, eight days' journey N. of Babylon, situated, according to Herodotus, on a stream of the same name, which brought down the bitumen which was used in the construction of the walls of Babylon. There is no reason to doubt that it is represented by the modern Hit. There does not appear to be any river at present at Hit, but a small stream may have been easily blocked up by the sand of ages. There are still bitumen springs in the neighbourhood of this place. It has been conjectured that the Ἰζαννησόπολιςof Isidorus (p. 5) refers to the same town. (Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. 2. p. 148; Rennell, Geogr. of Herod. p. 552.)

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Is

(Ἴς). The modern Hit; a city in the south of Mesopotamia, eight days' journey from Babylon, on the west bank of the Euphrates, and upon a little river of the same name. In its neighbourhood were the springs of asphalt from which was obtained the bitumen that was used, instead of mortar, in the walls of Babylon. (Herod.i. 179).

Is Is, (Hit) a place eight days distant from Babylon

• on a river of the same name, producing bitumen: Hdt. 1.179