Zerbis
Latin
Etymology
Likely related to the Great Zab and Little Zab rivers, a name already attested as Akkadian [script needed] (Zabu) and thus probably from a Semitic language, though the semantic identification of Pliny’s Zerbis with these is problematic and may reflect an error on his part.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈzer.bis/, [ˈd̪͡z̪ɛrbɪs̠]
Proper noun
Zerbis m sg (genitive Zerbis); third declension
- A river of Assyria and tributary of the Tigris
- c. 77 CE – 79 CE, Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 6.30.118:
- Gordyaeis vero iuncti Azoni, per quos Zerbis fluvius in Tigrim cadit
- but the Gordyaean Mountains are linked to the Azoni, through which the river Zerbis descends into the Tigris
- Gordyaeis vero iuncti Azoni, per quos Zerbis fluvius in Tigrim cadit
Declension
Third-declension noun (i-stem), singular only.
| Case | Singular |
|---|---|
| Nominative | Zerbis |
| Genitive | Zerbis |
| Dative | Zerbī |
| Accusative | Zerbem |
| Ablative | Zerbe |
| Vocative | Zerbis |
References
- “Assyria”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
- Zerbis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
- Cameron, Hamish (2019) Making Mesopotamia: Geography and Empire in a Romano-Iranian Borderland, Koninklijke Brill, →ISBN, pages 220–1