History of Mesopotamia thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is usually made between Upper or Northern Mesopotamia and Lower or Southern Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jezirah, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad. Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. In modern scientific usage, the term Mesopotamia often also
Mesopotamia used throughout the Greek Septuagint (c. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic equivalent "Naharaim". An even earlier Greek usage of the name "Mesopotamia" is evident from "The Anabasis of Alexander", which was written in the late 2nd century AD, but specifically refers to sources from the time of Alexander the Great. In the "Anabasis", Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. The Aramaic term "biritum/birit narim" corresponded to a similar geographical concept. Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris, thereby