Gaugamela

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Gaugamela was a settlement in ancient Assyria , northeast of Nineveh , between the Tigris and Great Zab rivers. Some historians equate it with today's Mosul .

The settlement gained fame as the site of the Battle of Gaugamela , in which the outnumbered army of Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Chr. Overwhelming victory against the Persian under Darius III. won. According to Strabo ( Geographika 16, 1, 3) Gaugamela means "house of the camel" and was set up by Darius I , son of Hystaspes , to take care of his camel, his provisions and equipment on his travels through Scythia wore. Since this village seemed too insignificant to them, the Macedonians would have moved the site of the battle to the more important Arbela .

literature

  • Hans Treidler: Gaugamela. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 2, Stuttgart 1967, column 703.