disc▪ If S.H. Longrikk (art. »al-Baṣra«, in EI²) is right and the name of the city is »probably derived from the nature of the soil«, then one would have to see it together with ClassAr †baṣraẗ ‘soft stones, rugged ground, land that is as though it were a mountain of gypsum’ and/or ʔarḍ baṣiraẗ ‘land in which are stones that cut the hoofs of beasts’ (Lane).
▪ The value ‘terrain calcaire’ is listed in DRS 2 (1994) as #BṢR-6, but without mentioning Basra.
▪ Popular etymology explains the name as ‘the over-watching’, ‘the one seeing everything’ (from ↗baṣ˅ra ‘to see’). On the Internet, other etymologies can be found (from an allegedly Pers bas-rāh [sic!] ‘where many paths meet’, ‘where many ways come together’, or allegedly Aram basratha [sic!] ‘place of huts, settlement’ – e.g., en.wiki). None of these are reliable.
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