This territory lies this side of Mesopotamia, effectively at the source of the Tigris. In it there is bitumen which is called naphtha. It is called Adiabene because there are rather large rivers in it[1] and it is hard to make the crossing [diabasis]. Nineveh[2] is also there. The bitumen provides such a degree of security for the buildings that, once mixed with the baked bricks and brittle stones, it becomes harder than any iron. There too is the Birdless[3] cave, from which rises a terrible vapour, so that it kills every terrestrial animal and every bird that might happen to sniff it. And if [the vapour] were spread abroad, the place would not be inhabited, but straightway they go up and go off again a little way and catch their breath. And this is how both the [creatures] which fly on high and those that dwell all around are saved.
Also [sc. attested is the associated adjective] Adiabenos ["Adiabenian"].