The Euphrates reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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Euphrates

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The Euphrates (the traditional Greek name for the river, which is in Old Persian Ufrat. in Arabic الفرات, and in Turkish Firat) is the more western of the pair of great rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Tigris. The Euphrates is formed by the union of two branches, the Kara (the western Euphrates), which rises in the highlands of eastern Turkey north of Erzerum, Turkey and the Murat (the eastern Euphrates), which issues from Lake Van. The upper reaches of the Euphrates flow through steep canyons and gorges then southwest across Syria and then through Iraq. The Khabur and the Balikh River join the Euphrates in eastern Syria. They both have their origins in Turkey. Downstream, through its whole length, the Euphrates receives no further water flow.

Below Basra in southern Iraq the river merges with the Tigris to form the Shatt al-Arab, which in turn empties into the Persian Gulf. The river is 2780 km long. The Euphrates has always been more dependable for navigation than the Tigris. More than two-thirds (1200 miles) of its length is navigable for shallow-draft river boats, to the Iraqi city of Hit, which is only 53 meters above sea level. Above Hit, however, shoals and rapids make the river commercially unnavigable. Its annual inundation, caused by snowmelt in the mountains of Armenia, has been partly checked by new dams and reservoirs in the upper reaches.

As with the Tigris there is much controversy over rights and use of the river (see link). The Southeast Anatolia Development Project in Turkey involves the construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants by 2005, the biggest development project ever undertaken by Turkey. The first of the high dams was completed in 1990. Southeast Turkey is still struggling economically, adding fuel to the discontent expressed by Turkey's Kurdish minority centered there.

In Syria the Tabqa Dam (completed in 1973) forms a reservoir, Lake Assad, that is used for irrigating cotton. Syria has dammed its two tributaries and is constructing another dam. Iraq has seven dams in operation, but water control lost priority during Saddam Hussein's regime. Since the collapse of Ba'ath Iraq in 2003, water use has comes once again to the fore. The scarcity of water in the Middle East leaves Iraq in constant fear that Syria and Turkey will use up most of the water before it reaches Iraq. As it is, irrigation in southern Iraq leaves little water to join the Tigris at the Shatt-al-Arab.

Table of contents
1 Euphrates in mythology
2 Euphrates in history
3 External links

Euphrates in mythology

The river Euphrates is one of the four rivers that flow from the Garden of Eden according to Genesis 2:14. It is the fourth river, after Pishon, Gihon, and Tigris, to form from the river flowing out of the garden. The river also marked one of the boundaries of the land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. In the Hebrew Bible it is often referred to simply as "The River" (ha-nahar). 


In John's Revelation it is prophesied in the poetic vision that in the "end times" it will dry up in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon.


Euphrates in history

On the banks of the Euphrates, the cities of Sumer had their origin, followed by Babylonia and Assyria. For several centuries the river formed the eastern limit of effective Roman control. 



See also


External links