what does the euphrates river symbolize

A larger issue for the viability of this way of life is the condition of the river itself. Where are you going in this heat? he asked. Jeremiah is told to write a book of all the evil that was to come upon Babylon and to cast it into the river Euphrates. Syrian Arab Republic. In just a few decades, the flow in the Euphrates-Tigris River system has decreased to almost half of the average annual flow during dry years. In the Hebrew Bible, the Euphrates is often seen as a geographic marker that delineates belonging and exclusion. [54] The salinity of Euphrates water in Iraq has increased as a result of upstream dam construction, leading to lower suitability as drinking water. It is not good for navigation., This was vivid confirmation of a growing crisis. Fifteen-foot-high mud-brick walls dating back 2,600 years lined both sides of the crumbled thoroughfare, ornamented by original friezes of lions and snake-dragons, symbol of the god Marduk, and carved with cuneiform inscriptions. We followed channels through the tall marsh grass for an hour, stopping briefly in a lagoonlike cul-de-sac for a swim. Sunnis fear the Hashd al-Shaabi and believe that the war against Daesh has given them unchecked power to commit abuses. You had a lot of angry, unemployed men helping to trigger a revolution, says Aaron Wolf, a water management expert at Oregon State University, who frequently visits the Middle East. With a maximum capacity of 48.7 cubic kilometres (11.7cumi), the Atatrk Dam reservoir is large enough to hold the entire annual discharge of the Euphrates. It was here, 3,770 years ago, that King Hammurabi codified one of the worlds earliest systems of laws, erected massive walls, built opulent temples and united all of Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers. Nebuchadnezzar II, perhaps the citys most powerful ruler, conquered Jerusalem in 597 B.C. There are several varieties of catfish, as well as spiny eels. The Balikh receives most of its water from a karstic spring near 'Ayn al-'Arus and flows due south until it reaches the Euphrates at the city of Raqqa. The river featured on the coat of arms of Iraq from 1932 to 1959. At the same time, the area was hit by severe drought and river flow toward Iraq was reduced from 15.3 cubic kilometres (3.7cumi) in 1973 to 9.4 cubic kilometres (2.3cumi) in 1975. [8] It emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates (450 kilometres (280mi)) and the Murat Su or Eastern Euphrates (650 kilometres (400mi)) 10 kilometres (6.2mi) upstream from the town of Keban in southeastern Turkey. This is the Al Hammar Marsh, a 7,700-square-mile aquatic zone in the desert that the British travel writer Wilfred Thesiger described in his 1964 classicThe Marsh Arabs. We descended a stone staircase and walked along the Processional Way, the main promenade through ancient Babylon. Many dams are created along the river to reduce its flow, especially in Turkey. Especially the flooding of Zeugma with its unique Roman mosaics by the reservoir of the Birecik Dam has generated much controversy in both the Turkish and international press. Plenty of other problems threaten the wetlands: Evaporation and the dumping of irrigation runoff into the river have greatly increased salinity levels, sapping marsh grass of nutrients and cutting the productivity of water buffalo for milk and meata critical income source for much of the population here. This judgment is not about corrupting or removing the use of this water. Although today nothing of it survives due to human interference, research suggests that the Euphrates Valley would have supported a riverine forest. In Syria, a devastating drought in the Euphrates Valley beginning in 2006 forced farmers to abandon their fields and migrate to urban centers; many observers believe that the migration fed opposition to Bashar al-Assad and sparked the civil war, in which nearly 500,000 people have died. Were not getting much help from Baghdad.. The salt water destroyed henna plantations in Al-Faw, once a major income source, and killed off millions of date-palm trees. Valuable fish species, such as gatans, have vanished. In the past, it was a lot clearer and a lot deeper. Women in black abayas and men in white dishdashas gulped down water at roadside stands; hundreds were lined up to see Ayatollah Sistani, whose home stands just outside the shrine. The largest number of people was displaced by the building of the Atatrk Dam, which alone affected 55,300 people. South of Nasiriyah, the site of a bloody battle between Saddams fedayeen and U.S. forces in March 2003, the Euphrates divides into dozens of narrow branches. Posters displaying Shia militiamen killed in battles against the Islamic State hang from nearly every utility pole. Prior bowl judgments have either corrupted or destroyed most of the water on earth (Revelation 16:1-4). [12] Some sources estimate that approximately 15 percent of the drainage basin is located within Saudi Arabia, while a small part falls inside the borders of Kuwait. Syria, meanwhile, built the Tabqa Dam upstream from Raqqa in the 1970s, and added a few more dams on the Euphrates and its tributaries before the civil war ground development to a halt. After five days in the dry, dusty landscapes of central Iraq, I was elated to be in this lush and seemingly pristine water world. [9] Daoudy and Frenken put the length of the Euphrates from the source of the Murat River to the confluence with the Tigris at 3,000 kilometres (1,900mi), of which 1,230 kilometres (760mi) is in Turkey, 710 kilometres (440mi) in Syria and 1,060 kilometres (660mi) in Iraq. As I passed through a metal detector, I looked up to see the gold-covered dome and minaret of the tenth-century shrine looming in front of me. Crime syndicates tied to Shia parties and militias have siphoned away billions of dollars by extorting bribes, taking kickbacks on contracts and stealing oil. In magnificence, there is no other city that approaches [Babylon], the Greek historian Herodotus declared. Mohamed Fadel led me in the 110-degree heat through the Ishtar Gate, a soaring blue replica of the original made of blue enamel-glazed bricks and covered with bas-reliefs depicting dragons and bulls. For decades Iraq has been squabbling with both neighbors about getting its fair share of the water. As I walked amid the crowds in the sizzling heat, I felt a wave of fear: The holiest Shia city in Iraq on one of the most sacred days of the Muslim calendar seemed an inviting target for a terrorist attack. To Americans, the question might seem impossibly distant. Hamid was determined to stay put. We entered the complex through the Al-Kibla Gate, a Moorish-style archway adorned with blue mosaics. A few years ago, according to watchdog groups in Basra, the mafias ran 62 floating docks at the Basra port, using them to loot half the total oil production. In addition to a geographic boundary, the Euphrates can serve a metaphorical purpose in ancient texts. [5], The Euphrates is called Yeprat in Armenian (), Perat in modern Hebrew (), Frat in Turkish and Firat in Kurdish. In the Bible, the Euphrates River is a symbol of power and strength because it is an abundant source of water and livelihood for those living near it. Water buffaloes lolled in the milky water. From the Syrian border to the Haditha Dam, a nearly 100-mile stretch, the river traverses dangerous territory harboring ISIS cells that managed to escape the Iraqi Army. Colossal Heads on the West Terrace of Mount Nemrut Carole Raddato (CC BY-NC-SA) The name is probably derived from the Greek "good announce". [49] The flooding of Lake Assad led to the forced displacement of c. 4,000 families, who were resettled in other parts of northern Syria as part of a now abandoned plan to create an "Arab belt" along the borders with Turkey and Iraq. Get the latest History stories in your inbox? And now its four meters deep.. ( Bernard Gagnon / Wikimedia Commons) The Euphrates River, along with the river Tigris, are the two greatest rivers in an area that was the cradle of ancient Mesopotamian civilization. The seasonal variability has equally changed. He also created the Hanging Gardens, those tiered, lavishly watered terraces regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. A recent NASA-German government satellite study found that the Tigris-Euphrates basin is losing groundwater faster than any other place on earth except India. Its holy men began to wield great power in the area, and Najaf asserted itself as one of the most important centers of Shia Islam. In the seventh century, the Muslim conquests totally eliminated the Mesopotamian culture. Its main karstic springs are located around Ra's al-'Ayn, from where the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah, where the river turns south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah. The Kings Of The East: The Oriental Confederacy. But development fell far short of Hamids expectations. [50][51][52], Apart from the changes in the discharge regime of the river, the numerous dams and irrigation projects have also had other effects on the environment. [83], Large parts of the Euphrates basin were for the first time united under a single ruler during the Akkadian Empire (23352154 BC) and Ur III empires, which controlled either directly or indirectly through vassals large parts of modern-day Iraq and northeastern Syria. But al-Zubaie remained deeply distrustful of the Shia-dominated government, which, he says, has neglected Fallujah and abused its citizens. The drier parts of the xeric woodland zone supports less dense oak forest and Rosaceae. [76] Clay boat models found at Tell Mashnaqa along the Khabur indicate that riverine transport was already practiced during this period. The river, he said, was a no-go area in those days: Daesh [a disparaging Arabic term for the group] considered swimming a waste of time, a distraction from God, the boy said. A few years ago, Iran blocked off both tributaries that flow into the Shatt al-Arab. He was 5 years old when Saddam drained the marshes, he recalled, forcing his family to resettle in Amarah. [44], Apart from barrages and dams, Iraq has also created an intricate network of canals connecting the Euphrates with Lake Habbaniyah, Lake Tharthar, and Abu Dibbis reservoir; all of which can be used to store excess floodwater. The river Euphrates is key to understanding good and evil and that Yahweh will fight to maintain justice. At first he said he was too fatigued to talk, but he soon reconsidered. I decided to use the Euphrates as my guide, since the river had shaped the nations history and would literally take me to key placespast the holy Shia cities of Najaf, Karbala and Kufa, through Fallujah and Babylon, down to Basra, a center of oil production. In the stillness and shadelessness of the afternoon, the 120-degree heat assaulted me like a blast from a furnace. There was scarcely a corner of the entire country, he continued, which was not well watered; and more than that, the canals served as waterways for the transportation of the crops., These days, though, theres barely enough water to float a canoe. My captors, local militants outraged by civilian deaths resulting from American military operations in the city, drove me from safe house to safe house and interrogated me. [53] Water quality in the Iraqi Euphrates is low because irrigation water tapped in Turkey and Syria flows back into the river, together with dissolved fertilizer chemicals used on the fields. As I walked past the placards of Shia martyrs on Basras streets, I realized that the war against Daesh, seemingly distant, was a trauma that had damaged the whole country. The growth of cities and the continued prosperity of ancient agriculture in the Tigris & Euphrates River basin (part of the fabled Fertile Crescent of ancient history) fostered local cultural . Archaeologists from numerous countries excavated sites ranging in date from the Natufian to the Abbasid period, and two minarets were dismantled and rebuilt outside the flood zone. It reminds us that God exercises both love and judgment. Thou hast sent out its shoots even unto the sea, and its twigs unto the river ( Ps. [35] Syria and Turkey built their first dams in the Euphrates in the 1970s. A large poster showing the decapitated, blood-soaked head of Imam Hussein greeted us as we entered the town of Chibayish, in the heart of the Al Hammar Marsh. Data on Euphrates discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal of water for irrigation. " This verse prophecies a future event during the end times, wherein the Euphrates's drying up enables the . For example, in Isa 27, God promises that in the future, Israel will be gathered from the Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt. Israel here means those Israelites lost in Egypt as well as the tribes dispersed by the eighth century BCE Assyrian invasion. When they changed the salinity, they changed the whole environment, Al-Dabbas told me. In the 1970s my father used to take a big metal boat to transfer wheat and seeds to Baghdad up the Shatt, he told me. [48] A survey among those who were displaced showed that the majority were unhappy with their new situation and that the compensation they had received was considered insufficient. Together, the two rivers form a great river system in the Middle East. [9][15], The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall and melting snow, resulting in peak volumes during the months April through May. If you purchase an item through these links, we receive a commission. In magnificence, there is no other city that approaches [Babylon], the Greek historian Herodotus declared. [63] Parts of the flooded area have recently become accessible again due to the drying up of the lake, resulting not only in new possibilities for archaeologists to do more research, but also providing opportunities for looting, which has been rampant elsewhere in Iraq in the wake of the 2003 invasion. [41] C. 910,000 hectares (3,500sqmi) of this irrigated land is located in the Euphrates basin. Cities like Tell Brak and Uruk grew to over 100 hectares (250 acres) in size and displayed monumental architecture. [37][38] Syria also built three smaller dams on the Khabur and its tributaries. Euphrates in the Bible. While Ali was saying the dawn prayer at Ramadan at the Grand Mosque of Kufa, an assassin from the Kharijite sect cleaved his skull with a poisoned sword. [77] The Uruk period, roughly coinciding with the 4th millennium BCE, saw the emergence of truly urban settlements across Mesopotamia. The quality is not the same as before., Global warming is adding to Iraqs woes. Two months after I met with him, he survived an assassination attempt after unidentified men attacked his convoy with hand grenades as he was leaving evening prayers at a mosque in Najaf. With the construction of large hydropower stations, irrigation schemes, and pipelines capable of transporting water over large distances, many more people now depend on the river for basic amenities such as electricity and drinking water than in the past. While always representative as a marker of the physical river, the Euphrates also serves as a boundary of future times, represented as an idealized or a temporal border. In 2003, they returned to the marsh, raising water buffalo, which they sell to merchants who drive to their settlement along a pitted asphalt road through the reeds. For thousands of years Iraqs fate has depended on the Euphrates, and that is still true, though this simple historical reality is easy to forget after the last few decades of despotism, war and terrorism.
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