|
Syria Euphrates
Euphrates
passes through three countries Turkey, Syria,
and Iraq
The river is approximately 2,780 km (1,700 miles) long. It is
formed by the union of two branches, the Kara (the western Euphrates),
which rises in the highlands of eastern Turkey north of Erzerum
and the Murat (the eastern Euphrates), which issues from an area
southwest of Mount Ararat, north of Lake Van.
The upper reaches of the Euphrates flow through steep canyons
and gorges then southeast across Syria and then
through Iraq. The Khabur and the Balikh River join the Euphrates
in eastern Syria.
The Euphrates
and Tigris rivers run parallel to eachother The land between the
Euphrates and the Tigris is known as Mesopotamia,
which means "between the rivers" in Greek
The Euphrates
has an annual flow of 990 billion cubic feet
In recent years, the Upper Euphrates Region of Syria
has seen a flurry of international archaeological activity, as
numerous rescue excavations have been conducted in response to
the two large scale dam projects in the region - the first project
in the 1980s creating Lake Assad, and the second, the Tishrine
Dam, which has only recently been completed.
Although much has been lost under the rising waters, the extensive
archaeological excavations have revealed crucial information concerning
this area of Syria, which seems to have been an interface between
the civilizations of inland central Syria, and that of Mesopotamia
to the south. Many of these archaeological projects are represented
by displays in the Damascus Museum. |