Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
EUPHRATES (Babylon. Purattu, Heb. Per...
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: EUD-FAT
del.icio.us it!
|
See also:EUPHRATES (See also:Babylon. Purattu, Heb. Perath, Arab. Frdt or See also:Furst, Old Pers. Ufratu, Gr. Eb4 parrls) , the largest See also:river of western See also:Asia. It may be divided into three divisions, upper, See also:lower and See also:middle, each of which is distinguished by See also:special See also:physical features, and has played a conspicuous See also:part in the See also:world's See also:history, retaining to the See also:present See also:day monumental See also:evidence of the races who have lined its See also:banks. Upper See also:Division.—The upper Euphrates consists of two arms, which, rising on the Armenian See also:plateau, and flowing See also:west in See also:long shallow valleys parallel to See also:Mount See also:Taurus, eventually unite and force their way southward through that range to the level of See also:Mesopotamia. The See also:northern or western and shorter See also:arm, called by the See also:Turks Kara Su, " See also:black See also:water," or Frat Su (Armenian, Ephrat or Yephrat; Arab. Nahr el-Furst or Frat), well known to occidentalists as the Euphrates, from its having been the boundary of the See also:Roman See also:empire, is regarded also by Orientals as the See also:main stream. It rises in the Dumlu Dagh, N.N.W. of See also:Erzerum, in a large circular See also:pool (See also:altitude, 8625 ft.), which is venerated by Armenians and Moslems, and flows See also:south-See also:east to the See also:plain of Erzerum (5750 ft.). Thence it continues through a narrow valley W.S.W. to See also:Erzingan (3900 ft.), receiving on its way the Ovajik Su (right), the Tuzla Su (See also:left), and the Merjan and Chanduklu (right). Below Erzingan the Frat flows south-west through a rocky See also:gorge to Kemakh (Kamacha; Armenian, Gamukh),where it is crossed by a See also:bridge and receives the Kumur Su (right). At Avshin it enters a See also:canon, with walls over r000 ft. high, which extends to the bridge at Pingan, and lower down it is joined from the west by the Chalta Irmak (Lycus; Arab. Lukiya), on which stands Divrik (Tephrike). Then, entering a deep gorge with lofty See also:rock walls and magnificent scenery, it runs south-east to its junction with the See also:Murad Su. The Frat, separated by the easy pass of Deve-boyun from the valley of the Araxes (See also:Aras), marks the natural See also:line of communication between northern See also:Persia and the West—a route followed by the See also:nomad Turks, See also:Mongols and See also:Tatars on their way to the See also:rich lands of Asia See also:Minor. It is a rapid river of considerable See also:volume, and below Erzingan is navigable, down stream, for rafts. The See also:southern or eastern and longer arm, called by the Turks Murad Su (Arsanias Fl.; Armenian, Aradzani; Arab. Nahr Arsanas), rises south-west of Diadin, in the northern flank of the See also:Ala Dagh (11,500 ft.), and flows west to the Alashgerd plain. Here it is joined by the Sharian Su from the west, and the two valleys See also:form a See also:great trough through which the See also:caravan road from Erzerum to Persia runs. The See also:united stream breaks through the mountains to the south, and, receiving on its way the Patnotz Su (left) and the Khinis Su (right), flows south-west, west and south, through the rich plain of Bulanik to the plain of See also:Mush. Here it is joined by the Kara Su (Teleboas), which, rising near See also:Lake See also:Van, runs past Mush and See also:waters the plain. The river now runs W.S.W. through a deep rocky gorge, in which it receives the Gunig Su (right), to Palu (where there are See also:cuneiform See also:inscriptions); and continues through more open See also:country to its junction with the Frat Su. About to m. E.N.E. of See also:Kharput the Murad is joined by its See also:principal tributary, the See also:Peri Su, which drains the See also:wild See also:mountain See also:district, Dersim, that lies in the See also:loop between the two arms. The Murad Su is of greater volume than the Frat, but its valley below Mush is contracted and followed by no great road. Below the junction of the two arms the Euphrates flows south-west past the See also:lead mines of Keban Maden, where it is 120 yds. wide, and is crossed by a See also:ferry (altitude, 2425 ft.), on the See also:Sivas-Kharput road. It then runs west, south and east See also:round the rock-See also:mass of Musher Dagh, and receives (right) the Kuru Chai, down which the Sivas-See also:Malatia road runs, and the Tokhma Su, from Gorun (Gauraina) and Darende. At the ferry on the Malatia-Kharput road (cuneiform inscription) it flows eastwards in a valley about a See also:quarter of a mile wide, but soon afterwards enters a remarkable gorge, and forces its way through Mount Taurus in a See also:succession of rapids and cataracts. After See also:running south-east through the grandest scenery, and closely approaching the source of the western See also:Tigris, it turns south-west and leaves the mountains a few See also:miles above Samsat (See also:Samosata; altitude, 1500 ft.). The See also:general direction of the great See also:gorges of the Euphrates, Pyramus (Jihun) and Sarus (Sihun) seems to indicate that their formation was primarily due to the same terrestrial movements that produced the See also:Jordan-'Araba depression to the south. The length of the Frat is about 275 m.; of the Murad, 415 m.; and of the Euphrates from the junction to Samsat, 115 M. Middle Division.—The middle division, which extends from Samsat to See also:Hit, is about 720 M. long. In this part of its course the Euphrates runs through an open, treeless and sparsely peopled country, in a valley a few miles wide, which it has eroded in the rocky See also:surface. The valley See also:bed is more or less covered with alluvial See also:soil, and cultivated in places by artificial See also:irrigation. The method of this irrigation is See also:peculiar. Three or four piers or sometimes See also:bridges of See also:masonry are run out into the bed of the river, frequently from both sides at once, raising the level of the stream and thus giving a water See also:power sufficient to turn the gigantic See also:wheel or wheels, sometimes almost 40 ft. in See also:diameter, which lift the water to a trough at the See also:top of the See also:dam, whence it is distributed among the gardens and See also:melon patches, See also:rice, See also:cotton, See also:tobacco, See also:liquorice and See also:durra See also:fields, between the immediate bed of the river and the rocky banks which shut it out from the See also:desert. The wheels, called naoura, are of the most See also:primitive construction, made of rough branches of trees, with See also:palm See also:leaf paddles, See also:rude See also:clay vessels being slung on the See also:outer edge to catch the water, of which they raise a prodigious amount, only a comparatively small part of which, however, is poured into the aqueducts on top of the dams. These latter are exceedingly picturesque, often consisting of a See also:series of well-built See also:Gothic See also:arches, and give a peculiar See also:character to the scenery; but they are also great impediments to See also:navigation. In some parts of the river 300 naouras have beencounted within a space of 13o m., but of See also:late years many have fallen into decay. By far the larger part of the valley is quite uncultivated, and much of it is occupied by See also:tamarisk jungles, the See also:home of countless wild pigs. Where the valley is still cultivated, the jerd, a skin raised by oxen, is gradually being substituted for the naoura, no more of the latter being constructed to take the See also:place of those which fall into decay.
In this part of its course the rocky sides of the valley, which sometimes closely approach the river, are composed of marls and See also:gypsum, with occasional selenite, overlaid with See also:sandstone, with a topping of See also:breccia or See also:conglomerate, and rise at places to a height of 200 ft. or more. At one point, however, 26 m. above See also:Deir, where See also:lie the ruins of Halebiya, the river breaks through a basaltic See also:dike, el-IIamme, some 300 to 500 ft. high. On either See also:side of the river valley a See also:steppe-like desert, covered in the See also:spring with verdure, the See also:rest of the See also:year barren and See also: The See also:Turkish See also:government also levies taxes on the inhabitants of the river valley, and for this purpose, and to maintain a caravan route from the Mediterranean See also:coast to See also:Bagdad, maintains stations of a few zaptiehs or gens d'armes, at intervals of about 8 See also:hours (caravan time), occupying in general the stations of the old See also:Persian See also:post road. The only riverain towns of any importance on this stretch of the river to-day are Samsat, Birejik, Deir, 'See also:Ana and Hit.
In See also:early times the Euphrates was important as a boundary. It was the theoretical eastern limit of the Jewish See also:kingdom; for a long time it separated See also:Assyria from the Khita or See also:Hittites; it divided the eastern from the western satrapies of Persia (See also:Ezra iv. 17; Neh. ii. 7); and it was at several periods the boundary of the Roman empire. Until the See also:advent of the nomads from central Asia, and the devastation of Mesopotamia and the opposite Syrian See also:shore of the river, there were many flourishing cities along its course, the ruins of which, representing all periods, still dot its banks. Samsat itself represents the See also:ancient Samosata, the See also:capital of the Seleucid See also:kings of Commagene (Kumukh of the See also:Assyrian inscriptions), and here the Persian Royal Road from See also:Sardis to See also:Susa is supposed to have crossed the river. Below Samsat the river runs S.W. to See also:Rum-Kaleh, or " See also:castle of the Romans " (Armenian, Hrhomgla). At this point was another passage of the river, defended by the castle which gives its name to the spot, and which stands on a high See also: This was the See also:Apamea-Zeugma, where the high road from east to west crossed the river, and it is still one of the most frequented of all the passages into Mesopotamia, being the See also:regular caravan route from Iskanderun and See also:Aleppo to Urfa, Diarbekr and See also:Mosul. From Birejik the river runs sluggishly, first a little to the east, then a little to the west of south, over a sandy or pebbly bed, past Jerablus (? Europus, Carchemish, the ancient Hittite capital), near which the Sajur (Sagura; Sangar of the Assyrian inscriptions) enters from the west, to Meskene, 2 M. southward of which are the ruins of Barbalissus (Arab. Balls), the former See also:port of Aleppo, now, owing to changes in the bed, some distance from the water. Six miles below this the ruins of Kal'at Dibse See also:mark the site of the ancient See also:Thapsacus (Tiphsah of 1 Kings iv. 24), the most important passage of the middle Euphrates, where both See also:Cyrus, on his expedition against his See also:brother, and See also: Twenty-six miles farther down lies the See also:town of Deir (q.v), where the river divides into two channels and the river valley opens• out into quite extensive plains. Here the roads from See also:Damascus, by way of See also:Palmyra, and from Mosul, by way of the Khaabur., reach the Euphrates, and here there must always have been a town of considerable commercial and strategic importance., The region is to-day covered with ruins and ruin mounds. A little below Deir the river is joined by the Khabur (Ku—theme, Biblical Khabor)., the frontier of the Roman empire from See also:Diocletian's time, which rises in the Karaja Dagh; and, with its tributary, the Jaghijagh (Mygdonius; Arab. Hirmas) flows south through the See also:land of Gozan in which See also:Sargon settled the deported Israelites in 721 B.C. At the.,. mouth of the Khabur stood the Roman frontier fortress of Circesium (Assyrian, Sirki; Arab.'Kirkessie) now el-Buseira. The corresponding border town on the Syrian side is represented by the picturesque and finely preserved ruins called Salahiya, the Ad-dalie or Dalie (See also:Adalia) of Arabic times, two days below Deir, whose more ancient name is as yet um-known. Between Salahiya and Deir, on an old See also:canal, known in Arabic times as Said, leaving the Euphrates a little below Deir and rejoining it above Salahiya, stand the almostmore picturesque ruins of the once important Arabic fortress of Rahba. As far as the Khabur Mesopotamia seems to have been awellinhabited country from at least the 15th See also:century B.C., when it constituted the Hittite kingdom of Mitanni, down to about the 12th century A.D., and the same is true of the country on the Syrian side of the Euphrates as far as the eastern limit of the Palmyrene. Below this point the back country on the Syrian side has always been a See also:complete desert. On the Mesopotamian side there would seem, from the accounts of See also:Xenophon and See also:Ptolemy, to have been an affluent which joined the Euphrates between Deir and 'Ana, called Araxes by the former, Saocoras by the latter; but no trace of such a stream has been found by See also:modern explorers and the country in general has always been uninhabited. Below Salahiya the river-bed narrows and becomes more rocky. A day's journey beyond Salahiya, on a See also:bluff on the Mesopotamian side of the river, are the conspicuous ruins Of el-`Irsi (Corsets ?). Half a day's journey beyond, at a point where two great wadis enter the Euphrates, on the Syrian side, stands Jabriya, an unidentified ruined town of Babylonian type; with walls of unbaked See also:brick, instead of the See also: The middle Euphrates, from Samsat to Hit, is to-day an See also:avenue of ruins, of which only the more conspicuous or important have been indicated here. It was from a remote period, antedating certainly 3000 B.C., the See also:highway of empire and of See also:commerce between east and west, more specifically between Babylonia or See also:Irak and Syria, and numerous empires, peoples and civilizations have left their records on its shores. Its time of greatest prosperity and importance was the period of the Abbasid caliphate; and Arabic geographers as late as A.D. 1200 mention an astonishingly large number of important cities situated on its shores or islands. The Mongol invasion, in the latter part of that century, wrought their ruin, however, and from that time to the present there has been a steady decline in the commercial importance of the Euphrates route, and consequently also of the towns along its course, until at the present time it is only an avenue of ruins. Lower Division.—Hit stands almost at the See also:head of the alluvial See also:deposit, about 55o M. from the Persian, Gulf, separated from it by a couple of small spurs of the Syrian plateau, and may be said to mark the beginning of the lower Euphrates. Thence the river flows S.E. andS:S.E. to its junction with the Tigris below Korna, through an unbroken plain, with no natural hills, except a few See also:sand (or sandstone ?) hills in the neighbourhood of Warka, and no trace of rock, except at el-Haswa, above See also:Hillah. At Hit the river is from 3o to 35 ft. in depth, with a breadth of 250 yds., and a current of 4 M. an See also:hour, but from this point it diminishes in volume, receiving no new affluents but dissipating itself in canals and lagoons. At Feluja, in the See also:latitude of Bagdad, the Euphrates and Tigris closely approach each other, and then, widening out, enclose the plain; of Babylonia (Arab. Sawed). Through this pert of its course the current of the river, except where restricted by floating bridges—at Feluja, Mussaib, Hillah, See also:Diwanieh and Samawa—does not normally exceed a mile an hour, and both on the main stream and on its canals the jerd or ox-bucket takes the place of the naoura or water-wheel for purposes of irrigation. In early times irrigating canals distributed the waters over the plain, and made it one of the richest countries of the East, so that historians See also:report three crops of See also:wheat to have been raised in Babylonia annually. As main See also:arteries for this circulation of water through its See also:system great canals, constituting in reality so many branches of the river, connected all parts of Babylonia, and formed a natural means both of See also:defence and also of transportation from one part of the country to another. The first of these canals, taken off on the right bank of the, river a little below Hit, followed the extreme skirt of the See also:alluvium the whole way to the Persian Gulf near See also:Basra, and thus formed an outer barrier, strengthened at intervals with See also:watch-towers and fortified posts, to protect the cultivated land of the .Sawed against the incursions of the desert Arabs. This gigantic See also:work, the line of which may still be traced throughout its course, was formerly
called the Khandak Sabur or " Sapor's See also:trench," being ascribed j dotted with tels or ruin-heaps, strewn in the most part with to the See also:Sassanian See also: From Garmat Ali, where the Tigris and Euphrates at present unite,' under the See also:title of Shattel-Arab, the river sweeps on to Basra, r000 yds. in width and from 3 to 5 fathoms deep, navigable for steamers of See also:good See also:size, From Korna to Basra the banks of the river are well cultivated and the date groves almost continuous; indeed this is the greatest date-producing region of the world. Twenty-five miles below Basra the river See also:Karun from See also:Shushter and See also:Dizful throws off an arm, which seems to be artificial, into the Euphrates. This arm is named the Haffar, and at the confluence is situated the Persian town of See also:Muhamrah, a place most conveniently located for. See also:trade. In this vicinity was situated, at the time of the See also:Christian era, the See also:Parthian city of Spasini-Charax, which was succeeded by Bahman See also:Ardashir (Bamishir) under the Sassanians, and by Moharzi under the Arabs. The left bank of the river from this point belongs to Persia. It consists of an island named Abbadan, about 45 M. long, formed by alluvial deposits during the last fifteen centuries. (For the character of this alluvium and its See also:rate of deposit see IRAK.) Even more than the upper and middle Euphrates the lower Euphrates, from Hit downward, abounds in ruins of ancient towns and cities, from the earliest prehistoric period onward to the See also:close of the Caliphate (see IRAK). The fact also that many of the most ancient of these ruins, like Ur, See also:Lagash (Sirpurla), See also:Larsa, See also:Erech, See also:Nippur, See also:Sippara and Babylon, were situated on the banks of the great canals would indicate that the control of the waters of the rivets by a system of canalization and irrigation was one of the first achievements of See also:civilization. This ancient system of canalization was inherited from the Persians (who, in turn, inherited it from their predecessors), by the Arabs, who long maintained it in working See also:order, and the astonishing fertility and consequent prosperity of the country watered by the Euphrates, its tributaries and its canals, is noticed by all ancient writers. The land itself, an alluvial deposit, is very fruitful. Wheat and the date palm seem to have been indigenous, and the latter is still one of the See also:chief poductions of the country, but in later years rice has taken the place of wheat as the See also:staff of See also:life. The decline of the country See also:dates from the See also:appearance of Turkish nomads in the See also:firth century; its ruin was completed by the Shammar Arabs in the 17th century; but, if the ancient system of irrigation were restored, sufficient See also:grain could be grown to alter the conditions of the wheat See also:supply of the world. At the present time, instead of the innumerable ' The confluence for about Soo years was at Korna, over 3o m. higher up. See also:Sir W. Willcocks discovered (two) that tram Suk-esh-Sheiukh the Euphrates had formed a new channel through the marshes. (See Gcog. See also:Journal, See also:Jan. 1910). the Cherra-Saadeh, and is in the popular tradition said to have been excavated by a See also:man from Basra at the behest of a woman of Hit whom he desired to make his wife. How early this work was begun is not clear, but it would appear to have been at least largely reconstructed in the time of the great See also:Nebuchadrezzar. The next important canal, the Dujayl (Dojail), left the Euphrates on the left, about a See also:league above Rarnadiya (Ar-Rabb),. and flowed into the Tigris between Ukbara and Bagdad. The `Isa, which is largely identical with the modern Sakhlawiya; left the Euphrates a little below See also:Anbar (Perisabora) and joined the Tigris at Bagdad. This canal still carries water and was navigable for steamboats until about 1875. Sarsar, the modern See also:Abu-Ghurayb, leaves the Euphrates three leagues lower down and enters the Tigris between Bagdad and See also:Ctesiphon. The Nahr Malk or royal river, modern Radhwaniya, leaves the Euphrates five leagues below this and joins the Tigris three leagues below Ctesiphon; while the Kutha, modern Habl-See also:Ibrahim, leaving the Euphrates three leagues below the Malk joins the Tigris ten leagues below Ctesiphon. In the time of the Arabs these were the chief canals, and the cuts from the main channels of the Nahr `Isa, Nahr Sarsar, Nahr Malk (or Nahr Malcha), and Nahr Kutha, reticulating the entire country between the See also:rivers, converted it into a continuous and luxuriant See also:garden. Just below Mussaib there has been for all ages a great bifurcation of the river. The right arm was the See also:original bed, and the left arm, on which Babylon was built, the artificial deviation, as is clear from the cuneiform inscriptions. In the time of Alexander the nomenclature was reversed, the right arm being known as Pallacopas. Under the Arabs the old designation again prevailed and the Euphrates is always described by the Arabian geographers as the river which flows See also:direct to See also:Kufa, while the present stream, passing along the ruins of Babylon to Hillah and Diwanieh, has been universally known as the Nahr Sura. Occidental geographers, however, have followed the See also:Greek use, and so to-day we See also:call the river of Babylon or Nahr Sura the Euphrates and the older See also:westerly channel the Hindieh canal. At the present time the preservation of the embankments about the point of bifurcation demands the constant care of the Bagdad government. The See also:object is to allow sufficient water to drain off to the westward for the due irrigation of the land, while the Hillah bed still retains the main volume of the stream, and is navigable to the sea. But it frequently happens that the dam at the head of the Hindieh is carried away, and, a See also:free channel being thus opened for the waters of the river to the westward, the Hillah bed shoals to 2 or 3 ft., or even dries up altogether, while the country to the west of the river is turned into lakes and swamps. Below the bifurcation the river of Babylon was again divided into several streams, and indeed the most famous of all the ancient canals was the Arakhat (Are/taus of the Greeks and Serrat and Nil of the Arabs), which left that river just above Babylon and ran due east to the Tigris,. irrigating all the central part of the Jezireh, and sending down a See also:branch through Nippur and Erech to rejoin the Euphrates a little above the modern Nasrieh. The Narss, also, the modern Daghara, which is still navigable to Nippur and beyond, left the Sura a little below Hillah; and at the present day another large.' canal, the Kehr, branches off near Diwanieh. It is easy to distinguish the great primitive watercourses from the lateral ducts which they fed, the latter being almost without banks and merely traceable by the winding curves of the layers of alluvium in the bed, while the former are hedged in by high banks of mud, heaped up during centuries of dredging.
Not a hundredth part of the old irrigation system is now in working order. A few of the mouths of the smaller canals are kept open so as to receive a limited supply of water at the rise of the river in May, which then distributes itself over the lower lying lands in the interior, almost without labour on the part of the cultivators, giving See also:birth in such localities to the most abundant crops, but by far the larger portion of the region between the rivers is at present an arid howling See also:wilderness
cities of former days, there is a succession of small towns along the course of the river—Ramadiya, Feluja, Mussaib, Hillah, Diwanieh, Samawa, el-Khudr (an ancient See also:daphne or sacred See also: During the See also:Napoleonic See also:wars, indeed, and up to the time when the introduction of See also:steam navigation rendered the Red Sea accessible at all seasons of the year, the See also:political See also:correspondence of the home and See also:Indian governments usually passed by the Euphrates route. Various plans were suggested for t}Ie development of this route as a means of goods as well as postal See also:conveyance, and in 1835 See also:Colonel F. R. See also:Chesney was sent out at the head of an expedition with instructions to transport two steamers from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and, after putting them together at Birejik, to See also:attempt the descent of the river to the sea. One of these steamers was lost in a See also:squall during the passage down the river near el-'Irsi, but the other performed the voyage in safety and thus demonstrated the practicability of the downward navigation. Following on this first experiment, the East India See also:Company, in 1841, proposed to maintain a permanent flotilla on the Tigris and Euphrates, and set two vessels, the " Nitocris
and the " See also:Nimrod," under the command of See also:Captain See also: There is, however, little travel of this sort on the Euphrates in comparison with the amount on the Tigris. When it became evident that, under present conditions at least, the navigation of the middle Euphrates was impracticable, attention was turned, owing to the peculiarly advantageous See also:geographical position of its valley, to schemes for connecting the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf by railway as an alternativemeans of communication with India, and various surveys were made for this purpose and various routes laid out. All these schemes, however, See also:fell through either on the See also:financial question, or on the unwillingness of the Turkish government to See also:sanction any line not connected directly with See also:Constantinople. With the acquisition of the See also:Suez Canal, moreover, the value of this route from the British standpoint was so greatly diminished that the See also:scheme, so far as See also:England was concerned, was quite abandoned. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] EUPHRANOR |
[next] EUPHRONIUS |