Euphrates
The Euphrates (/juːˈfreɪtiːz/ yoo-FRAY-teez; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (lit. 'the land between the rivers'). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf.
This article is about the river in Mesopotamia. For other uses, see Euphrates (disambiguation).Euphrates
from Akkadian Purattu, from Sumerian Burannu
Çat, Turkey
3,520 m (11,550 ft)
Yakutiye, Turkey
3,290 m (10,790 ft)
Keban, Turkey
610 m (2,000 ft)
Al-Qurnah, Iraq
1 m (3.3 ft)
Approx. 2,800 km (1,700 mi)
Approx. 500,000 km2 (190,000 sq mi)
356 m3/s (12,600 cu ft/s)
58 m3/s (2,000 cu ft/s)
2,514 m3/s (88,800 cu ft/s)
The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in Western Asia, at about 2,780 km (1,730 mi), with a drainage area of 440,000 km2 (170,000 sq mi) that covers six countries.
Etymology[edit]
The term Euphrates derives from the Greek Euphrátēs (Εὐφρᾱ́της), adapted from Old Persian: 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢, romanized: hUfrātuš,[2] itself from Elamite: 𒌑𒅁𒊏𒌅𒅖, romanized: Úipratuiš. The Elamite name is ultimately derived from cuneiform 𒌓𒄒𒉣; read as Buranun in Sumerian and Purattu in Akkadian; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that mean the same. The Akkadian Purattu[3] has been perpetuated in Semitic languages (cf. Arabic: الفرات al-Furāt; Syriac: ̇ܦܪܬ Pǝrāṯ, Hebrew: פְּרָת Pǝrāṯ) and in other nearby languages of the time (cf. Hurrian Puranti, Sabarian Uruttu). The Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language.[4] Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Ivanov suggest the proto-Sumerian *burudu "copper" (Sumerian urudu) as an origin, with an explanation that Euphrates was the river by which copper ore was transported in rafts, since Mesopotamia was the center of copper metallurgy during the period.[5]
The Euphrates is called Yeprat in Armenian (Եփրատ), Perat in modern Hebrew (פרת), Fırat in Turkish and Firat in Kurdish. The Mandaic name is Praš (ࡐࡓࡀࡔ), and is often mentioned as Praš Ziwa (pronounced Fraš Ziwa) in Mandaean scriptures such as the Ginza Rabba.[6] In Mandaean scriptures, the Euphrates is considered to be the earthly manifestation of the heavenly yardna or flowing river (similar to the Yazidi concept of Lalish being the earthly manifestation of its heavenly counterpart,[7] or the ‘Sacred House’ Kaaba in Mecca being the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Al-Bayt Al-Mamur).[8]
The earliest references to the Euphrates come from cuneiform texts found in Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq and date to the mid-3rd millennium BCE. In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called Buranuna (logographic: UD.KIB.NUN). The name could also be written KIB.NUN.(NA) or dKIB.NUN, with the prefix "d" indicating that the river was a divinity. In Sumerian, the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also written UD.KIB.NUN, indicating a historically strong relationship between the city and the river.
Religion[edit]
Islam[edit]
In Islam, hadiths say Muhammad said "The Last Hour would not come before the Euphrates uncovers a mountain of gold, for which people would fight. Ninety-nine out of each one hundred would die but every man amongst them would say that perhaps he would be the one who would be saved" and that "he who finds it [the gold] should not take anything out of that."[67] This is said to be one of the future minor signs of the coming of Judgement Day:[68]
Christianity[edit]
In the Christian Bible, the Euphrates River is mentioned in Revelation 16:12, in the final book of the New Testament. Author, John of Patmos writes about the Euphrates river drying up as part of a series of events that foretell the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.[69]
The river Phrath mentioned in Genesis 2:14 is also identified as the Euphrates.[70]
