| Khabur | |
|---|---|
 Khabur south ofAl-Hasakah | |
 | |
 | |
| Native name | |
| Location | |
| Country | Syria,Turkey |
| City | Ra's al-'Ayn,Al-Hasakah,Busayrah |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Ras al-Ayn |
| • elevation | 350 m (1,150 ft) |
| Mouth | Euphrates |
• coordinates | 35°8′33″N40°25′51″E / 35.14250°N 40.43083°E /35.14250; 40.43083 |
| Length | 486 km (302 mi) |
| Basin size | 37,081 km2 (14,317 sq mi) |
| Discharge | |
| • average | 45 m3/s (1,600 cu ft/s) |
| • minimum | 2 m3/s (71 cu ft/s) |
| • maximum | 57 m3/s (2,000 cu ft/s) |
| [1][2] | |
TheKhabur River is the largest perennial tributary to theEuphrates inSyria. Although the Khabur originates inTurkey, thekarstic springs aroundRas al-Ayn are the river's main source of water. Several importantwadis join the Khabur north ofAl-Hasakah, together creating what is known as the Khabur Triangle, or Upper Khabur area. From north to south, annual rainfall in the Khabur basin decreases from over 400 mm to less than 200 mm. This has made the river a vital water source for agriculture throughout history. The Khabur joins the Euphrates near the town ofBusayrah.
In ancient times, the river was known inAkkadian andAmorite asḫabur,[3][4][5] inHebrew:חָבוֹר,romanized: ḥāḇōr,[6] and inOld Aramaic:𐤇𐤁𐤅𐤓,romanized: ḥbwr.[5]
The river was well noted by ancient writers, with various names used by various writers:Ptolemy andPliny the Elder called it theChaboras (Ancient Greek:Χαβώρας),[7]Procopius called it theChabura,[8]Strabo,Zosimus, andAmmianus Marcellinus called it theAborrhas (Ἀβόρρας),[9] andIsidore of Charax called it theAburas (Ἀβούρας).[10] It was described as a large river of Mesopotamia which rose inMons Masius, about 40 miles (64 km) fromNisibis, and flowed into theEuphrates atCircesium (Kerkesiah).
The course of the Khabur can be divided into two distinct zones: the Upper Khabur area or Khabur Triangle north of Al-Hasakah, and the Middle and Lower Khabur between Al-Hasakah and Busayrah.
The river is fed by several smaller streams, the names of which are mentioned by the later classical writers. These are, theScirtus (Procop.de Aedif. 2.7), theCordes (Procop.de Aedif. 2.2), and theMygdonius (Julian.Or. i.).
The tributaries to the Khabur are listed from east to west. Most of thesewadis only carry water for part of the year.
Since the 1930s, numerous archaeological excavations andsurveys have been carried out in the Khabur Valley, indicating that the region has been occupied since theLower Palaeolithic period.[11] Important sites that have been excavated includeTell Halaf,Tell Brak,Tell Leilan,Tell Mashnaqa,Tell Mozan andTell Barri. The region has given its name to a distinctive painted ware found innorthern Mesopotamia and Syria in the early 2nd millennium BCE, calledKhabur ware. The region of the Khabur River is also associated with the rise of the Kingdom of theMitanni that flourished c. 1500–1300 BC.
The Khabur River is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: "Tiglath-Pileser ... took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor (Khabur), Hara and the River Gozan, where they are to this day".[12] The identification of the Khabur with the Habor is not contested.
The Khabur river was sometimes identified with the Chebar or Kebar, the location ofTel Abib and setting of several important scenes of theBook of Ezekiel. However, recent scholarship identifies the Chebar as theka-ba-ru waterway mentioned among the 5th century BCE Murushu archives fromNippur, close to Nippur and the Shatt el-Nil, a silted up canal toward the east of Babylon.[13]
The ancient city ofCorsote, visited byCyrus the Younger on his ill-fated expedition against the Persians as told byXenophon, was located at the confluence of the Khabur River, known by them as the 'Mascas', and the Euphrates according toRobin Waterfield.[14] Other authors have been circumspect upon the precise location of Corsote due to the changing names and courses of the rivers since that time.[15]
Ptolemy (5.18.6) mentions a town calledChabora (Χαβώρα), on the Euphrates, which he places nearNicephorion, and which probably derives its name from the river, andTheophylact Simocatta mentions Ἀβορέων φρούριον, which is, as certainly, the same place.[16] Procopius speaks of it as a river of importance, and Ammianus states thatJulian the Apostate crossed it "per navalem Aborae pontem". Strabo describes it as near the town ofAnthemusias.
In the seventh and eight century, several monasteries from theTur Abdin such as themonastery of Qartmin, themonastery of Mar Awgin and the monastery of Mar Yoḥannān Ṭayyāyā, owned farmland in the upper Khabur valley and often had depended monasteries, so-called Lower Monasteries. As such,Simeon, who was a monk and administrator at the Qartmin abbey, planted 12,000 trees at the Lower Monastery nearSisauranon (which earned him the name 'of the olives').[17]
The Khabur River Project, begun in the 1960s, involved the construction of a series ofdams andcanals. Three dams were built in the Khabur Basin as part of a large irrigation scheme that also includes theTabqa Dam on the Euphrates. The section of the Khabur River withinTell Tamer Subdistrict are home to a self-governing Assyrian enclave. Two dams, Hasakah West and Hasakah East, have been constructed on tributaries to the Khabur between Ra's al-'Ayn and Al-Hasakah. The capacity of the reservoir of Hasakah West is 0.09 km3, and is also the southeastern end of the Assyrian enclave. The capacity of Hasakah East is 0.2 km3. A third dam, Hassakeh South, was constructed on the Khabur 25 km south of Al-Hasakah. The reservoir of this dam has a capacity of 0.7 km3.[18] The Khabur Valley, which now has about four million acres (16,000 km2) of farmland, is Syria's mainwheat-cultivation area. The northeastern part is also the center for Syria's oil production.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Chaboras".Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.| Mediterranean | |
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