Euphrates—the cradle of civilization

Euphrates River, Turkish FıratNehri, Arabic Nahr Al-Furāt, the longest river in southwest Asia, is 1,740 miles (2,800 km) long, and is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, flowing through modern Middle East. The river rises in Turkey and flows southeast across Syria and through Iraq.Historically, the Euphrates along with the Tigris provided the water that led to the first flowering of civilization in Sumer, dating from about the fourth millennium B.C.E. Many important ancient cities were located on or near the riverside, including Mari, Sippar, Nippur, Shuruppak, Uruk, Ur, and Eridu.The river valley formed the heartlands of the later empires of Babylonia and Assyria. For several centuries, the river formed the eastern limit of effective Egyptian and Roman control and western regions of the Persian Empire.Also, the Battle of Karbala, a defining moment in Islamic history, when Imam Hussain, along with his family and friends were martyred, took place at the banks of Euphrates River.In present times, formed by the confluence of the Karasu and Murat rivers in the Armenian Highland, the Euphrates descends between major ranges of the Taurus Mountains to the Syrian plateau. It then flows through western and central Iraq to unite with the Tigris River and continues, as Shatt Al-Arab, to the Persian Gulf.Notwithstanding its altered standing in modern context, the Euphrates River continues to enjoy a place of pride in the historical annals as one of the dual water sources that occasioned the rise of the Mesopotamian civilization.