Euphrates River

The Middle Eastern traditions stem from the ancient civilizations of the area known as the Fertile Crescent. This area stretches from the eastern Mediterranean coast that is now part of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, to the fertile lands that exist between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers as they flow to the Persian Gulf. To the ancient Greeks this eastern end was known as Mesopotamia and it is now part of Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Unlike Egypt, with its insular and stable culture, the Fertile Crescent was inhabited by several cultures, which migrated, conquered, and merged over the centuries. 

Stanton et al., 2001), and hostile states (e.g., the Jordan River, Vengosh et al., 2001 Aral Basin, Weinthal, 2002 Euphrates River, Beaumont, 1996 and the Nile River, Ohlsson, 1995). 

Mesopotamia—The area in the ancient Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which is now in Iraq. 

Ancient civilizations located on river floodplains were usually blessed with a fertile land. Writings dating back to 4500 B.P. mention the phenomenal yields obtained by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq. The naturally rich alluvium was maintained in part by annual flooding. The water was allowed to remain on the land as long as possible, so that a maximum amount of mineral-rich silt would be deposited (Tisdale and Nelson, 1966, p. 5). 

In Mesopotamia he observed the ruins of the ancient civilization, including the old irrigation system that was apparently made useless by the millions of tons of silt that clogged it. The soils of the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are still fertile but too arid for use without an irrigation system. He states that at its zenith the population of Mesopotamia was probably between 17 and 25 millions. All of Iraq now has only about 4 millions, including nomadic peoples. 

Genesis 15 18 1 Kings 4 20. Bedford DB, Thutmose I andthe Euphrates JSSEA 10 (1979), 68-9, Liverani Prestige and Interest, pp. 38-9 and BAR II par.70-73 for identification of the Tuthmose I s northern boarder at the Euphrates River, which is inscribed as "...as far as the inverted water which goes downstream ... 

Through several papyrus discoveries in the lower Nile valley, and a cuneiform tablet with instructions for dyeing wool with Tyrian purple, found in Sip-par on the east bank ofthe Euphrates river and dated back to the neo-babylonian period (600-500 BC), as well as the writings of Vitruvius and Phny the Elder, we now know very well how Tyrian purple was manufactured and used in ancient times for dyeing - and how it was eked out and was the object of forgeries (Fig. 2.14). [36]... 

Nelson, W.R. (1956). Twin rivers, twin treasures A study of the control and use of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq. Development Board Baghdad. http //www.zoominfo.eom/ search/profile/person personld=145253564 targetid=profile... 

BC pottery produced by neolithic cultures in Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, Middle East... 

First of all, we must acknowledge that we know very little about the first 40years of this time capsule . What we do know is that anatomically modem humans, clothed in leaves and furry animal skins, emerged from their caves to construct other kinds of shelter about 10 years ago. These hunter-gatherers established agriculture and the first great civilisation in Mesopotamia around the Tigris-Euphrates River system. 

The Greeks and the Romans could not have made their contributions to forensic science had it not been for a much earlier invention Ihe law. The first-known codified laws were put forth by the peoples who occupied the Tigris and Euphrates River valley areas in what were the earliest-known cities and civilization. The earliest-known laws and legal systems appeared around 2000 b.c. Arguably, the most famous was Hammurabi s code, named for the Babylonicin king in power around 1700 b.c. 

Many historians believe that the first grain beers were brewed before 5000 B.C. by the ancient Chaldeans (the people who settled at the southern ends of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq) and the Egyptians. These first beers, made from barley—a grain uniquely suited for brewing, were the forerunners of those now produced in all of the developed countries of the West. 

Significant engineering achievements must he credited to the ancient dwellers of Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, currently the country of Iraq. In this area, the wheeled cart is said to have first appeared (2). In southern Mesopotamia, at the beginning of recorded history, the ancient and mysterious Sumerian people constructed canals, temples, and city walls that comprised the world s first engineering works (5). 

Particularly interesting, however, is the situation of this complex, which is set on an artificial platform over two meters tall and made of mud-brick - located, what is more, on a high terrace on the central part of the site (Olavarri and Valdes Pereiro 2001). Qara Quzaq itself is a small, conical mound that stands high in the floodplain of this narrow point in the Euphrates River. It is a local landmark, visible from every direction as one comes across the various passes from the steppe and descends into the valley. It is very similar in overall appearance to the White Monument of Tell Banat North (Fig. 24) and in its visuality within the landscape, albeit on a minor scale, to Jebel Aruda. 

Falsone, G., and P. Sconzo. 2007. The Champagne-Cup Period at Carchemish A Review of the Early Bronze Age Levels on the Acropolis Mound and the Problem of the Inner Town. In Euphrates River Valley Settlement The Carchemish Sector in the Third Millennium BC, edited by E. Peltenburg, 73-93. Levant Supplementary Series 5. Oxford Oxbow. 

Sconzo, P. 2010. Tell el-Abd, Syria A Study of the Third Millennium Pottery of a Small Settlement of the Middle Euphrates River Valley. PhD diss., Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen. 

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