الفصل الثامن ، في ربوع وادي الفرات .. كتاب في ربوع سورية

Chapter VIII

in the Euphrates Valley

The Euphrates River, the river whose valley has known life since ancient times, and it was a link between the civilizations that arose on both sides of it, and had it not been for the Euphrates, we would not have known the historical city of Mari, nor the Salihiya Dora (Opus). . . We have not seen hundreds of human gatherings that stand on either side of it. It is a strip of life within the Syrian desert, as it is one of the most important rivers in Syria because it constitutes a water resource not only for agriculture, but also for drinking and generating electricity.

Euphrates River and its valley naturally and humanly

The Euphrates River Valley, the low valley that the Euphrates River bisected in northeastern Syria, with an average depth of about 100 meters below the level of the Levantine and Jazira deserts, and an average width ranging from 1-12 km, decreasing to about 200 meters in some places, as is the case at Halabiya and Zalabiya gorges, and widening at some places up to 20 km) - Figure (33). he

The length of the Euphrates River in the Syrian territory is 677 km (total length from its sources in the Turkish lands to its mouth in the Arabian Gulf is 2330 km). The Euphrates River enters Syria from Turkey at the Syrian town of Jarabulus at an altitude of 325 m, and exits after the city of Abu Kamal in southeastern Syria at The height of 165 m heading towards an estuary, crossing the Iraqi lands, and the average slope of the Euphrates course in Syria is about 1/4200, but the slope of its upper course to the north of Maskanah is greater than the slope of its middle and lower courses, and this is explained by the narrowness of its higher valley compared to the lower one, and its penetration of some passages.

The situation is in some places in Ad-Diqah, as is the case in the corridor opposite Najm Castle, and the site of Yusuf Pasha until Maskanah, and in the narrowness of its valley, its middle sector is a little as well, as in the location of the Halabiya-Zalabiyya Strait in the upper reaches of Deir ez-Zor Governorate, as well as in the site where the Euphrates Dam was built.

What distinguishes the wide Euphrates Valley is that its two sides are asymmetrical, neither in shape nor in height, nor in breadth, with the right side being higher and steeper and less extended than the left side. The two sides sometimes appear in the form of graduated terraces, which appear clear in some places with four terraces.

The Euphrates River flows in a valley with a lot of tortuousness, where there are many river elbows, some of which have reached the last stages of their development, leaving behind many river islands (Al-Huwaiqat) in the course of the river, whose number exceeds one hundred, and the most prominent examples of them are Hawaiqa Ibn Saqr and Hawaiqa Ali al-Qati’ in Deir ez-Zor We also see many beautiful crescent lakes, which are remnants of deserted river elbows.

And the Euphrates River receives the vast majority of its waters from Turkish territory - from snowmelt and precipitation, as its Syrian tributaries are limited to the Sajur, Balikh and Khabur rivers. The average abundance of the Euphrates in Syria is about 835 cubic meters / second, but during periods of flood it is more than ten times of its average, as happened in 1967 during its great flood, while it decreases in dry years during periods of scarcity (summer) to less than 150 cubic meters / second. . The average annual natural discharge of the Euphrates in Syria is estimated at 260 billion cubic meters, although today it is much lower than that due to the construction of many storage dams in Turkey. The Euphrates has known in its history many floods

The destructive power of the river, most notably in the twentieth century, was the flood of 1929, which was called the Abu Abbar flood, and the flood of 1967, during which the water level rose to nearly five meters in April, causing great material losses. However, the destroyer during its flood was captured and controlled by the great Euphrates Dam, which was built on it as a water regulator in 1973, as well as the Baath Dam in 1988. We will come back to talk about the Euphrates Dam and the Baath Dam in our Euphrates tour.

With Deir ez-Zor less, and the Euphrates River in Syria penetrates two climatic regions, the first of which is the semi-arid climate region in its upper valley up to Maskanah, and the other is the dry climate region in its middle and lower valley, where rain decreases, and the temperature increases as the river flow rises, and thus the effectiveness of precipitation decreases due to the increase in evaporation. While the average annual rainfall in Jarablus is 300 mm, it decreases in Raqqa to 150 mm and in Abu Kamal to 122 mm. Thus, we find that the annual amount of precipitation in Jarabulus is half of it. As for the temperatures, they increase with the course of the river, with an annual average of 17.8 degrees Celsius in Jarabulus (January 5.8 degrees Celsius, August 1 and 30 degrees Celsius) and in Raqqa 19.5 degrees Celsius (January 6.9 degrees Celsius, August 296 degrees Celsius). degrees Celsius, in Deir Ezzor 19.8 degrees Celsius (January 7.3 degrees Celsius, August 32.1 degrees Celsius), and in Abu Kamal 20.2 degrees Celsius (January 7.9 degrees Celsius, August 32.5 degrees Celsius). Maximum temperatures are recorded in the lower part of the Euphrates, reaching more than 45 degrees Celsius in some swaths (a temperature of 48 degrees Celsius was recorded in the second half of this century), while the minimum temperature drops to several degrees below zero in some years (1 degree Celsius). In Abu Kamal in 1964 AD.

As a result of the dryness of the land on both sides of the Euphrates in its lower and middle sectors (in the Levantine deserts and the Jazira, the high temperature and low relative air humidity in summer, so the winds that blow on these two sectors coming from the south and southeast are laden with dust that remains suspended in the air for several continuous days blocking the sun’s rays Such dust storms and suspended dust abound in the months of April and May, and they also occur in some days of the autumn season.

The Euphrates Valley is exploited in irrigated agriculture in particular, especially after the construction of the Euphrates Dam, which provided irrigation water in summer for large areas of the valley’s lands and its margins, the Balikh basin, the Euphrates Valley, the Maskanah plain - Aleppo, the Rusafa plain, and the Mayadin plain.

However, the most important problem that the irrigated areas of the Euphrates Valley suffer from is the salinization that has engulfed large areas, turning them into a desert wasteland covered with a white salty layer. Therefore, the irrigation projects that have been implemented and are still being implemented go hand in hand with drainage projects to reduce the dangers of the salinization problem, and to restore what can be returned to the agricultural investment space.

Among the most important agricultural crops in the Euphrates Valley is cotton, followed by wheat, beets, watermelon, sesame and vegetables. The breeding of cows abounds in the Euphrates Valley, and the breeding of animals for agricultural use is widespread, especially donkeys, as they are still used in various fields, the most important of which is the transfer of drinking water to some villages that did not reach clean drinking water, as well as the transfer of agricultural crops from farms to homes. Many major government industries have been established in the Euphrates Valley, including the paper industry, the spinning mill, and a factory

The Sugar Factory in Deir Ezzor, the Shukr Factory in Raqqa, and the Conservatory in Al-Mayadeen. He also discovered oil and invested in some places in the Euphrates Valley in the province

Deer Al Zour.

A gathering and another third until and along the Euphrates Valley, human gatherings spread, so that we find between each gathering that many gatherings are almost connected with each other. The average distance between one grouping and another does not exceed a kilometer. Among the most important human settlements currently existing in the Euphrates Valley, we mention Jarabulus, Khafsa, Maskanah, Tabqa wa Al-Thawra, Al-Raqqa, Deir Ezzor, Al-Basira, Al-Mayadeen, Al-Ashara, and Abu Kamal. The number of people living in the Euphrates Valley is about one million, most of whom depend on agriculture and animal husbandry for their livelihood.

And the Euphrates Valley has been known to man since ancient times. In it, civilizations rose, cities flourished, and agriculture developed. On both sides of the Euphrates River are the ruins of the city of Mari, Al-Salihiya (Rarbos), Al-Asharah (Tarqa), Rahbat Tawq bin Malik (Al-Mayadeen), Qarqisiya (Al-Mudira), Buqras, Halabiyya, Zulabiyyah, Al-Rafiqa and Al-Raqqa. , Balis (Maskanah), and Karkemish (Jarabulus), and among the famous castles: Jaabar Castle, Najm Castle, Youssef Pasha Castle, Al-Rahba Castle... etc.

The historical value of the Euphrates Valley has been given great importance. The people of the Arab nation who seek the beautiful nature and the sea did not pay attention to it without the glorious history of their nation stopping them from the required pause. Its history, which they read in books or heard from narrators. And I don't think anyone. He visits Raqqa, but his mind wanders to the south, to get acquainted with Rusafa Hisham bin Abd al-Malik in the heart of the Syrian desert.

By the bridge and along the right side of the Euphrates River, an asphalt road extends, moving away from it at its height, to approach it, starting from the town of Khafsa to Abu Kamal, and continuing thereafter in Iraq. On the left side, another asphalt road extends from Tabqa to Deir ez-Zor and then Al-Basira to the village of Al-Susah, where the shrine ends on the Euphrates (Al-Susah bridge that leads to the right bank, where the city of Abu Kamal lies. Several roads extend along the left side of the upper Euphrates valley. A secondary road that connects the centers of human settlements with each other, and one of these roads goes along with Lake Al-Assad, moving away from it a little, and it extends from the Euphrates Dam until after the village of Al-Jarniyeh in the north by about 12 km.Several bridges have been built on the Euphrates River to connect its two banks together, and to connect the Jazira desert with the Levantine desert, and from These bridges are Jarabulus Bridge, Al Jazeera Bridge, Tabqa Dam Bridge, Al Raqqa Bridge, Deir Ezzor City Bridges, Al Mayadin Bridge, Al Ashara Bridge, Abu Kamal Wooden Bridge, Al Susa Bridge, and President Al Assad Bridge at the beginning of Abu Kamal. Then to the village of Kadiran, where it crosses the Euphrates via a bridge erected on it, to walk after it with the right side of the river, moving away from it towards Aleppo.

As for the services and tourism facilities along the Euphrates Valley, they are few, if not non-existent, in a large part of it. There are no places to stay overnight except in the cities of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, where the city of Deir Ezzor contains 14 hotels, the best of which are Furat Al Sham Hotel (excellent class) and Al Waha Hotel. (First class) next to Raghadan Hotel (second class), while Raqqa contains only four hotels, including one of the first class, the Tourist Hotel, and another of the second class (Tourism Hotel). Therefore, the tourist must be accompanied by a car to make it easier for him to move and move at any time of the day in order to secure his overnight stay at the end of the day.

and Deir Ezzor (15 restaurants, as well as restaurants and parks are almost confined to the two cities of Raqqa in Deir Ezzor, 10 restaurants in Raqqa, and two in the city of Ath-Thawra). However, cafes abound in the Euphrates Valley in Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, district centers, suburbs, and even villages, in a way that is distinct from other Syrian regions. The cafes of a dual nature (a coffee shop and a restaurant) on both sides of the Euphrates River are known as Jaradiq.

In general, the Euphrates Valley is not exploited for tourism, so we do not find any significant tourism project along its sides, and we do not find any river boat that invests in tourism, even in the two large cities existing in it (Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor), despite the importance of this type of tourism investment. How beautiful is the river cruise from Raqqa to Deir Ezzor? And where are the parks? And where are the swimming pools? .