| Balikh | |
| Arabic: البليخ | |
| River | |
| Country | Syria |
|---|---|
| Basin area | Turkey |
| Tributaries | |
| - left | Jullab, Wadi al-Kheder |
| - right | Wadi Qaramogh |
| Cities | Tal Abyad, Ar-Raqqah |
| Source | 'Ayn al-'Arus |
| - elevation | 350 m (1,148 ft) approx. |
| - coordinates | |
| Mouth | Euphrates |
| - elevation | 250 m (820 ft) approx. |
| - coordinates | |
| Length | 100 km (62 mi) approx. |
| Width | 0.006 km (0 mi) |
| Depth | 0.0015 m (0 ft) |
| Basin | 14,400 km2 (5,560 sq mi) |
| Discharge | for 'Ayn al-'Arus[1] |
| - average | 6 m3/s (212 cu ft/s) |
| - max | 12 m3/s (424 cu ft/s) |
| - min | 5 m3/s (177 cu ft/s) |
| [2][3][4] | |
The Balikh River is a perennial river that originates in the spring of 'Ayn al-'Arus (Syria). It flows due south and joins the Euphrates at the modern town of Ar-Raqqah. After the Khabur River, the Balikh is the largest tributary to the Euphrates on Syrian soil. It is an important source of water and large parts have recently been subjected to canalization.
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The primary source of the Balikh River is the karstic spring of 'Ayn al-'Arus, just south of the Syro-Turkish border. Additionally, the Balikh receives water from a number of periodical streams and wadis that drain the Harran Plain to the north, as well as the plains to the west and east of the river valley. These streams are the Jullab, the Wadi Qaramogh, and the Wadi al-Kheder.
A few kilometres south of 'Ayn al-'Arus, the Balikh is joined by the channel of the Jullab. This small river rises from springs north of Şanlıurfa, but already runs dry at Harran, before it can reach the Balikh. Numerous now dried-up wells in the old city of Harran suggest, however, that the water table may have been significantly higher in the past.[5]
The Wadi al-Kheder drains the plain to the east of the Balikh Valley, and is fed by the Wadi al-Burj and the Wadi al-Hamar, which in turn is fed by the Wadi Chuera. These wadis, as well as the Wadi Qaramogh, can transport considerable amounts of water after heavy rainfall, and large limestone blocks can be found in their lower courses.[6]
The Balikh river forms the live stream of a rich cultural region. To the left and right bank of the Balikh river are settlement mounts going back at least to the 6th millennium BC. One of the oldest is currently excavated by Peter Akkermans, called Tell Sabi Abyad. In the 3rd millennium ancient Tuttul (3rd millennium) close to present-day ar-Raqqah at the delta of the Balikh and in the north Tell Chuera in the Wadi Hamad close to the Balikh were important cities. In the classical Antiquity the region was called Osrhoene with the capital ar-Ruha' and after the Islamic conquest in the 7th c. CE the region was named after an Arab tribe Diyar Mudar, the land of the Mudar.
Over the millennia the region saw always an interaction between nomadic tribes and settled population. One sometimes got the upper hand over the other.
During the Roman and Islamic history, the towns of Ar-Ruha' and Harran arose in the Balikh valley to importance. Harran was traditionally thought to be where Abraham lived just before moving to Canaan. It is also thought to be where the wives of Isaac and Jacob were born. Ar-Ruha' is thought to be the birthplace of Abraham according to Muslim tradition. In 762 the Caliph al-Mansur decided to build a garrison city at the junction of the Euphrates, Ar-Rafiqa, which merged with the Hellenistic city Kallinikos to the urban agglomeration Ar-Raqqah.
Nineteenth-century European travellers already noted the presence of archaeological remains in the Balikh Valley, but the first investigations were only carried out in 1938. In that year, the English archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan spent six weeks investigating five archaeological sites dating from the seventh to the second millennium BC.[7]