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Khabur River
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The Khabur River (also Habur, Habor, Kebar, Chebar, Chaboras; Aramaic:????, Kurdish: Çemê Xabûr, Turkish: Habur Nehri, Arabic: ??? ???????) is a river that begins in southeastern Turkey and flows south to eastern Syria, where it empties into the Euphrates River near the town of Busayrah. The river, with its several branches, such as the Aweidj, Dara, Djirdjib, Jaghjagh, Radd and Zergan Rivers, is not a major water course, and during most of the year is represented by wadis (dry riverbeds).
Another Khabur river begins in Sirnak, Turkey, flows through Zakho, Iraq, and empties into the River Tigris at the tripoint between Turkey, Iraq and Syria; see Khabur (Tigris).
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Encyclopedia
The Khabur River (also Habur, Habor, Kebar, Chebar, Chaboras; Aramaic:????, Kurdish: Çemê Xabûr, Turkish: Habur Nehri, Arabic: ??? ???????) is a river that begins in southeastern Turkey and flows south to eastern Syria, where it empties into the Euphrates River near the town of Busayrah. The river, with its several branches, such as the Aweidj, Dara, Djirdjib, Jaghjagh, Radd and Zergan Rivers, is not a major water course, and during most of the year is represented by wadis (dry riverbeds).
Another Khabur river begins in Sirnak, Turkey, flows through Zakho, Iraq, and empties into the River Tigris at the tripoint between Turkey, Iraq and Syria; see Khabur (Tigris). Furthermore, the Biblical Chebar may not be synonymous with the Khabur, as discussed below.
History
In Sumerian mythology, the Habur is equivalent to the River Styx in Greek myth. Important ancient sites such as Tell Halaf, Tell Brak, Tell Leilan (ancient Shekhna) and Urkesh, have been excavated in the Khabur river basin. It has given its name to a distinctive painted ware found in northern Mesopotamia and Syria in the early 2nd millennium BCE, called Khabur ware. The region of the Khabur River is also associated with the rise of the kingdom of the Mitanni that flourished c.1500-1300 BC. In classical times the river was known as Chaboras.
Modern Khabur River Valley
The Khabur River Project, begun in the 1960s, involved the construction of a series of dams and canals. The Khabur Valley, which now has about four million acres (16,000 km²) of farmland, is Syria's main wheat-cultivation area. The northeastern part is also the center for Syria's oil production.
Biblical Chebar
The Books of Kings and The First Book of Chronicles in the Old Testament recount that Tiglath-Pileser III who ruled 745–727 BC as King of Assyria, captured Israelites from east of the Jordan. A portion of these captives were deported to the banks of the Chebar. The Book of Kings further relates how Israelite captives from Samaria were then settled near Gozan (Tell Halaf) on the Chebar river's banks by Shalmaneser V who reigned from 727 to 722 BC, as son and successor of Tiglath-Pileser III, (2 Kings 17:6, 18:11). After the Babylonians rose to dominance in the early 6th century, the Judaean priest and prophet Ezekiel proclaims to have been "by the river Chebar among the exiles...in the land of the Chaldeans", when "the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God" (Ezek.1:1,3).
Two cuneiform inscriptions excavated at Nippur have however thrown doubt on the identification of this ancient River Chebar (or Kebar) with the present day Khabur River (Nahr el-Khabur). The latter's location in northern Mesopotamia is also believed to be irreconcilable with Ezekiel's residence in Chaldea. One of Babylonia's grand canals, Naru Kabari, is now favoured, which may be identified with modern Shatt en-Nil.
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