Agriculture in Syria runoff most of the year. The river flows southeastward across the arid Syrian Plateau into Iraq, where it joins the Tigris River shortly before emptying into the Persian Gulf. In addition to Syria, both Turkey and Iraq use dams on the Euphrates for hydroelectric power, water control, storage, and irrigation. In the mid-1980s, about a half of the annual Euphrates River flow was used by these three countries. Syrians have long used the Euphrates for irrigation, but, because the major systems were destroyed centuries ago, they now make only limited use of the river's flow. In the mid-1980s, the Euphrates
Khabur (Euphrates) it the "Aborrhas" (Ἀβόρρας), and Isidore of Charax called it the "Aburas" (Ἀβούρας). It was described as a large river of Mesopotamia which rose in Mons Masius, about from Nisibis, and flowed into the Euphrates at Circesium (Kerkesiah). Procopius speaks of it as a river of importance, and Ammianus states that Julian the Apostate crossed it “per navalem Aborae pontem.” Strabo describes it as near the town of Anthemusia. The river is fed by several smaller streams, the names of which are mentioned in the later classical writers. These are, the Scirtus (Procop. "de Aedif." 2.7), the Cordes (Procop. "de