Euphrates Euphrates The Euphrates (; Sumerian: "Buranuna"; "Purattu"; "al-Furāt"; "Pǝrāt"; : "Yeprat"; "Perat"; ; ) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (the "Land between the Rivers"). Originating in eastern Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Ancient Greek form "Euphrátēs" (, as if from Greek εὖ "good" and ϕράζω "I announce or declare") was adapted from Old Persian 𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢 "Ufrātu", itself from Elamite
Euphrates of Southeast Turkey. The presence of European beaver has been attested in the bone assemblage of the prehistoric site of Abu Hureyra in Syria, but the beaver has never been sighted in historical times. The Hindiya Barrage on the Iraqi Euphrates, based on plans by British civil engineer William Willcocks and finished in 1913, was the first modern water diversion structure built in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Hindiya Barrage was followed in the 1950s by the Ramadi Barrage and the nearby Abu Dibbis Regulator, which serve to regulate the flow regime of the Euphrates and to discharge excess flood