Diyala River

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Diyala river
Diyala River in Baghdad.jpg
Diyala River
Location
Country Iran, Iraq
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationNorth of Iraq/Western Iran
Mouth  
 • location
 Tigris River
Length445 km (277 mi)
Basin size32,600 km2 (12,600 sq mi) [1]
Discharge 
 • average164 m3/s (5,800 cu ft/s)
Basin features
Tributaries 
 • leftSirwan
 • rightTanjero

The Diyala (Arabic: نهر ديالى‎Nahr Diyālā; Kurdish : Sîrwan; Farsi: دیالهDiyâlah, سيروانSīrvān) is a river and tributary of the Tigris. It is formed by the confluence of the Sirwan and Tanjaro rivers in Darbandikhan Dam in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate of Northern Iraq. It covers a total distance of 445 km (277 mi).

Contents

Course

Diyala river Diyala river.PNG
Diyala river

It rises near Hamadan, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. It then descends through the mountains, where for some 32 km it forms the border between the two countries. It finally flows into the Tigris below Baghdad. Navigation of the upper reaches of the Diyala is not possible because of its narrow defiles, but the river's valley provides an important trade route between Iran and Iraq.

The river flows southwest of the Hamrin Mountains.

Name

Its Aramaic origin is "Diyalas" and in Kurdish it is called "Sirwan", meaning 'roaring sea' or 'shouting river'. In early Islamic period, the lower course of the river formed part of the Nahrawan Canal. The Diyala Governorate in Iraq is named after the river.

It may be the ancient Tornas river. [2]

History

Junction of the Bil And Sirwan Riv Bil-Sirwan intersection.jpg
Junction of the Bil And Sirwan Riv

Bronze Age

This area flourished already during the Jemdet Nasr and Early Dynastic periods, through to the Akkadian period.

In Eshnunna (Tell Asmar), the Tell Asmar Hoard is particularly notable. Twelve remarkable statues were found belonging to the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 BC).

Scarlet Ware

Scarlet Ware Pottery excavated in Khafajah. 2800-2600 BCE, Early Dynastic II-III, Sumer. British Museum. Painted ceramic jar, 2800-2600 BCE, Khafajah, Sumer EDII-III.jpg
Scarlet Ware Pottery excavated in Khafajah. 2800-2600 BCE, Early Dynastic II-III, Sumer. British Museum.

A type of pottery known as 'Scarlet Ware', a brightly coloured pottery with pictorial representations, was typical of sites along the Diyala River. [4] It developed around 2800 BC, and is related to the Jemdet Nasr ware in central Mesopotamia of the same period. The red colour was achieved predominantly by using haematite paint.

Scarlet Ware is typical of Early Dynastic I and II periods. [5] Along the Diyala is located one of the most important trade routes linking south Mesopotamia with the Iranian plateau. Thus, Scarlet ware was also popular in Pusht-i Kuh, Luristan, and it was traded to Susa during Susa II period.

Middle Bronze

During the Larsa period, Eshnunna especially became prominent. The Diyala river also bore the name "Shu-durul" at the time. [6]

Iron Age

In 693 BC, the Battle of Diyala River took place between the forces of the Assyrians and the Elamites of southern Iran.

The river is mentioned in Herodotus' Histories under the name Gyndes, where it is stated that the king Cyrus the Great dispersed it by digging 360 channels as punishment after a sacred white horse perished there. [7] The river returned to its former proportions after the channels disappeared under the sand.[ citation needed ]

Modern history

In March 1917 the British Empire defeated the Ottoman Empire at the confluence with the Tigris, leading to the Fall of Baghdad, part of the Mesopotamian Campaign of World War I.

Excavations

Major excavations were done in the lower Diyala river basin in the 1930s. They were conducted by the University of Chicago Oriental Institute (1930–1937) and by the University of Pennsylvania (1938–1939). The sites such as Tell Agrab, Tell Asmar (ancient Eshnunna), Ishchali (ancient Neribtum), and Khafaje (ancient Tutub) were excavated.

At that time, the Diyala was relatively unexplored compared to southern and northern Mesopotamia. But looting of sites was already underway. As the result, the professional excavations were launched.

Archaeologists James Breasted and Henri Frankfort were leading these projects.

These excavations provided very comprehensive data on Mesopotamian archaeology and chronology. They covered the time between the late Uruk period and the end of the Old Babylonian period (3000–1700 BC).

Subsequently, nine detailed monographs were published, but most of the objects, numbering 12,000, remained unpublished. Launched in 1992, the Diyala Database Project has been publishing a lot of this material. [8]

Other scholars who worked there were Thorkild Jacobsen as epigrapher, Seton Lloyd, and Pinhas Delougaz. [9]

Around 1980, the Diyala region was also explored intensively as part of the Hamrin Dam Salvage Project. [10] The following sites were excavated from 1977 to 1981: Tell Yelkhi, Tell Hassan, Tell Abu Husaini, Tell Kesaran, Tell Harbud, Tell al-Sarah, and Tell Mahmud. [11]

Dams

In Iran the Daryan Dam is constructed near Daryan in Kermanshah province. One of the goals of the dam is to divert a portion of the water to Southwestern Iran for irrigation through the 48 km (30 mi) long Nosoud Water Conveyance Tunnel and to produce hydroelectric power. [12] [13] [14] In Iraq, the river first reaches the Darbandikhan Dam which generates hydroelectric power and stores water for irrigation. It then flows down to the Hemrin Dam for similar purposes. In the lower Diyala Valley near Baghdad the river is controlled by the Diyala Weir which controls floods and irrigates the area northeast of Baghdad.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Iraq</span>

The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into five main regions: the desert, Upper Mesopotamia, the northern highlands of Iraq, Lower Mesopotamia, and the alluvial plain extending from around Tikrit to the Persian Gulf.

Eshnunna was an ancient Sumerian city and city-state in central Mesopotamia 12.6 miles northwest of Tell Agrab and 15 miles northwest of Tell Ishchali. Although situated in the Diyala Valley northwest of Sumer proper, the city nonetheless belonged securely within the Sumerian cultural milieu. It is sometimes, in archaeological papers, called Ashnunnak or Tuplias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hamrin Mountains</span> Mountain in Iraq

The Hamrin Mountains are a small mountain ridge in northeast Iraq. The westernmost ripple of the Zagros Mountains, the Hamrin mountains extend from the Diyala Governorate bordering Iran, northwest to the Tigris river, crossing northern Saladin Governorate and southern Kirkuk Governorate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)</span> Archaeological culture of Mesopotamia

The Early Dynastic period is an archaeological culture in Mesopotamia that is generally dated to c. 2900 – c. 2350 BC and was preceded by the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods. It saw the development of writing and the formation of the first cities and states. The ED itself was characterized by the existence of multiple city-states: small states with a relatively simple structure that developed and solidified over time. This development ultimately led, directly after this period, to broad Mesopotamian unification under the rule of Sargon, the first monarch of the Akkadian Empire. Despite their political fragmentation, the ED city-states shared a relatively homogeneous material culture. Sumerian cities such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Umma, and Nippur located in Lower Mesopotamia were very powerful and influential. To the north and west stretched states centered on cities such as Kish, Mari, Nagar, and Ebla.

Lake Hamrin, is a man-made lake approximately 50 km (31 mi) north-east of Baqubah, in Iraq's Diyala Governorate. The town of Hamrin sits on the western shore of the lake, both of which are at the southern tip of the Hamrin mountains. The Hemrin Dam, which creates Lake Hamrin, was established in 1981 as an artificial dam to hold over two billion cubic metres of water. It is a source of fish and also provides water for nearby date palm orchards and other farms. In June 2008, it was reported that due to Iranian damming of the Alwand River, the lake had lost nearly 80% of its capacity.

Khafajah or Khafaje, ancient Tutub, is an archaeological site in Diyala Governorate, Iraq 7 miles (11 km) east of Baghdad. Khafajah lies on the Diyala River, a tributary of the Tigris. Occupied from the Uruk and Jemdet Nasr periods through the end of the Old Babylonian Empire, it was under the control of the Akkadian Empire and then the Third Dynasty of Ur in the 3rd millennium BC. It then became part of the empire of the city-state of Eshnunna lying 12 miles (19 km) southwest of that city, about 5 miles (8.0 km) from the ancient city of Shaduppum, and near Tell Ishchali, both which Eshnunna also controlled. It then fell to Babylonia before falling into disuse.

Tell Agrab is a tell or settlement mound 12.6 miles (20.3 km) southeast of Eshnunna in the Diyala region of Iraq. It is about 15 miles southeast of Tell Asmar, ancient Eshnunna. It has been suggested that the ancient name of the site was PA.GAR.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diyala Weir</span> Dam in Diyala Governorate, Iraq

Diyala Weir, also known as the Diyala Barrage, is a diversion dam on the Diyala River 90 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. It was constructed between 1966 and 1969. The main purpose of the dam is to divert outflow of the Hemrin Dam on the Diyala River to the Khalis and Sadr Al-Mushtarak canals for irrigation.

The Sirwan is a river and tributary of the Tigris that originates in Iran. The Sirwan then runs mainly through eastern Iraq. It covers a total distance of 445 km (277 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akkad (city)</span> Ancient Mesopotamian city

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tell Asmar Hoard</span>

The Tell Asmar Hoard are a collection of twelve statues unearthed in 1933 at Eshnunna in the Diyala Governorate of Iraq. Despite subsequent finds at this site and others throughout the greater Mesopotamian area, they remain the definitive example of the abstract style of Early Dynastic temple sculpture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daryan Dam</span> Dam in Kermanshah, Iran

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dadusha</span>

Dadusha (Dāduša) was one of the kings of the central Mesopotamian city Eshnunna, located in the Diyala Valley. He was the son of the Eshnunna king Ipiq-Adad II. Although previously kings of Eshnunna had referred to themselves as ensi (governor) of the city god Tishpak, in the early 19th century rulers of Eshnunna began referring to themselves as King. Dadusha's father Ipiq-Adad II and his brother Naram-Suen, who ruled Eshnunna before him, both used the title king and Dadusha followed suit.

The Garan Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Garan River, a tributary of the Sirvan River, about 15 km (9.3 mi) northeast of Marivan in Kurdistan Province, Iran. Construction on the dam began in 2002 and it was inaugurated by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on 12 April 2013. It is 62 m (203 ft) tall and impounds a reservoir with a storage capacity of 110,000,000 m3 (89,000 acre⋅ft). The primary purpose of the dam is to supply water for the irrigation of 10,450 ha in Marivan County. It also provides municipal water to the city of Marivan. Officials in Iraq are concerned that the Garan Dam will have a negative impact on the Sirvan River as it feeds the Iraqi Darbandikhan Dam and farmlands below it.

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Tell Abada is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Diyala Governorate (Iraq). Abada was excavated as part of the archaeological salvage operation to excavate sites that would be flooded by the reservoir of the Hamrin Dam. Excavations revealed occupation levels dating to the Ubaid 1-3 periods. The site is important because it was one of the few where an Ubaid period settlement could be excavated in its entirety.

Tell Madhur is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Diyala Governorate (Iraq). The site was excavated due to it being flooded by the reservoir created by the Hamrin Dam. Madhur is best known for its particularly well-preserved Ubaid house. A significant Early Dynastic occupation, consisting of a rounded building typical for the Hamrin region at the time, has also been attested at Madhur.

Alwand Dam is a dam located on the Alwand River, southeast of Khanaqin, 6 km (3.7 mi) from the Iraqi-Iranian border. It is a hydroponic dam with a mud core with a length of 1,342 m (4,403 ft) and a height of 24 m (79 ft). The storage quantities in the dam's lake is 38,000,000 m3 (1.3×109 cu ft) and the surface area of the lake is 6,200,000 m2 (67,000,000 sq ft).

Tell Yelkhi, is an ancient Near East archaeological site in Diyala Governorate (Iraq). It was examined as part of the Hamrin Dam salvage excavation before it flooded. Other sites a part of that rescue excavation included, Me-Turan, Tell Gubah, Tell Songor, Tellul Hamediyat, Tell Rubeidheh, Tell Madhur, Tell Imlihiye, Tell Rashid, Tell Saadiya and Tell Abada. Some of these sites, including Tell Yelkhi, periodically emerge from the water. The site of Tell Yelhi was settled in the early 3rd millennium BC and occupation continued through the Kassite period late in the 2nd millennium BC. Its name in ancient times is not yet known though Awalki has been suggested.

References

  1. ↑ Hussein, Haitham A. (June 2010). "Dependable Discharges of The Upper and Middle Diyala Basins". Journal of Engineering. 16 (2): 4960–4969. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Cohen, Getzel M. (2013). The Hellenistic settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Hellenistic culture and society. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 94. ISBN   978-0-520-27382-5.
  3. ↑ "Khafajeh jar". British Museum.
  4. ↑ Francesco Del Bravo, 'Scarlet Ware': Origins, Chronology and Developments, in M. Lebeau – P. de Miroschedji (eds), ARCANE Interregional Vol. I: Ceramics (ARCANE Interregional I), Turnhout (Brepols), 2014: 131-147
  5. ↑ Scarlet Ware jar britishmuseum.org
  6. ↑ Donald M. Matthews, The Early Glyptic of Tell Brak: Cylinder Seals of Third Millennium Syria 1997, p. 15.
  7. ↑ Herodotus (1920). The Histories. Translated by Godley, A. D. Godley. Harvard University Press.
  8. ↑ Diyala Project oi.uchicago.edu
  9. ↑ POTTERY FROM THE DIYALA REGION. By Pinhas Delougaz (The University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Publications, vol. LXIII). XXII+182 pp. +204 plates, Chicago 1952.
  10. ↑ McGuire Gibson (ed.), Uch Tepe I: Tell Razuk, Tell Ahmed al-Mughir, Tell Ajamat, Hamrin Reports 10, Copenhagen, 1981.
  11. ↑ IRAQ – Hamrin Archived 2018-10-21 at the Wayback Machine Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino per il Medio Oriente e l'Asia
  12. ↑ "Darian Dam, one of the best dams in Iran in terms of structure and body". Islamic Republic News Agency. Retrieved 2024-01-31.
  13. ↑ "Darian Dam" (in Persian). Iran Water Resources Management. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  14. ↑ "Water Tunnel Nosoud" (in Persian). JTMA. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.

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