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The Diyala River (
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: ; ku, Sîrwan;
Farsi Persian (), also known by its endonym Farsi (, ', ), is a Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian subdivision of the Indo-European languages. Persian is a pluricentric language predominantly spoken an ...
: , ) is a
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
and tributary of the
Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...
. It is formed by the confluence of Sirwan river and Tanjaro river in Darbandikhan Dam in the
Sulaymaniyah Governorate ar, محافظة السليمانية , other_name = , settlement_type = Governorate , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = Clockwise, from ...
of Northern Iraq. It covers a total distance of .


Course

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 Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
between the two countries. It finally feeds into the Tigris below
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
. 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 Diyala Governorate ( ar, محافظة ديالى ) or Diyala Province is a governorate in central-eastern Iraq. Provincial government *Governor: Muthana al-Timimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Gov ...
in Iraq is named after the river.


History

The river is mentioned in
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
' ''
Histories Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to: * the plural of history * ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus * ''The Histories'', by Timaeus * ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius * ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'' under the name Gyndes, where it is stated that the king
Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...
dispersed it by digging 360 channels as punishment after a sacred white horse perished there. The river returned to its former proportions after the channels disappeared under the sand. The
Battle of Diyala River The Battle of Diyala River took place in 693 BC between the forces of the Neo-Assyrian Empire and the Elamites of southern Iran. Assyrian expansion From the 9th century BC onwards, the Assyrians had been expanding their domain from northern ...
took place in 693 BC between the forces of the Assyrian empire and the Elamites of southern Iran. 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.


Archaeology

This area flourished already during the
Jemdet Nasr Jemdet Nasr ( ar, جمدة نصر) is a tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate (Iraq) that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC), and was one of the oldest Sumerian cities. The site was fir ...
and Early Dynastic periods, through to the Akkadian period. During the Larsa period,
Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) 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 ...
especially became prominent. 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 The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...
(1938–1939). The sites such as Tell Agrab, Tell Asmar (ancient
Eshnunna Eshnunna (modern Tell Asmar in Diyala Governorate, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian (and later Akkadian) 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 ...
), Ishchali (ancient Neribtum), and Khafaje (ancient Tutub) were excavated. In Tell Asmar, the Tell Asmar Hoard is particularly notable. Twelve remarkable statues were found belonging to the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 BC). 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 The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC; also known as Protoliterate period) existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period. Named af ...
and the end of the
Old Babylonian period The Old Babylonian Empire, or First Babylonian Empire, is dated to BC – BC, and comes after the end of Sumerian power with the destruction of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the subsequent Isin-Larsa period. The chronology of the first dynast ...
(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. Other scholars who worked there were Thorkild Jacobsen as epigrapher, Seton Lloyd, and Pinhas Delougaz. More recently, the Diyala region was also explored intensively as part of the Hamrin Dam Salvage Project. 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.


Scarlet Ware

A type of pottery known as 'Scarlet Ware', a brightly coloured pottery with pictorial representations, was typical of sites along the Diyala River. It developed around 2800 BC, and is related to the
Jemdet Nasr Jemdet Nasr ( ar, جمدة نصر) is a tell or settlement mound in Babil Governorate (Iraq) that is best known as the eponymous type site for the Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC), and was one of the oldest Sumerian cities. The site was fir ...
ware in central Mesopotamia of the same period. The red colour was achieved predominantly by using
haematite Hematite (), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe2O3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of . I ...
paint. Scarlet Ware is typical of Early Dynastic I and II periods. 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 Susa ( ; Middle elx, 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗, translit=Šušen; Middle and Neo- elx, 𒋢𒋢𒌦, translit=Šušun; Neo- Elamite and Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭, translit=Šušán; Achaemenid elx, 𒀸𒋗𒐼, translit=Šušá; fa, شوش ...
during Susa II period.


Dams

In Iran the Daryan Dam is currently under construction near Daryan in Kermanshah Province. The purpose of the dam is to divert a significant portion of the river to Southwestern Iran for irrigation through the long Nosoud Water Conveyance Tunnel and to produce
hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...
power. 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 The Hemrin Dam is a dam on the Diyala River 100 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The main purpose of the dam is flood control, irrigation and hydroelectric generation. Its power station has a 50 MW capacity. The dam and the attached power house ...
for similar purposes. In the lower Diyala Valley near Baghdad the river is controlled by the
Diyala Weir 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 (11 km u ...
which controls floods and irrigates the area northeast of Baghdad. * Darbandikhan Dam, Iraq *
Bawanur Dam The Bawanur Dam is an earth-fill dam currently being constructed on the Diyala River just upstream of the town of Bawanur in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Iraq. The tall dam will support a 32 MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station. It will a ...
(under construction), Iraq *
Hemrin Dam The Hemrin Dam is a dam on the Diyala River 100 km northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. The main purpose of the dam is flood control, irrigation and hydroelectric generation. Its power station has a 50 MW capacity. The dam and the attached power house ...
, Iraq *
Diyala Weir 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 (11 km u ...
, Iraq *
Garan Dam The Garan Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Garan River, a tributary of the Sirvan River, about northeast of Marivan in Kurdistan Province, Iran. Construction on the dam began in 2002 and it was inaugurated by Iranian President Mahmo ...
, Iran * Daryan Dam, Iran File:Lake Darbandikhan.jpg, Lake Darbandikhan File:Darbandikhan Dam Spillway USACE NWD.jpg, Darbandikhan Dam File:Diyala Weir3 USACE NWD.jpg, Diyala Weir


See also

*
List of places in Iraq This is a list of places in Iraq. Governorates of Iraq lists the governorates, and Districts of Iraq lists the subdivisions of those governorates. Modern cities and towns * Afak (عفك) * Al `Awja (العوجا) *Baghdad (ܒܓܕܐܕ) (ب� ...


References

{{Coord, 33.2208, N, 44.5064, E, source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Rivers of Iraq Rivers of Iran Tributaries of the Tigris River International rivers of Asia Iran–Iraq border Geography of Iraq Iranian Kurdistan Diyala Governorate Landforms of Kurdistan Province Landforms of Kermanshah Province