Al-Ghab Plain on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest
water-security.org
The valley was flooded for centuries by the waters of the Orontes River, which rendered it a swamp.Sofer, 1999, p. 205. The "Ghab project", beginning in the 1950s, drained the valley to make it habitable,
The project started in 1953 and is considered one of the most important hydraulic projects in northern Syria. Owing to a slight slope (0.10%) in the Orontes in the area of
Wikimapia location
/ref> It is located between the Ghab Plain, and Amouk Plain. This is an agriculturally prosperous enclave just west of the town of Idlib. Many ancient archaeological sites are located there.
The Ghab Plain ( ar, سَهْلُ ٱلْغَابِ, Sahl al-Ġāb, literally: Forest Plain) is a fertile depression lying mainly in the Al-Suqaylabiyah District in northwest Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. The Orontes River, flowing north, enters the Plain near Muhradah, around 25 km north-west of Hama
Hama ( ar, حَمَاة ', ; syr, ܚܡܬ, ħ(ə)mɑθ, lit=fortress; Biblical Hebrew: ''Ḥamāṯ'') is a city on the banks of the Orontes River in west-central Syria. It is located north of Damascus and north of Homs. It is the provincial ...
.Federal Research Division, 2004, p. 74.Topography and Hydrology Map of the Orontes valleywater-security.org
The valley was flooded for centuries by the waters of the Orontes River, which rendered it a swamp.Sofer, 1999, p. 205. The "Ghab project", beginning in the 1950s, drained the valley to make it habitable, arable land
Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...
,de Miranda, 2007, p. 267. providing an extra of irrigated farmland.
The valley separates the al-Ansariyah mountains in the west from the Zawiyah mountain range and the plateau region to the east. It is long and wide.
Fisheries
Before its drainage, the Ghab was the center of the catfish ( Silurus glanis) (''sallōr'' or ''samak aswad'') fisheries of the Orontes valley.Ghab project
The project started in 1953 and is considered one of the most important hydraulic projects in northern Syria. Owing to a slight slope (0.10%) in the Orontes in the area of al-Asharinah
Al-Asharinah ( ar, العشارنة) is a Syrian village located in the Tell Salhab Subdistrict of the al-Suqaylabiyah District in Hama Governorate. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Asharinah had a population of 6,34 ...
, the river did not provide enough water to the surrounding territories. The project drained the plain where the River Orontes flowed. The plain was entirely drained in 1968 and provided 11,000 families with lands.
The Ghab project made large areas suitable for agriculture, and new irrigation systems were employed. The system included barrages, canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface f ...
networks for irrigation and canal networks for drainage. Large barrages were built in Mahardah, Zayzun
Zayzun ( ar, زيزون) is a Syrian village located in Al-Ziyarah Nahiyah in Al-Suqaylabiyah District, Hama. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Zayzun had a population of 1944 in the 2004 census.
See also
*Zeyzoun Da ...
, Qarqur and other villages. The dam at Mahardah, built in 1961, is high, and long and holds of water. The Zeyzoun Dam
The Zeyzoun Dam is a failed embankment dam near Zayzun, Hama Governorate, Syria. It impounded water pumped from the nearby Orontes River. The dam was completed in 1996 and its primary purpose was the irrigation of about . The dam's reservoir was ...
, built in 1996, was high and held a maximum of of water; it failed in June 2002, leading to the deaths of 22 people and the displacement of over 2,000 as a large hole opened in the embankment and flooded of the countryside downstream.
Other advantages of the Ghab project were the improvements in the systems of communication through the building of road and rail networks, previously not possible due to the swamps. In addition, malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. ...
decreased because there was no longer stagnant water.
Al-Ruj Plain
Northeast of the Ghab Plain is found another smaller plain, known as al-Ruj Plain (Rouj basin)./ref> It is located between the Ghab Plain, and Amouk Plain. This is an agriculturally prosperous enclave just west of the town of Idlib. Many ancient archaeological sites are located there.
References
Bibliography
* * * * {{coord, 35.587, 36.356, display=title Plains of Syria Hama Governorate Idlib Governorate