Euphrates: Hebrew, Perath; Assyrian, Purat; Persian cuneiform, Ufratush, whence
Greek Euphrates, meaning "sweet water." The Assyrian name means "the
stream," or "the great stream." It is generally called in the Bible
simply "the river"
(Exodus 23:31) or "the great river"
(Deuteronomy 1:7) The
Euphrates is first mentioned in
(Genesis 2:14) as one of the rivers of
Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the covenant which
God entered into with Abraham
(Genesis 15:18) when he promised to his
descendants the land from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates
(comp.)
(Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4) a covenant promise afterwards fulfilled in
the extended conquests of David
(2 Samuel 8:2-14; 1 Chronicles 18:3; 1 Kings 4:24) It was
then the boundary of the kingdom to the north-east. In the ancient
history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are recorded
in which mention is made of the "great river." Just as the Nile
represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the Euphrates
represented the Assyrian power
(Isaiah 8:7; Jeremiah 2:18) It is by far the
largest and most important of all the rivers of Western Asia. From
its source in the Armenian mountains to the Persian Gulf, into which
it empties itself, it has a course of about 1,700 miles. It has two
sources,
1. the Frat or Kara-su (i.e., "the black river"), which rises 25
miles north-east of Erzeroum; and
2. the Muradchai (i.e., "the river of desire"), which rises near
Ararat, on the northern slope of Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden,
400 miles from the source of the former, and 270 from that
of the latter, they meet and form the majestic stream, which is
at length joined by the Tigris at Koornah, after which it is
called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a deep and broad stream for
above 140 miles to the sea. It is estimated that the alluvium
brought down by these rivers encroaches on the sea at the rate
of about one mile in thirty years.
