BALIKH RIVER

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The 'Balikh River' (kurd. Belih) originates in Turkey between the Euphrates and Karaca dağ (mountain), flows almost due south, and empties in Syria into the Euphrates. As a rule, the river does not run dry at any time of the year. The river is an important water source for the steppes of the Balikh Valley region.
The upper reaches of the Balikh are in the region where dense patches of wild wheat grow. Wheat was first domesticated close by in the region of Karaca dağ.
The Balikh river forms the live stream of a rich cultural region. To the left and right bank of the Balikh river are settlement mounts going back at least to the 6th millennium BC. One of the oldest is currently excavated by Peter Akkerman, called Tell Sabi Abyad. In the 3rd millennium ancient Tuttul (3rd millennium) close to present-day ar-Raqqah at the delta of the Balikh and in the north Tell Chuera in the Wadi Hamad close to the Balikh were important cities. In the classical Antiquity the region was called Osrhoene with the capital ar-Ruha' and after the Islamic conquest in the 7th c. CE the region was named after an Arab tribe Diyar Mudar, the land of the Mudar.
Over the millennia the region saw always an interaction between nomadic tribes and settled population. One sometimes got the upper hand over the other.
During the Roman and Islamic history, the towns of ar-Ruha' and Harran arose in the Balikh valley to importance. Harran was traditionally thought to be where Abraham lived just before moving to Canaan. It is also thought to be where the wives of Isaac and Jacob were born. ar-Ruha' is thought to be the birthplace of Abraham according to Muslim tradition. In 762 the Caliph al-Mansur decided to build a garrison city at the junction of the Euphrates, ar-Rafiqa, which merged with the Hellenistic city Kallinikos to the urban agglomeration ar-Raqqah. It is presently the capital of the Syrian province ar-Raqqa which formed the southern part of the Balikh valley.