Khabur River

The Khabur river (also Habor, Habur) is 200 miles (320 km) long, beginning in southeastern Turkey, and flowing generally southeast to Syria where it is joined by the Jaghjagh River and eventually empties into Euphrates River.

The Khabur River, with its several branches, is not a major water course, and during most of the year is represented by dry wadis.

Important prehistoric sites such as Tell Halaf , Tell Brak , Chagar Bazar , Urkesh, Tell Mashnaqa and Tell Tuneinir have been excavated in the Khabur basin. It has given its name to a distinctive painted ware found in Northern Mesopotamia and North Syria in the early 2nd millennium BC. The region of the Khabur river is also associated with the rise of the kingdom of the Mittanni that flourished during the 14th century BC.

According to the Bible Israelite captives from Samaria were settled near Goza on the river's banks by the king of Assyria (2 Kings 17:6, 18:11).

The Khabur River project, begun in the 1960s, involved the construction of a series of dams and canals. The Khabur valley, which now has about 4 million acres (16,000 km²) of farmland, is Syria's main wheat-producing area.