Below Lemlun the Tigris sends a branch to the Euphrates, which is thus increased in its volume ; and turning to the east, receives the chief branch of the Tigris, thence running in one united stream, under the name of the Shat al Arab, as far as the sea (the Persian Gulf). In this last reach the river has a depth of from 3 to 5 fathoms, varies in breadth from 500 to goo yards, and presents banks covered with villages and cultivation, having an appearance at once imposing and majestic. The length of the navigable part of the river, reckoning from Bir to Bussora, is 143 miles ; the length of the entire stream, 140o miles. It is very abundant in fish. The water is somewhat turbid ; but, when purified, is pleasant and salubrious. The Arabians set a high value on it, and name it Morad Sou ; that is, Water of desire, or longing.
The river begins to rise in March, and continues rising till the latter end of May. The consequent increase of its volume and rapidity is attributable to the early rains, which, falling in the Armenian mountains, swell its mountain tributaries ; and also in the main to the melting of the winter snows in these lofty regions. About the middle of November the Euphrates has reached its lowest ebb, and ceasing to decrease, becomes tranquil and sluggish.
The Euphrates is, on many accounts, an object of more than ordinary interest. ' The great river' is linked with the earliest times and some of the most signal events in the history of the world. Appearing among the few notices we have of the first condition of the earth and of human kind, it continues, through the, whole range of Scripture history down to the present hour, an object of curiosity, interest, wonder, hope, or triumph.
In ancient as well as in modern times the Euphrates was used for navigation. Herodotus states that boats—either coracles, or rafts, floated by inflated skins—brought the produce of Armenia down to Babylon (i. 194). The trade thus carried on was considerable.
The Emperor Trajan constructed a fleet in the mountains of Nisibis, and floated it down the Euphrates. The Emperor Julian also came down the river from the same mountains, with a fleet of not fewer than Iwo vessels.
A great deal of navigation is still carried on from Bagdad to Hillah, the ancient Babylon ; but the disturbed state of the country prevents any above the latter place. In the time of Queen Elizabeth merchants from England went by this river, which was then the high road to India.
The prophets made use of the Euphrates as a figurative description of the Assyrian power, as the Nile with them represented the power of Egypt ; thus in Is. viii. 7, 'The Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of Assyria' (Jer. ii. r8). Wahl's Asien, p. boo ; Ritter's Era'k. ii. 120 ; Traite Element. G‘'o graphique, Bruxelles, 1832, vol. ii. ; Mannert's Geogr. ii. i42 ; Reichard's XL Geogr. Schaff, p. 210 ; Parham. Rep. of Steam Navigation to India, 1S34.—J. R. B.