Khazir River
River in northern Iraq
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Khazir River (Arabic: الخازر) is a river of northern Iraq, a tributary of the Great Zab river, joining its right bank.[1]
| Khazir River | |
|---|---|
| |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country |  Iraq |
| Region |  Kurdistan Region |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • coordinates | 36°10′13″N 43°32′28″E |
| Mouth | Great Zab |
Basin size | 2,900 km² |
| Basin features | |
| River system | Tigris River system |
| Bridges | Multiple bridges, including those destroyed by ISIL in 2014 |
Geomorphology
The area around the Khazir River is geologically active[2] and crosses three anticlines from the north to the south[citation needed] and this has greatly affected the course of the river. The river has a catchment of 2,900 km2.[1] The net yearly recharge rate of the valley water table is 111.6 mm/year[3][4][5] and the region is considered to be fertile.[6]
History
At a site called M'lefaat, evidence has been found of a small village of hunter-gatherers dating to the 10th millennium BC that was contemporary with the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A in the Levant.[7][8] Latter the river was part of an irrigation area that supported the Assyrian city of Nimrud.[9] Known to the Hellenistic Greeks as the river Boumelus[10] or Bumodus, it was the site of the Battle of Gaugamela between Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia.[11][12]
In August 686 AD, the river was a site of a battle between the armies of Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar and Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad,[13][14] during the revolt of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi. On 25 January 750, the Battle of the Zab was fought nearby.
In 2014, following bombing by United States planes, ISIL forces retreated back to the Khazir River,[15] where ISIL destroyed bridges built by the Americans 10 years prior.[16]