Researchers have finally discovered the “Genesis” of the legendary Middle Eastern river that was described in one of the Bible’s most important stories, per an eye-opening study in the journal Nature Geoscience.
The Euphrates River is featured in Genesis as one of a quartet of waterways that originated in the Garden of Eden, the lush oasis where the so-called first humans, Adam and Eve, were said to have resided.
In fact, this mighty river is cited over 50 times throughout the ancient text from Genesis through Revelation, where it is described as drying up in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon.
Researchers have finally discovered the origins of the Euphrates River, the water body from the Garden of Eden that also helped Mesopotamia flourish 6,000 years ago. Getty Images
Over millions of years, tectonic phenomena — such as earthquakes or a mountain range formation — altered their course until they merged into one, the Euphrates. ina Jakait¿ and Andrew S. MadofCoincidentally, the real-life water body, which stretches 1,740 miles through Turkey, Syria and Iraq, played an equally important role in shaping the earliest human civilizations: Along with its sister river, the Tigris, it helped provide the vital water supply that helped Mesopotamia — also known as the cradle of civilization and the Fertile Crescent — flourish some 6,000 years ago, National Geographic reported.
However, contrary to the depiction in the Bible, the origins of the Euphrates have remained a mystery — until now.
According to the study, conducted by an international team of researchers, this iconic river was formed from the convergence of two rivers flowing from Türkiye to the then-arid Mediterranean Basin between 3.6 million and 1.6 million years ago.
The groundbreaking discovery occurred somewhat serendipitously in 2014, when Chevron geologist Andrew Madof, was searching for natural gas off the coast of Lebanon.
Necm Castle on the bank of the Euphrates River in Syria. Ahmet – stock.adobe.comWhile scanning the area via seismic imaging, the scientist happened upon evidence of river sediment atop large underwater salt deposits in the region. These had formed more than five million years ago during an epoch known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis, when the Mediterranean Sea had either partially or completely dried out.
Hoping to understand the provenance of these mysterious waterways, he and his team analyzed the region using maps, satellite observation and other methods.
They found that the area once housed two giant rivers — the Paleo-Karasu and the Paleo-Murat — which dated back to 16.5 million years ago and between 8.6 million and 5.9 million years old, respectively.
These water bodies were also gigantic, with the Paleo-Karasu dwarfing the Nile while its counterpart was larger than the Tigris and Euphrates combined.
These twin tributaries only emptied onto the dried-out Mediterranean for “about 120,000 years. Then, over millions of years, tectonic phenomena — such as earthquakes or a mountain range formation — altered their course until they merged into one, the Euphrates.
Along with providing the origin story of Mesopotamia’s preeminent irrigation source, the study has also shed light on the Messinian Salinity Crisis. While most researchers agree that the Mediterranean Sea experienced complete desertification, some believe it only partially dried up, and there’s been an ongoing debate over how freshwater eventually replenished the Mediterranean Basin.
The discovery of these two prehistoric rivers could potentially provide the answer.
“I think this may be the end of a discussion that has lasted decades,” said Geophysicist Angelo Camerlenghi, a National Geographic Society-funded project centered around a flood that ended the Messinian Salinity Crisis.
