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{{short description|River in Western Asia}}
{{Infobox river
| name = Orontes
| native_name = {{native name list |tag1=ar|name1=العاصي |tag2=tr|name2=Asi}}
| name_other = Nahr al-ʿĀṣī
| name_etymology =
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image = Noria in Hama 01.jpg
| image_size = 250
| image_caption = The [[Norias of Hama]] along the Orontes in Syria
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 6
| map_size = 250
| map_caption =
| pushpin_map =
| pushpin_map_size =
| pushpin_map_caption =
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1 = Country
| subdivision_name1 = [[Lebanon]], [[Syria]], [[Turkey]]
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| subdivision_type3 =
| subdivision_name3 =
| subdivision_type4 =
| subdivision_name4 =
| subdivision_type5 = Cities
| subdivision_name5 = [[Homs]], [[Hama]], [[Jisr al-Shughur]], [[Antakya]]
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length_km = 571
| width_min =
| width_avg =
| width_max =
| depth_min =
| depth_avg =
| depth_max =
| discharge1_location =
| discharge1_min =
| discharge1_avg = {{convert|67|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}
| discharge1_max =
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1 = [[Labweh]]
| source1_location = [[Beqaa Valley]], [[Lebanon]]
| source1_coordinates = {{coord|34|11|49|N|36|21|9|E|display=inline}}
| source1_elevation = {{convert|910|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth = [[Samandağ]]
| mouth_location = [[Hatay Province]], [[Turkey]]
| mouth_coordinates = {{coord|36|2|43|N|35|57|49|E|display=inline,title}}
| mouth_elevation = {{Convert|0|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| progression =
| river_system =
| basin_size_km2 = 24660
| basin_size_ref = <ref name="aquastat"/>
| tributaries_left =
| tributaries_right = [[Afrin River]], [[Karasu (Hatay)|Karasu]]
| custom_label =
| custom_data =
| extra =
}}
The '''Orontes''' ({{IPAc-en|ɔː|ˈ|r|ɒ|n|t|iː|z}}; from [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|Ὀρόντης}}, {{transliteration|grc|Oróntēs}}) or '''Nahr al-ʿĀṣī''', or simply '''Asi''' ({{langx|ar|العاصي|translit=al-‘Āṣī}}, {{IPA|ar|alˈʕaːsˤiː|IPA}}; {{langx|tr|Asi}}) is a {{convert|571|km|mi}} long [[river]] in [[Western Asia]] that begins in [[Lebanon]], flowing northwards through [[Syria]] before entering the [[Mediterranean Sea]] near [[Samandağ]] in [[Hatay Province]], [[Turkey]].<ref name=aquastat>{{cite web|title=Asi-Orontes Basin|url=http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/basins/asi-orontes/index.stm |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|access-date=18 March 2018|date=2016}}</ref>
As the chief river of the northern [[Levant]], the Orontes has been the site of many major battles including the [[Battle of Kadesh]] (13th century BCE), and water distribution remains a controversial issue between the countries in the region.<ref name=conker>{{cite journal |last1=Conker |first1=Ahmet |last2=Hussein |first2=Hussam |title=Hydropolitics and issue-linkage along the Orontes River Basin: an analysis of the Lebanon–Syria and Syria–Turkey hydropolitical relations |journal=International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics |date=March 2020 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=103–121 |doi=10.1007/s10784-019-09462-7|doi-access=free }}</ref> Among the most important cities on the river are [[Homs]], [[Hama]], [[Jisr al-Shughur]], and [[Antakya]] (the ancient [[Antioch]], which was also known as "Antioch on the Orontes").
==Names==
In the 9th century BCE, the ancient [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] referred to the river as '''Arantu''', and the nearby [[Egyptians]] called it '''Araunti'''.<ref name="trev" /> The etymology of the name is unknown,<ref name="trev">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t_YB3cdPz7UC&pg=PT1348|title=History of Egypt, Chaldæa, Syria, Babylonia and Assyria (Complete)|author=Gaston Maspero|page= 1348}}</ref> yet some sources indicate that it might be derived from ''Arnt'' which means "lioness" in [[Syriac language]]s;{{efn|The source of the river Orontes is the village of [[Labweh]], which also means "lioness".}} others called it ''Alimas'', a "water goddess" in [[Aramaic]].<ref name=balla>{{cite book|author1=Ballabio, R.|author2=Comair, F.G.|author3=Scalet, M.|author4=Scoullos, M.|url=https://www.gwp.org/globalassets/global/gwp-med-files/news-and-activities/various/orontes-book/science-diplomacy-and-transboundary-water-management_the-orontes-river-case.pdf <!-- https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000233031 --> |title=Science diplomacy and transboundary water management: the Orontes River case|publisher=[[UNESCO]] Publishing|year=2015|page=89, 102, 125-127, 200|isbn=9789230000172}}</ref> ''Arantu'' gradually became "Orontes" in Greek.
In the Greek epic poem ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' (circa 400 CE), the river is said to have been named after Orontes, an Indian military leader who killed himself and fell into the river after losing to Dionysus in single combat.<ref>{{cite book|author= Nonnos of Panopolis|title=Delphi Complete Dionysiaca of Nonnus (Illustrated)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XL0yCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT179 |date=20 July 2015|publisher=Delphi Classics|pages=book 17}}</ref> According to the Greek geographer [[Strabo]] (in ''[[Geographica]]'', circa 20 CE), the river was originally named [[Typhon]], because it was said that [[Zeus]] had struck the dragon Typhon down from the sky with thunder, and the river had formed where Typhon's body had fallen;<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16B*.html#2.7 |title=LacusCurtius • Strabo's Geography — Book XVI Chapter 2|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|language=en|access-date=2017-02-03}}</ref> however, the river was later renamed Orontes when a man named Orontes built a bridge on it.<ref name=":0" />{{efn|[[Pliny the Elder]] mentioned a tributary of the Orontes as Marsyas river (named after [[Marsyas]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D6%3Aentry%3Dmarsyas-geo02 |title=Marsyas|work=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography}}</ref> The same tributary was drawn by [[Richard Pococke]] to the east of the Orontes in the [[al-Ghab plain]] near [[Apamea, Syria|Apamea]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Richard Pococke|author-link=Richard Pococke|url=https://archive.org/stream/gri_33125009339611#page/n21/mode/2up |title=A description of the East, and some other countries Vol. II|publisher=[[William Bowyer (printer)|William Bowyer]]|year=1743|page=140}}</ref>}}
[[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonian settlers]] in [[Apamea, Syria|Apamea]] named it the '''[[Axius (mythology)|Axius]]''', after a Macedonian river god. The Arabic name {{lang|ar|العاصي}} ({{transliteration|ar|al-‘Āṣī}}) is derived from the ancient ''Axius''. The word coincidentally means "insubordinate" in Arabic, which [[folk etymology]] ascribes to the fact that the river flows from the south to the north unlike the rest of the rivers in the region.<ref name=aramaco>{{cite journal|last1=Fitchett|first1=Joseph |last2=Deford|first2=McAdams |title=A River Called Rebel|journal=Aramco World|date=1973|issue=May/June|pages=12–21 |url=http://www.aramcoworld.com/issue/197303/a.river.called.rebel.htm |access-date=15 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqdPcxuNthcC&pg=PA100 |title=The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa|author=Getzel M. Cohen|page= 100}}</ref>
The part of the river flowing from [[Lake Homs]] to [[Homs]] is known as '''al-Mimas''',<ref>{{cite book|last=Dussaud|first=René |language=fr|title=Topographie historique de la Syrie antique et médiévale|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_YQMCwAAQBAJ|page=103}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=عمر فاروق الطباع|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eLaQDQAAQBAJ |title=ديوان البحتري 1/2|script-title=ar:Diwan of Buhturi|publisher=دار الارقم بن ابي الارقم|year=2016|___location=Beirut|pages=169|language=ar}}</ref> after the sanctuary of Deir Mimas situated there in honor of [[Mammes of Caesarea|Saint Mamas]].<ref>{{Cite book|author=مصطفى الصوفي|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gpk2DgAAQBAJ |title=طقوس احتفالات المواسم والأعياد الربيعية|publisher=ktab INC.|year=2017|language=ar}}</ref>
==Course==
[[File:Map of the Orontes river.png|thumb|left|Map of the Orontes. White lines are country borders, river names are italic on a blue background, current cities or major towns on white backgrounds, other places of significance on orange backgrounds.|385x385px]]
The Orontes rises in the springs near [[Labweh]] in Lebanon on the east side of the [[Beqaa Valley]] (in the [[Beqaa Governorate]]) between [[Mount Lebanon]] on the west and the [[Anti-Lebanon Mountains]] on the east, very near the source of the southward-flowing [[Litani River|Litani]], and runs north, falling {{convert|600|m}} through a gorge to leave the valley.<ref name=aquastat/> The [[Ain ez Zarqa]] is one such major spring.<ref name="readersnatural">{{Cite book|title=Natural Wonders of the World|publisher=Reader's Digest Association, Inc|year=1980|isbn=0-89577-087-3|editor-last=Scheffel|editor-first=Richard L.|___location=United States of America|pages=34|editor-last2=Wernet|editor-first2=Susan J.}}</ref> Other major springs are Al Ghab, Al Rouj, and Al-Azraq.<ref name=aquastat/> The river's [[drainage basin]] within Lebanon is {{cvt|1930|sqkm|sqmi}}; the country's second largest behind Litani.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shaban |first1=Amin |title=Rivers of Lebanon: Significant Water Resources under Threats |journal=Hydrology |date=17 February 2021 |page=7 |url=https://www.pseau.org/outils/ouvrages/cnrsl_rivers_of_lebanon_significant_water_resources_under_threats_2020.pdf}}</ref>
[[File:نهر العاصي عند عين الزرقا.JPG|thumb|The Orontes flowing at the foot of the [[Syrian Coastal Mountain Range]]|220x220px]]
[[File:Orontes River in Hama, Syria.jpg|thumb|Orontes River in [[Hama]], Syria|220x220px]]
Leaving this gorge, it expands into the [[Lake of Homs]] (an artificial lake created by a [[Lake Homs Dam|Roman-era dam]], also known as Qattinah lake) in the [[Homs Governorate]] of [[Syria]] and through the city of [[Homs]] (or Ḥimṣ). Next it flows through the [[Hama Governorate]] and its capital of [[Hamah]] (Hamaih-Epiphaneia), and the ancient site of Larissa ([[Shaizar]]). This is where the river enters the [[Ghab plain]].
Further downstream, on the eastern edge of the Ghab, is located the ancient city of [[Apamea (Syria)|Apamea]].<ref name="aquastat" /> To the west is the [[Syrian Coastal Mountain Range|Coastal Mountain Range]]. The last Syrian governorate it goes through is [[Idlib Governorate|Idlib]] and the city of [[Jisr al-Shughur]]. This section ends at the rocky barrier of [[Jisr al-Hadid]], where the river turns west into the plain of [[Antioch]] ([[Amik Valley]]) in the [[Hatay Province]] of Turkey.<ref name="aquastat" />
[[File:Orontes River Antakya-mohammad adil rais.jpg|thumb|The Orontes in [[Antakya]], [[Hatay]]|220x220px]]
Two major tributaries, the southward-flowing [[Afrin River]] on the west and the [[Karasu (Hatay)|Karasu]] on the east, join the Orontes through the former [[Lake Amik]] via an artificial channel (Nahr al-Kowsit). Passing north of [[Antakya]] (ancient Antioch), the Orontes dives southwest into a gorge (compared by the ancients to [[Vale of Tempe|Tempe]]), and falls {{convert|50|m}} in {{convert|16|km}} to the sea just south of [[Samandağ]] (former Suedia, in antiquity Seleucia Pieria), after a total course of {{convert|450|km}}.<ref name=aquastat/>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
|+ Major dams on the river<ref name=aquastat/>
! Name !! Nearest City !! Year !! Height (m) !! Capacity (million m3) !! Note
|-
| [[Al-Rastan Dam|Al-Rastan]] || Homs || 1960 || 67 || 228 ||
|-
| [[Lake Homs Dam|Qattinah]] || Homs || 1976 || 7 || 200 || originally built 284 CE
|-
| [[Mouhardeh Dam|Mouhardeh]] || Hama || 1960|| 41 || 67 ||
|-
| [[Zeyzoun Dam|Zeyzoun]] || Hamah|| 1995 || 43 || 71 || failed 2002
|-
| Kastoun || Hamah || 1992 || 20 || 27 ||
|}
==History==
The Orontes is not easily navigable and the valley derives its historical importance as a road for north–south traffic; from Antioch south to [[Homs]] and thence to [[Damascus]] via [[al-Nabek]].<ref name=aquastat/> The Orontes has long been a boundary marker. For the Ancient Egyptians it marked the northern extremity of ''[[Amorites|Amurru]]'', east of Phoenicia. On the Orontes was fought the major [[Battle of Kadesh]] (circa 1274 BCE) between the Egyptian army of [[Ramesses II]] from the south and the Hittite army of [[Muwatalli II]] from the north. The river was also the site of the [[Battle of Qarqar]] fought in 853 BCE, when the army of [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]], led by king [[Shalmaneser III]], encountered an allied army of 12 kings led by [[Hadadezer]] of [[Damascus]].
[[File:Small bronze statuette of the Tyche of Antioch, Roman copy of a 4th century BC bronze by Eutychides of Sicyon in Corinthia, from ancient Antaradus (modern-day Tartus in Syria), Louvre Museum, Paris (34749782344).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Bronze copy, 1st or 2nd century CE, from [[Tartus]] of [[Eutychides]]' ''Tyche of Antioch'', 4th century BCE, [[Louvre Museum]]; at the goddess' feet a male swimmer personifying the Orontes is represented.]] [[Alexander the Great]] acquired the river valley after the defeat of the Persians in 333 BCE at the [[Battle of Issus]] (fought on the [[Pinarus river]] near modern [[İskenderun]] and north of modern Antakya). After his death in 323 BCE, it became part of the [[Seleucid Empire]].
Seleucid cities founded on the Orontes included [[Seleucia ad Belum]], [[Antigonia (Syria)|Antigonia]], and [[Antioch]]. Several Hellenistic artefacts feature the [[Tyche of Antioch]] with a male swimmer personifying the Orontes at her feet.
In 64 BCE [[Pompey]] took the Orontes river valley and made it part of the new Roman province of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] with Antioch as its capital. [[Lake Homs Dam]] was built by the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] in 290 CE.<ref>{{harnvb|Smith|1971|pp=39f.}}; {{harnvb|Schnitter|1978|p=31}}</ref> In addition to Lake Homs, further Roman dams and dykes would be built along the Orontes river around Apamea, to better irrigate the Ghab plain. In 198 CE the province was split with the lower Orontes in the new province of [[Coele Syria (Roman province)|Coele Syria]] and the upper Orontes from Emesa (modern day Homs) south in [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Syria Phoenice]]. Emesa was later raised to co-capital of the latter.
In 637 CE the [[Battle of the Iron Bridge]] near Antioch was fought between the forces of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]] near the ''Iron bridge'' and won by the former which shortly took control of the whole of the river valley.
For the [[Crusade]]rs in the 12th century, the Orontes River became the permanent boundary between the [[Principality of Antioch]] and that of [[Aleppo]].
A [[diversion dam]] in Lebanon was 60% complete when Israeli airstrikes damaged it during the [[2006 Lebanon War|2006 Israel–Hezbollah War]].<ref name=balla/><ref name=wi>UN-ESCWA 2013, page 234</ref>
The construction of a [[Syria–Turkey Friendship Dam]] was started in 2011 but postponed because of the [[Syrian Civil War]]. The war has also seen the [[siege of Homs]] from May 2011 until May 2014.
==In art==
The French writer [[Maurice Barrès]] purportedly transcribed in ''[[Un jardin sur l'Oronte]]'' (1922) a story that an Irish archaeologist had translated for him from a manuscript one evening in June 1914 at a ''café'' in Hama by the Orontes.
==See also==
*[[Al-Mina]] – archaeological site at the mouth of the Orontes
*[[Baalbek]] – a town and archaeological site just to the south of the source of the Orontes
*[[Tell Tayinat]] and [[Tell Atchana]] – archaeological sites near each other in Hatay
*[[Water resources management in Syria]]
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*[https://waterinventory.org/sites/waterinventory.org/files/chapters/Chapter-07-Orontes-River-Basin-web_1.pdf Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia. Chapter 7 Orontes River Basin] UN-ESCWA and BGR ([[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia]]; [[Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources]]). 2013
*{{Citation
| last = Schnitter
| first = Niklaus
| title = Römische Talsperren
| journal = Antike Welt
| volume = 8
| issue = 2
| pages = 25–32
| year = 1978
}}
*{{Citation
| last = Smith
| first = Norman
| title = A History of Dams
| place = London
| publisher = Peter Davies
| year = 1971
| pages = 39–43
| isbn = 0-432-15090-0
}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Orontes River}}
{{EB1911 poster|Orontes}}
* Pop-up map of the Orontes River available at: {{cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.nimb.2011.05.006 | volume=269 | title=Trace elements concentration in sediments of Orontes River using PIXE technique | journal=Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms | year=2011 | pages=1818–1821| last1=Alhajji | first1=E. | last2=Ismail | first2=I.M. | issue=16 }}
* Map of the Orontes River Basin: {{cite web|title=Inventory of Shared Water Resources in Western Asia: Orontes Basin|url=http://waterinventory.org/sites/waterinventory.org/files/maps/Orontes_map_small.pdf |publisher=[[United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia]]|access-date=21 March 2018|date=2012}}
{{Rivers of Lebanon}}
{{Rivers of Syria}}
{{Rivers of Turkey}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:International rivers of Asia]]
[[Category:Landforms of Hatay Province]]
[[Category:Rivers of Lebanon]]
[[Category:Rivers of Syria]]
[[Category:Rivers of Turkey]]
[[Category:Orontes basin]]
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