The Waters of Euphrates and Tigris

The location of tells—raised mounds under which are found the ruins of towns and cities of ancient Babylonia and Sumer—often bears no relation to present-day watercourses. In the vicinity of Al-Fallūjah and the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the distance separating the rivers is reduced to some 30 miles (50 km), so small that, prior to its damming, floodwaters from the Euphrates often reached the capital on the Tigris.