Land and land use: the middle Euphrates valley

Unlike Mesopotamia’s lower alluvial plain where, if suitably irrigated and managed,the land allows for the exploitation of substantial rural areas, a large part of the middle Euphrates valley winds though an arid plateau, where the potential for settlement and agriculture is dependent on the waters of the river and its tributaries, the Balikh and Khabur (Sanlaville 1985: 20), the only perennial watercourses in the area alongside the Euphrates itself. The landscape is characterized by a clear distinction between the steppe plateau, with its limestone and especially marly and gypsum soils, unsuited to agriculture (Geyer 1985: 296), and the river valleys with their silty soils, fertile and productive if suitably irrigated and drained. These two contexts offer very diverse potential for the exploitation of natural resources.