Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2014 The Euphrates and Tigris rivers are\nexpected to dry up by 2040. The rivers once flowed through an\nexceptionally fertile region.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon, the article says, was warned of by the Prophet\nMuhammad long ago. The hadith reads: \u201cThe Hour will not come until the\nEuphrates dries up and reveals a mountain of gold, over which people\nwill fight and kill one another\u201d (Sahih Muslim, No.\u00a02894).<\/p>\n
The Euphrates flows through several countries, including T\u00fcrkiye,\nSyria and Iraq, before emptying into the Persian Gulf. Together with the\nTigris, it forms the largest river system in West Asia.<\/p>\n
The Euphrates and the neighbouring Tigris run through a fertile area\nwith ideal conditions for agriculture. They also supported the\ndevelopment of early urban civilisation in Mesopotamia.<\/p>\n
Today, however, the river system is drying up rapidly. A 2021 report\nby the Ministry of Water Resources warned that the rivers could dry up\nby 2040.<\/p>\n
The report attributed the decline to falling water levels and drought\ncaused by climate change, IFL Science reported on Monday (19 October\n2026).<\/p>\n
Flows in the Euphrates\u2013Tigris system have fallen by almost half in\njust a few decades. Satellite imagery reportedly showed that 144 cubic\nkilometres of fresh water disappeared between 2003 and 2013.<\/p>\n
Around 60 million people depend on water from the Euphrates\u2013Tigris\nsystem for their livelihoods, particularly in T\u00fcrkiye and Iraq.<\/p>\n
The Euphrates and Tigris are among the world\u2019s oldest and most\nhistorically significant river systems, and formed the foundation for\nthe development of human civilisation. Both rise in the Anatolian\nmountains of T\u00fcrkiye and flow south-east, running roughly parallel\nthrough T\u00fcrkiye, Syria and Iraq before joining and emptying into the\nPersian Gulf. The land between them is known as Mesopotamia, meaning\n\u201cland between the rivers\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Euphrates is about 2,800 kilometres long, making it the longest\nriver in West Asia. The Tigris is shorter, at around 1,900 kilometres,\nbut has a stronger current. Together, they fertilised the region known\nas the Fertile Crescent, where people first developed agriculture,\nestablished permanent settlements and created irrigation systems around\n10,000 years ago.<\/p>\n
Historically, the valley was home to the Sumerian, Babylonian and\nAssyrian civilisations, which developed the first writing, systems of\ncalculation, calendars and some of humanity\u2019s earliest written law\ncodes. The world\u2019s first cities, including Uruk, Babylon and Nineveh,\nstood on the banks of these rivers. Both rivers are also mentioned in\nancient texts and holy books in accounts of the beginnings of human\ncivilisation.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-vital-middle-eastern-water-source-is-disappearing-the-prophet-muhammad-had-warned-of-it-1792371018", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }