The Khabur river is 200 miles (320 km) long, beginning in southeastern Turkey, and flowing generally southeast to Syria where it is joined by the Jaghjagh River and eventually empties into Euphrates River.
The Khabur River, with its several branches, is not a major water course, and during most of the year is represented by dry wadis.
Important prehistoric sites such as Tell Halaf, Tell Brak, Chagar Bazar, Tell Mashnaqa and Tell Tuneinir have been excavated in the Khabur basin. It has given its name to a distinctive painted ware found in Northern Mesopotamia and North Syria in the early 2nd millennium BC.
In ancient times the Khabur was known as the Habur.
The Khabur River project, begun in the 1960s, involved the construction of a series of dams and canals. The Khabur valley, which now has about 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) of farmland, is Syria's main wheat-producing area.
