Karun#History

In early classical times, the Karun was known as the Pasitigris. The modern medieval and modern name, Karun, is a corruption of the name Kuhrang, which is still maintained by one of the two primary tributaries of the Karun.

J. G. Lorimer also records in his Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia that it was known by the name "Dujail," which could be translated "Little Tigris," to medieval Arab and Persian geographers.

File:Dammed portion of Karun River2.jpg]]

It originates in the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, on the slopes of {{convert|4221|m|abbr=on}} Zard-Kuh. The river flows south and west through several prominent mountain ridges and receives additional water from the Vanak on the south bank and the Bazoft on the north. These tributaries add to the catchment of the river above the Karun-4 Dam. {{convert|25|km|mi}} downstream, the Karun widens into the reservoir formed by the Karun-3 Dam.

The Khersan flows into a reservoir from the southeast passin through it in a narrow canyon, now in a northwest direction, past Izeh, eventually winding into the Sussan Plain. The Karun then turns north into the reservoir of Shahid Abbaspour Dam (Karun-1), which floods the river's defile to the southwest. The Karun flows southwest into the impoundment of Masjed Soleyman Dam (Karun-2), then turns northwest. Finally, it leaves the foothills and flows south past Shushtar and its confluence with the Dez. It then bends southwest, bisecting the city of Ahvaz, and south through farmland to its mouth on the Arvand Roud at Khorramshahr, where its water, together with that of the Tigris and Euphrates, turns sharply southeast to flow to the Persian Gulf.{{cite web|url=http://iahs.info/redbooks/a221/iahs_221_0293.pdf|title=Regional generalization of flood characteristics in Karun River basin|publisher=International Association of Hydrological Sciences|work=Flow Regimes from International Experimental and Network Data|year=1994|access-date=2010-03-14}}{{cite web|url=http://www.uv.es/EBRIT/micro/micro_314_57.html|title=Karun River|work=Encyclopædia Britannica|publisher=Universitat de València|access-date=2010-03-14|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222053637/http://www.uv.es/EBRIT/micro/micro_314_57.html|archive-date=2012-02-22}}

File:IranCatchKhF3.svg

File:Ahwaaaz (1).JPG]]

The largest river by discharge in Iran, the Karun River's watershed covers {{convert|65230|km2|mi2}} in parts of two Iranian provinces. The river is around {{convert|950|km|mi}} long and has an average discharge of {{convert|575|m3/s|cuft/s}}. The largest city on the river is Ahvaz, with over 1.3 million inhabitants. Other important cities include Shushtar, Khorramshahr (a port), Masjed-Soleyman, and Izeh.

Much of Khuzestan's transport and resources are connected in one way or another to the Karun. Since the British first discovered oil at Masjed Soleyman, the Karun has been an important route for the transport of petroleum to the Persian Gulf, and remains an important commercial waterway.{{cite web

|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/provinces/15_khuzestan/15_khuzestan.php

|title=Province of Khuzestan

|publisher=Iran Chamber Society

|work=Cities/Provinces of Iran

|access-date=2010-03-15}}

Water from the Karun provides irrigation to over {{convert|280000|ha|acre}} of the surrounding plain and a further {{convert|100000|ha|acre}} are planned to receive water.{{cite web

|url=http://www.kwpa.ir/Latin/WaterDepartment/Irrigation%20&%20Drainage%20Network%20Projects.html

|title=Study and Executive Projects of Irrigation and Drainage Networks

|publisher=Khuzestan Water and Power Authority

|work=Water Department

|access-date=2010-03-15

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070828125146/http://www.kwpa.ir/latin/WaterDepartment/Irrigation%20%26%20Drainage%20Network%20Projects.html

|archive-date=2007-08-28

|url-status=dead

}}

File:Louvre Suse I Nécropole du tell de l'Acropole Coupe décor géométrique, SB 3175 1 14012018.jpg]]

Karun River lies between the Susa plain, the location of the ancient cultures dating back to the fifth millennium BC and, to the south, the newly discovered ancient culture of the Zohreh River plain from the same period. The principal ancient site being excavated near the Zohreh River is Tol-e Chega Sofla, which has many parallels with Susa.Moghaddam, A. (2016). A fifth-millennium BC cemetery in the north Persian Gulf: The Zohreh Prehistoric Project. Antiquity, 90(353), E3. {{doi|10.15184/aqy.2016.166}}

Later, the Karun valley was also inhabited by the Elamite civilization which rose about 2,700 BC. At several points in history, Mesopotamian civilizations such as Ur and Babylon overthrew the Elamites and gained control of the Karun and its surroundings in modern Khuzestan. However, the Elamite empire lasted until about 640 BC, when the Assyrians overran it. The city of Susa, near the modern city of Shush between the Dez and Karkheh rivers, was one of their largest before it was destroyed by the invaders.{{cite web|last=Shahmiri|first=Cyrus|url=http://www.iranchamber.com/history/elamite/elamite.php|title=Elamite Empire|publisher=Iran Chamber Society|work=History of Iran|access-date=2010-03-14}}

Image:Ahvaz White Bridge2.jpg

The first known major bridge across the river was built by the Roman captives that included its emperor Valerianus in the Sassanid era, whence the name of the bridge and dam Band-e Kaisar, "Caesar's dam", at Shushtar (3rd century AD).

In two of several competing theories about the origins and location of the Garden of Eden, the Karun is presumed to be the Gihon River described in the Biblical book of Genesis."And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush." (Genesis, 2:13) The strongest of these theories, propounded by archaeologist Juris Zarins, places the Garden of Eden at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, fed by the four rivers Tigris, the Euphrates, Gihon (Karun) and Pishon (Wadi al-Batin).

In 1888, during a period of increasing British influence in southern Iran, Lynch Brothers opened the first regular steamship service on the river linking Khorramshahr and Ahvaz.{{Cite book |last=Abrahamian |first=Ervand |url= |title=A History of Modern Iran |date=2008 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82139-1 |location=Cambridge, UK |pages=37 |oclc=171111098}}

The name of the river is derived from the mountain peak, Kuhrang, which serves as its source.

The film documentary, Grass: A Nation's Battle for Life (1925), tells the story of the Bakhtiari tribe crossing this river.

Image:Arvandrud-Shatt al-Arab.jpg]]

It was here during the Iran–Iraq War that the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces stopped the early Iraqi Armed Forces advance. With its limited military stocks, Iran unveiled its "human wave" assaults which used thousands of Basij (Popular Mobilization Army or People's Army) volunteers.

In September 2009, three districts of Basra province in southern Iraq were declared disaster-hit areas as a result of Iran's construction of new dams on the Karun. The new dams resulted in high levels of salinity in the Arvand Roud (Shatt al-Arab), which destroyed farm areas and threatened livestock in that Iraqi Basra area. Civilians in the area were forced to evacuate.{{cite web |url=http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/54563 |title=Basra province incapable of responding to crisis |publisher=Homepage.eircom.net |date=2009-09-08 |access-date=2009-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220115523/http://www.daralhayat.com/portalarticlendah/54563 |archive-date=2012-02-20 |url-status=usurped }}

Image:Karun3-dam.jpg dam, one of the many large hydroelectric power dams on the Karun River]]

There are a number of dams on the Karun River, mainly built to generate hydroelectric power and provide flood control. Gotvand Dam, Masjed Soleyman Dam, Karun-1 (Shahid Abbaspour Dam), Karun-3, and Karun-4, most of them owned by the Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co., are all on the main stem. Karun-2 would potentially be located in the Sussan Plain between Shahid Abbaspour and Karun-3, but the project is still under consideration because of concern over submerging archaeological sites.{{cite news|url=http://archaeonews.blogspot.com/2006/09/karun-2-dam-continues-tragedy-of.html|title=Karun-2 Dam continues tragedy of cultural destruction at ancient Izeh|work=Archaeonews|date=2006-09-19|access-date=2010-03-14}}

A Karun-5 dam upstream of Karun-4 has also been proposed.{{cite map|url=http://en.iwpco.ir/MasjedSoleiman/Lists/Intro/Attachments/1/Intro03.jpg|title=Karun & Dez Development Exploitation|publisher=Masjed Soleiman Project|cartography=Iran Water & Power Resources Development Co.|access-date=2010-03-14}} The Masjed Soleyman,{{cite web

|url=http://en.iwpco.ir/MasjedSoleiman/TechInfo.aspx

|title=Masjed Soleiman Project: Technical Info

|publisher=Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co.

|work=Masjed Soleiman Project

|access-date=2010-03-14}} Shahid Abbaspour, and Karun-3{{cite web

|url=http://en.iwpco.ir/karun3/TechInfo.aspx

|title=Karun 3 Project: Technical Info

|publisher=Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co.

|work=Karun 3 Project

|access-date=2010-03-14}} dams each generate 1,000–2,000 MW of power to service the peaking power sector of Iran's electricity grid, and when completed, Karun-4 will also generate 1,000 MW.{{cite web

|url=http://en.iwpco.ir/Karun4/TechInfo.aspx

|title=Karun 4 Project: Technical Info

|publisher=Iran Water and Power Resources Development Co.

|work=Karun 4 Project

|access-date=2010-03-14}} There are also many dams on the river's tributaries. Dez Dam, Bakhtiari Dam (under construction) and Khersan-3 Dam (under construction) are among them. Khersan 1, Khersan 2, Zalaki, Liro, Roudbar Lorestan, Bazoft, and others are proposed. The dams on the Karun have had a significant effect on the sediment transport and the ecology of the river, and have required the relocation of thousands of residents.

{{Reflist|2}}

• Karun-3, Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080706005450/http://www.karun3.com/history/?item=1 History].
• N. Jafarzadeh, S. Rostami, K. Sepehrfar, and A. Lahijanzadeh, Identification of the Water Pollutant Industries in Khuzastan Province, Iranian Journal of Environmental Health Science & Engineering, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 36–42 (2004). [http://www.bioline.org.br/request?se04014]

{{Commons-inline|Karun River}}

• More photos of Karun river, [http://tishineh.com/touritem/217-6/Karun%20River Tishineh]
• Karun river marshes, Factsheet, [http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/sites/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=8122&m=0 BirdLife International].

{{coord|30.4275|N|48.1653|E|source:kolossus-dewiki|display=title}}

• H. Borjian, "Karun River", Encyclopaedia Iranica, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/karun_1_2
• D. T. Potts, "SHATT al-ARAB", Encyclopaedia Iranica, at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shatt-al-arab

{{Rivers of Iran}}

• {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Karun|volume=15|pages=683–684|first=Albert|last=Houtum-Schindler|author-link=Albert Houtum-Schindler}}

Category:Rivers of Khuzestan Province

Category:Rivers of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province

Category:Landforms of Khuzestan province

Category:Landforms of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province

Category:Shatt al-Arab basin

Category:Rivers in Mandaeism