Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word Euphrates emerges from the Greek term Euphrátēs, which adapted an earlier name found in cuneiform texts from Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur. These documents date to the mid-3rd millennium BCE and write the river as Buranuna. Some scholars suggest the name derives from proto-Sumerian burudu meaning copper.
The river emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su and Murat Su upstream from Keban in southeastern Turkey. Two tributaries rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations exceeding 2000 meters above sea level. By the time they reach the Keban Dam site, elevation has dropped significantly below 500 meters.
Early permanent villages like Abu Hureyra and Jerf el Ahmar emerged along the upper Syrian Euphrates from the eleventh millennium BCE onward. Hunter-gatherers first occupied these sites before transitioning to farming communities without irrigation systems. Late Neolithic settlements introduced pottery around the early 7th millennium BCE throughout this region.
Turkey completed the Keban Dam in 1974 while Syria finished its Tabqa Dam one year later. Reservoir filling began simultaneously in 1975 causing severe drought conditions downstream toward Iraq. River flow reduced from 800 cubic meters per second in 1973 to just 100 cubic meters per second by 1975.
Iraqi Ministry officials warned in 2021 that the river could dry out completely by 2040 due to climate change pressures. Annual evaporation from reservoirs reaches estimated totals exceeding 3 billion cubic meters annually across Turkey, Syria, and Iraq combined. Water quality deteriorates significantly as irrigation runoff returns carrying dissolved fertilizer chemicals into main channels.
Islamic tradition records a hadith stating the Last Hour will not occur until the river uncovers a mountain of gold. Ninety-nine out of every hundred individuals fighting over this treasure will perish according to Sahih Muslim texts. This event represents one minor sign preceding Day of Judgment in Islamic eschatology.