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 Eu·phra·tes /jʊˈfre(ˌ)tiz/
 幼發拉底河

 Euphrates
      n : a river in southwestern Asia; flows into the Persian Gulf;
          was important in the development of several great
          civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia [syn: Euphrates
          River]

 Euphrates
    Hebrew, Perath; Assyrian, Purat; Persian cuneiform, Ufratush,
    whence Greek Euphrates, meaning "sweet water." The Assyrian name
    means "the stream," or "the great stream." It is generally
    called in the Bible simply "the river" (Ex. 23:31), or "the
    great river" (Deut. 1:7).
      The Euphrates is first mentioned in Gen. 2:14 as one of the
    rivers of Paradise. It is next mentioned in connection with the
    covenant which God entered into with Abraham (15:18), when he
    promised to his descendants the land from the river of Egypt to
    the river Euphrates (comp. Deut. 11:24; Josh. 1:4), a covenant
    promise afterwards fulfilled in the extended conquests of David
    (2 Sam. 8:2-14; 1 Chr. 18:3; 1 Kings 4:24). It was then the
    boundary of the kingdom to the north-east. In the ancient
    history of Assyria, and Babylon, and Egypt many events are
    recorded in which mention is made of the "great river." Just as
    the Nile represented in prophecy the power of Egypt, so the
    Euphrates represented the Assyrian power (Isa. 8:7; Jer. 2:18).
      It is by far the largest and most important of all the rivers
    of Western Asia. From its source in the Armenian mountains to
    the Persian Gulf, into which it empties itself, it has a course
    of about 1,700 miles. It has two sources, (1) the Frat or
    Kara-su (i.e., "the black river"), which rises 25 miles
    north-east of Erzeroum; and (2) the Muradchai (i.e., "the river
    of desire"), which rises near Ararat, on the northern slope of
    Ala-tagh. At Kebban Maden, 400 miles from the source of the
    former, and 270 from that of the latter, they meet and form the
    majestic stream, which is at length joined by the Tigris at
    Koornah, after which it is called Shat-el-Arab, which runs in a
    deep and broad stream for above 140 miles to the sea. It is
    estimated that the alluvium brought down by these rivers
    encroaches on the sea at the rate of about one mile in thirty
    years.

 Euphrates, that makes fruitful