Editing Euphrates (section)

== Etymology ==
The term ''Euphrates'' derives from the [[Koine Greek|Greek]] ''Euphrátēs'' ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:Εὐφράτης#Ancient Greek|Εὐφρᾱ́της]]}}), adapted from {{langx|peo|𐎢𐎳𐎼𐎠𐎬𐎢|translit=<sup>h</sup>Ufrātuš}},<ref>{{harvnb|Negev|Gibson|2001|p=169}}</ref> itself from {{langx|elx|𒌑𒅁𒊏𒌅𒅖|translit=Úipratuiš}}. The Elamite name is ultimately derived from [[cuneiform]] 𒌓𒄒𒉣; read as ''Buranun'' in [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] and ''Purattu'' in [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that mean the same. The Akkadian ''Purattu''<ref>{{harvnb|Woods|2005}}</ref> has been perpetuated in [[Semitic languages]] (cf. {{langx|ar|الفرات}} ''al-Furāt''; {{langx|syr|̇ܦܪܬ}} ''Pǝrāṯ'', {{langx|he|פְּרָת}} ''Pǝrāṯ'') and in other nearby languages of the time (cf. [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]] ''Puranti'', [[Subartu|Sabarian]] ''Uruttu''). The Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded [[substrate language]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael |last=Witzel |chapter=Early Loan Words in Western Central Asia: Substrates, Migrations and Trade |title=Contact and Exchange in the Ancient World |editor-first=Victor H. |editor-last=Mair |publisher=University of Hawai'i Press |date=2006 |chapter-url=http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/C._ASIA_.pdf |access-date=19 February 2012 |archive-date=16 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916080936/http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/C._ASIA_.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze]] and [[Vyacheslav Ivanov (philologist)|Vyacheslav Ivanov]] suggest the proto-Sumerian ''*burudu'' "copper" (Sumerian ''urudu'') as an origin, with an explanation that Euphrates was the river by which copper ore was transported in rafts, since Mesopotamia was the center of copper metallurgy during the period.<ref>{{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2aqp2n2mKkC&pg=PA616 |title=Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture |page=616 |first1=Thomas |last1=Gamkrelidze |first2=Vjaceslav |last2=V. Ivanov |year=1995 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=9783110815030 |access-date=14 November 2015 |archive-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909215916/https://books.google.com/books?id=M2aqp2n2mKkC&pg=PA616 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Euphrates is called ''Yeprat'' in [[Armenian language|Armenian]] ({{lang|hy|Եփրատ}}), ''Perat'' in modern Hebrew ({{lang|he|פרת}}), {{lang|tr|Fırat}} in [[Turkish language|Turkish]] and {{lang|ku|Firat}} in [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]]. The [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]] name is {{transliteration|myz|Praš}} ({{lang|myz|ࡐࡓࡀࡔ}}), and is often mentioned as {{transliteration|myz|Praš [[Ziwa (Aramaic)|Ziwa]]}} (pronounced {{transliteration|myz|Fraš Ziwa}}) in [[Mandaean scriptures]] such as the ''[[Ginza Rabba]]''.<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630 |access-date=17 February 2022 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316031021/https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In Mandaean scriptures, the Euphrates is considered to be the earthly manifestation of the heavenly [[yardna]] or flowing river (similar to the [[Yazidi]] concept of [[Lalish]] being the earthly manifestation of its heavenly counterpart,<ref name="Nasoraia 2021">{{cite book|last=Nasoraia|first=Brikha H.S.|author-link=Brikha Nasoraia|title=The Mandaean gnostic religion: worship practice and deep thought|publisher=Sterling|publication-place=New Delhi|year=2021|isbn=978-81-950824-1-4|oclc=1272858968}}</ref>  or the ‘Sacred House’ [[Kaaba]] in [[Mekka|Mecca]] being the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Al-Bayt Al-Mamur).<ref>{{Citation |last1=Manouchehri |first1=Faramarz Haj |title=al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr |date=2013-12-04 |url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-islamica/al-bayt-al-mamur-COM_000000116 |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Islamica |access-date=2023-10-19 |publisher=Brill |language=en |last2=Waley |first2=M. I.}}</ref>

The earliest references to the Euphrates come from [[cuneiform]] texts found in [[Shuruppak]] and pre-[[Sargon of Akkad|Sargonic]] [[Nippur]] in southern [[Iraq]] and date to the mid-[[3rd millennium BCE]]. In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called ''Buranuna'' ([[logogram|logographic]]: UD.KIB.NUN). The name could also be written KIB.NUN.(NA) or <sup>d</sup>KIB.NUN, with the prefix "<sup>[[Dingir|d]]</sup>" indicating that the river was a [[divinity]]. In Sumerian, the name of the city of [[Sippar]] in modern-day Iraq was also written UD.KIB.NUN, indicating a historically strong relationship between the city and the river.