Editing Orontes River (section)

==History==
The Orontes is not easily navigable and the valley derives its historical importance as a road for north–south traffic; from Antioch south to [[Homs]] and thence to [[Damascus]] via [[al-Nabek]].<ref name=aquastat/> The Orontes has long been a boundary marker. For the Ancient Egyptians it marked the northern extremity of ''[[Amorites|Amurru]]'', east of Phoenicia. On the Orontes was fought the major [[Battle of Kadesh]] (circa 1274&nbsp;BCE) between the Egyptian army of [[Ramesses II]] from the south and the Hittite army of [[Muwatalli II]] from the north. The river was also the site of the [[Battle of Qarqar]] fought in 853&nbsp;BCE, when the army of [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyria]], led by king [[Shalmaneser III]], encountered an allied army of 12 kings led by [[Hadadezer]] of [[Damascus]].

[[File:Small bronze statuette of the Tyche of Antioch, Roman copy of a 4th century BC bronze by Eutychides of Sicyon in Corinthia, from ancient Antaradus (modern-day Tartus in Syria), Louvre Museum, Paris (34749782344).jpg|thumb|upright|left|Bronze copy, 1st or 2nd century CE, from [[Tartus]] of [[Eutychides]]' ''Tyche of Antioch'', 4th century BCE, [[Louvre Museum]]; at the goddess' feet a male swimmer personifying the Orontes is represented.]]  [[Alexander the Great]] acquired the river valley after the defeat of the Persians in 333 BCE at the [[Battle of Issus]] (fought on the [[Pinarus river]] near modern [[İskenderun]] and north of  modern Antakya).  After his death in 323 BCE, it became part of the [[Seleucid Empire]].
Seleucid cities founded on the Orontes included [[Seleucia ad Belum]], [[Antigonia (Syria)|Antigonia]], and [[Antioch]]. Several Hellenistic artefacts feature the [[Tyche of Antioch]] with a male swimmer personifying the Orontes at her feet.

In 64 BCE [[Pompey]] took the Orontes river valley and made it part of the new Roman province of [[Roman Syria|Syria]] with Antioch as its capital. [[Lake Homs Dam]] was built by the Roman emperor [[Diocletian]] in 290&nbsp;CE.<ref>{{harnvb|Smith|1971|pp=39f.}}; {{harnvb|Schnitter|1978|p=31}}</ref> In addition to Lake Homs, further Roman dams and dykes would be built along the Orontes river around Apamea, to better irrigate the Ghab plain. In 198 CE the province was split with the lower Orontes in the new province of [[Coele Syria (Roman province)|Coele Syria]] and the upper Orontes from Emesa (modern day Homs) south in [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Syria Phoenice]]. Emesa was later raised to co-capital of the latter.

In 637&nbsp;CE the [[Battle of the Iron Bridge]] near Antioch was fought between the forces of the [[Rashidun Caliphate]] and the [[Byzantine Empire]] near the ''Iron bridge'' and won by the former which shortly took control of the whole of the river valley.

For the [[Crusade]]rs in the 12th century, the Orontes River became the permanent boundary between the [[Principality of Antioch]] and that of [[Aleppo]].

A [[diversion dam]] in Lebanon was 60% complete when Israeli airstrikes damaged it during the [[2006 Lebanon War|2006 Israel–Hezbollah War]].<ref name=balla/><ref name=wi>UN-ESCWA 2013, page 234</ref>

The construction of a [[Syria–Turkey Friendship Dam]] was started in 2011 but postponed because of the [[Syrian Civil War]]. The war has also seen the [[siege of Homs]] from May  2011 until May 2014.