What is the…
Habor

also known as: Habur (Akkadian, Amorite), Nahr el Khabur, Khabur (meaning: “source of fertility”), Al Khabour River (modern), Chaboras (Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder), Chabura (Procopius of Caesarea), Aborrhas (Strabo, Zosimus, Ammianus Marcellinus), Aburas (Isidore of Charax)

Hebrew: חָבוֹר —transliteration: ḥāḇōr

This is the name of a river in ancient Assyria, and also of the district through which it flowed.

Various Israelite tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians and placed on the lands of the Habor River valley during the time of Hoshea, the last king of Israel.

So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, even the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them away into exile, namely the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and to the river of Gozan, to this day. —1 Chronicles 5:26

In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. —2 Kings 17:6

Then the king of Assyria carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and put them in Halah and on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes —2 Kings 18:11

Habor is an ancient river now most commonly called the Khabur River. Since ancient times, it has been an important water source for agriculture.

It is an important perennial tributary to the Euphrates River.

Syria’s Khabur River valley is said to now be Syria’s leading producer of wheat, plus various other crops. The Khabur River valley covers farmland of 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares).

The Khabur begins in Turkey’s southeast mountains and flows to southeastward to Al-Ḥasakah, Syria, joining the Jaghjagh River. It flows into the Euphrates at Al Shheell, Syria.

Its full length is about 200 miles (320 km).

Archaeology

Some examples of ancient “Khabur ware” found in the Khabur River Valley

Archaeological ruins in the Khabur River Valley include Tell Schech Hamad (Tell Shaykh Hamad), Tell Halaf, Tell Brak, Chagar Bazar, Tell Mashnaqa and Tell Tuneinir. The unique ancient pottery found in this valley is called Khabur ware.