Geomorphology and Historical Landscapes

The findings highlight the difference between distinct Orontes reaches, which partly reflects various crustal blocks with various periods of landscape development. The Orontes has a staircase-like structure of calcreted steps upstream of Homs that rises about 200 m above the river.

C. The Ghab Plain

The Orontes departs the incised portion of its middle reach about 5 km downstream of Latamneh (along the valley axis) and joins the Acharneh Basin (located to the east of the southern section of the broader Ghab Basin). It does this by going through a clearly marked west-facing scarp slope not far from the village of Sheizar. All but the lowest Pleistocene terraces vanish as the valley in the Acharneh Basin spreads out further downstream to create a sizable level plain.

B. Al Rastan Gorge

The river narrows as it passes through the Homs Basalt, which is comparatively refractory, and this is reflected in the gorge at Rastan. The odd placement of the canyon near the eastern edge of the basalt outcrop indicates that the Orontes' path here has been superimposed from a valley that was initially formed in less resilient subterranean marl. Even though it has not been precisely dated, it is marked as Upper Miocene. Further downstream in the Middle Orontes, higher-level basalts have produced dates dating to the Middle Miocene. (Sharkov et al., 1994;)

A. Homs Basalt.

A gorge carved through the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene Homs Basalt separates this higher river from another terraced stretch in the Middle Orontes. Long known as a source of mammalian fossils and Palaeolithic artifacts, the Middle Orontes terraces are located near the lower end of the reach in Latamneh.

The Southern Marls, a region south of Homs, are traversed by a number of seasonal watercourses but did not previously sustain significant irrigation away from the Orontes. However, the Northern Marls, which are located north of the city, are the westernmost extension of a plateau made of Pliocene and marly limestone. The majority of this drainage system empties into a number of watercourses that flow northward before joining the Orontes east of Rastan.

It additionally varies from the south in that irrigation cultivation has been practiced there since the mid-20th century.

3. Downstream from Antakya, the Lower Orontes

The Orontes enters a high-relief area once more as it flows south-west from Antakya, where river terrace deposits are intermittently preserved along its incised course (Erol, 1963), before entering the most noteworthy of its three gorges, which is more than 400 m deep and carved into hard latest Cretaceous ophiolitic rocks. The low topography of the Amik Plain region contrasts sharply with this incised ravine.

2. Middle Orontes: From Rastan to the Ghab Basin

the Middle Orontes creates a deep basin that reaches a depth of 400 meters beneath a series of flat-topped hills that are crowned with basalt that is mapped as Upper Miocene (comparable to that which tops the Tell Bisseh Plateau,Ponikarov, 1986)

1. Upper Orontes: Rastan Gorge to Lebanon's boundary

Neogene lacustrine marl of presumed "Pontian" (latest Miocene) age covers the open, low-relief terrain of the Upper Orontes , north of the Rastan Gorge (Dubertret and Vautrin, 1938).

Interpretations of Tells

People tend to reside on steep slopes in the Orontes area. Many tells include historical and social components that strengthen their overall structure. As we've already mentioned, there are interactions between people and their environment.

Parayre, Dominique & Sauvage, Martin & Tenu, Aline & Gernez, Guillaume & Sévin-Allouet, Christophe & Ouraghi, Nordine. (2010). Mission archéologique Syro-Française de l’Oronte : la campagne de fouilles de 2010 à Tell al-Nasriyah (Hama) – Chronique Archéologique en Syrie, vol. VI, p. 195-211..

Tell Qarqur

5 kilometers south of the present-day town of Jisr al-Shurgur in northwest Syria, on the Orontes River, lies a huge multi-period mound called Tell Qarqur.

One of the most notable sites in the lower Orontes Valley, the towering mound of the site stands about 30 meters above the surrounding floodplain, and along with a smaller mound to the north, they encompass around 12 hectares.

Institut français du Proche-Orient, Tell Al-Nasriyya

Tell al-Nasriyah and its surroundings.

Being placed so near to the river with specialized fluvial equipment, as a stronghold in the "bayonet"-like river course, and as a load breaking point upstream of the impassable Sheizar gorge which makes it one of the most unusual places in the Levant.

The archaeological site of Tell Nebi Mend at the confluence of the Orontes and Muqadiyah rivers, with the main mound, lower mound and enclosure shown (from Parr 2015)

Tell Nebi Mend – Ancient Qadesh

In the Upper Beqa'a Valley, between the confluence of the Orontes and its principal tributary, lies the 10-hectare Tell Nebi Mend site. The location, which is 30 kilometers southwest of Homs, is strategically located in the middle of the "Homs-Tripoli Gap," the main east-west road connecting the Mediterranean with Syria's interior.

From the seventh millennium BCE until the middle of the first millennium CE, Nebi Mend was occupied, and there are Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Hellenistic/Roman deposits, enclosures, and defenses left behind.

The location is thought to be the legendary Battle of Qadesh site from the Bronze and Iron Ages, also known as Qadesh (or Kadesh).

Tell Et Tin

On the Homs Lake, there is an island called Tell et-Tin. The latter actually represents a lake created by a former dam that spans the Orontes River ten kilometers to the east of Homs (formerly known as Emesa). The island is 300 by 200 meters in size and has an oval form. Its western side plunges sharply into the lake, while its eastern portion is a low plateau covered with swamps

Map by Eudora Struble and Aaron Burke

Tell Atchana

Tell Atchana is found in Amik Valley. An old lake in this region was called Lake Amik.

As early as 6,000 BC, during the Neolithic period, there were human settlements in the Amik Valley. This region is home to several more historic archaeological sites, including the newly uncovered Tell Tayinat. Tell Atchana lies just 700 meters southeast of Tell Tayinat in the Orontes River's flood plain, where the river meets the Amuq Plain.