the river of life
The Eurphates: one of Iraq's major waterways and a source of life for all who live along it's banks. For millennia, Iraqis grew crops, families, and civilizations along it's banks.
In more recent years, climate change and conflict have come to it's shores, from Fallujah and Ramadi to Babylon and Najaf, all the way to Basra and the Persian Gulf.
While Iraqis have adapted to polluted waters, extreme heat, and near constant conflict, the land between the two mighty rivers is no longer what it once was.
Photographed for Smithsonian Magazine