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
Iraqi families celebrate the end of Ramadan by gathering at a cafe near the river in Basra, staying cool in the 120* heat under fans misting water through them. Basra sits on the Shatt al Arab, the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Iraqi boys jump into the Euphrates river outside Kufa, a holy site and important city in the history of Islam. From it's banks Imam Ali declared “The Euphrates is the master of all rivers in this world and in the hereafter.”
A stunted tree grows in the corner of the ancient city of Babylon. Once home to the mythical Hanging Gardens fed by the mighty Euphrates, the ancient city lies in disrepair, a shadow of it's former self.
A woman from Hillah, the modern answer to ancient Babylon, guides visitors through the ruins. Groups have attempted to restore the city, but progress is slow, especially since the rise and recent defeat of ISIS.
An Iraqi boys swims in Fallujah, right next to the bridge where American contractors were killed and hung in 2004. During American occupation and ISIS occupation a decade later, this recreation would be unimaginable, and locals see the return to the river as a sign of coming stability.
An Iraqi Federal Policeman stands at a replica of the Ishtar Gates (the original gates are housed in Berlin), which ushered visitors into Babylon, the ancient city by the mighty Euphrates.
Mohammad Fadel, a local guide, stands by a map of Iraq, illustrating the rivers and ancient sites of importance throughout the country.
Visitors walk through Saddam's palace on the Euphrates, a replica of an ancient palace of Babylon.
An Iraqi girl stares up at a relative as they walk home after a day of worshipping at the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf. One of the holiest sites to Shia, Najaf has been the site of conflict since the beginning of Islam. The city, like many others, has relied on the abundance of the river for prosperity, but over farming of rice - rather than maize or barely - has been one factor in the river's decline.
Mohammad Mahmoud, a former merchant marine, operates a boat for tours on the Euphrates outside Kufa. He can only go so far - just down river it becomes too shallow and full of silt to keep driving.
Saddam's palace on the river is covered in graffiti and in disrepair, a fit reminder for the fading beauty and strength of the river below.
A Marsh Arab family living in a mudhif gathers for lunch on the Al Hammar Marsh, a part of the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris, on a day when the temperatures reach 123*. Saddam drained many of the marshes in an effort to displace the families who opposed him, but through the work of environmental activists, the river is revitalized.
A family walks past a monument on the Shatt al Arab in Basra after dark, the only time in the summer allows for families to gather outside.
Reeds grow on the edge of the Shatt al Arab, a polluted and depleted form of it's form fifty years ago.
Two young girls wait for sandwiches at a shop near a riverside canal in old Basra. The city produces three million barrels of oil per day, yet due to control by mafia, and looting, has not improved for the local people.
The Mohammad al Sadr bridge, completed only months after this photo was taken, runs over the Shatt al Arab and connects East and West Basra - two very different cities economically, but both tied to the health and wealth of the river running between them.