Orontes

The Orontes River begins in Lebanon in Labweh and travels through Syria and Turkey before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. It drains an area of 8,880 square miles and spans a total distance of 355 miles. In Syria, the river flows into the Lake of Homs via the city of Homs. It is a fixed border between the Principalities of Antioch and Aleppo. The Orontes River is difficult to navigate, and it has seen key confrontations such as the Battle of Kadesh and the Battle of Qarqar. Orontes also includes the ancient Apamea and Larissa sites in the Hamah area.

The river was known as Arantu by the ancient Assyrians in the ninth century BCE, and Araunti by the adjacent Egyptians. The derivation of the name is uncertain, however some sources suggest that it is derived from Arnt, which means "lioness" in Syriac languages; others dubbed it Alimas, a "water goddess" in Aramaic. However, Arantu subsequently became "Orontes" in Greek.

Length: 571 km