Hydraulic control structures, including dikes and natural or artificial breaches in river dikes, allowed the controlled distribution of water in the floodplain. Long ago, the Euphrates River ...

Researchers have identified an extensive Mesopotamian canal network that supplied ancient farms in the Eridu region with water from the Euphrates river before the first millennium B.C.

The system, with over 200 major canals and 4,000 smaller ones, was used to divert Euphrates River water to farms. Researchers traced the canals using satellite imagery and geological mapping.