EUPHRATES AND TIGRIS

Does water have a memory? The Euphrates and Tigris probably have a lot to tell, starting with their mythological origins: in the Babylonian creation epic, the god Marduk defeats the primordial mother Tiamat, the embodiment of the sea. The Tigris and Euphrates are said to have emerged from her eyes. The two rivers, which originate in the Turkish and Iraqi mountains and cross Syria and Iraq on their way to the Persian Gulf, are the lifelines of Mesopotamia.

Thousands of years of cultural and human history lie between the ancient civilizations of the Assyrians, Sumerians and Babylonians and the current situation in the Middle East – closely linked to the rivers, as it was irrigation systems that made settlement and the founding of states in arid regions possible and laid the foundations for the “cradle of civilization”. Today, falling water levels are revealing submerged ruins. Water as a resource is at the center of regional disputes and negotiations. In 2018, the Neolithic rock city of Hasankeyf was flooded for a dam project in the Tigris, causing many people to be relocated.

In Elif Shafak’s novel “Am Himmel die Flüsse” (2024), the ancient city comes back to life. Different time levels intertwine along the journey of a drop of water, stretching from ancient Assyria to the present day. Shichsals and people are linked by objects steeped in history and magical places – including the epic Gilgamesh, the archaeological site of Nineveh and a kanun whose sounds still enchant us today.

THE POETIC RIVER ISSA

“Valley of the Issa” is the title of a novel by Polish Nobel Prize winner Czesław Miłosz. But in the search for the real river “Issa”, it is shrouded in mist. Perhaps not by chance – “Issa” contains a metaphysical and metaphorical level of meaning. The river Niewiaz (or Niewiaża) on the old border between Poland and Lithuania – Miłosz’s childhood home – was most likely the model for the poetic river valley with its enchanted landscape, where, according to the author, more devils live than anywhere else and the transitions between this world and the world beyond seem to be fluid.

Thus, the river Issa could symbolically stand for all kinds of other rivers on earth. One of Miłosz’s literary life themes was also the fate of the individual in the struggle for harmony with the universe, representative of many fates, perhaps even that of humanity itself. True to Heraclitus’ dictum “Everything flows / panta rhei”, the river thus becomes an allegory for the universal stream of life. In the words of the writer and Miłosz interpreter Artur Becker: “As if this mother river contained all the rivers of the world, even the river of history, which flows incessantly.”

GANGES

The river goddess Ganga is considered the archetype and mother of all Indian rivers, a symbol of purity, grace and spiritual power. Her mythological origin leads to the sage Bhagiratha, whose penance prompted Ganga to come to earth as a river to purify sins and redeem souls. The source of the river at the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas is an important pilgrimage site where believers seek closeness to the divine. A bath in the Ganges promises spiritual renewal and liberation from sins, as Ganga is regarded as the divine mother whose waters not only purify but can also break the cycle of birth and death. Many believers wish to die in Varanasi or to give their ashes to the river there, as this is considered a sure path to salvation (moksha). Here, life and death, everyday life and ritual merge, the water of the Ganges becomes a medium of transcendence.

However, the spiritual power of the Ganges contrasts with the ecological reality: massive pollution from sewage and environmental degradation pollute the water. With a length of 2,525 km, the Ganges is one of the most important rivers in Asia and crosses India and Bangladesh. Its catchment area is the most populous in the world: over 400 million people live along its banks. In some sections, the life-giving river is considered biologically dead. Although the Himalayan glaciers continue to feed the Ganges, they are also dwindling due to climate change – with consequences for the drinking water supply in the densely populated Ganges delta. Since 2017, the Ganges has enjoyed personal rights in order to strengthen its protection. Today, the image of the pure goddess needs to be supplemented: in addition to spiritual worship, there needs to be an awareness of the ecological vulnerability of this sacred river.

CONGO RIVER

The Congo River, Africa’s second longest river, stretches over 4,374 kilometers from its source, the Lualaba, to its mouth in the vast delta on the Atlantic Ocean. After the Amazon, it carries the most water in the world. The fertile Congo Basin supplies 77 million people with fresh water and is home to an extraordinary diversity of species. In the spirituality of the indigenous Ba Congo people, deep water is regarded as a transition zone between life and death, between the visible and spiritual worlds. With depths of up to 200 meters, the river holds numerous secrets – including the legendary creature Mokele-Mbembe, which has been reported by eyewitnesses since the 18th century and is said to live in the riparian forests like a dinosaur.

The Congo Basin developed early on into a culturally and linguistically diverse region. European colonial powers later used the river as a trade route, making it a witness to violence, slavery and exploitation. To this day, there is a dramatic contradiction between the DR Congo’s wealth of natural resources and local poverty and environmental degradation: adults and children work in life-threatening conditions extracting cobalt and rare earths, while toxic waste from the mines pollutes the river systems. In Kinshasa, creative collectives such as KinAct and numerous music groups transform waste into impressive costumes, sculptures and performances. Everyday objects such as cans, flip-flops and cables are used at festivals and street performances to create imaginative masks and outfits that echo traditional ceremonies while providing an artistic commentary on urban life.

PÁRAMOS

The páramos in the Andes of Colombia and its neighboring countries are unique aquatic ecosystems: tropical wetlands at airy altitudes of 3,500 to 5,000 m, above the tree line and below the snow line. The fog-absorbing vegetation and sponge-like soils of these high moors can store, filter and then slowly release water. In this way, they transform droplets and clouds into springs and rivers that do not dry up even in times of low rainfall. The páramos are our planet’s valuable natural heritage – irreplaceable water reservoirs, biodiversity hotspots and natural carbon sinks. But they are also under threat, for example from intensive agriculture, mining and changes in rainfall due to climate change. In the Páramo of Guerrero in the municipality of Pacho lies one of the many springs of the Río Negro in the Colombian administrative region of Cundinamarca. The drops of water that gradually merge into a river in the Andean wetlands undergo a continuous transformation on their journey: mist becomes rivulets, streams, a growing river. The Río Negro crosses mountain forests, tropical rainforest and dry forest, and small towns such as Útica, which it regularly floods. It flows through different altitudes, from Pacho (more than 2100 m) to Puerto Salgar (175 m). Here, after around 218 kilometers, the Río Negro meets the Río Magdalena, which takes it to the Caribbean Sea. And the water cycle starts all over again.

CATALONIA, BETWEEN DROUGHT AND DELTA

Is a river without water still a river? In Catalonia, this is not an academic question. After 36 months without rain, the government declared a water emergency in 2024. The image of the church of Sant Romà de Sau, flooded 60 years ago by the Riu Ter for a reservoir and suddenly accessible again with dry feet, went through the press as a symbol of climate change.

The mountainous north-east of Spain is rich in rivers that have left their mark on the landscape and history. The three longest – Segre, Ter and Llobregat – originate as cold spring streams high in the Pyrenees and flow down a steep gradient into the lowlands towards the Mediterranean. Flamingos live in the delta of the Ebro in the Catalan province of Tarragona, and more than 300 species of migratory birds breed in the delta of the Llobregat near Barceloa. Aqueducts dating back to Roman times, modernist industrial buildings such as the Colonia Güell on the Llobregat, as well as numerous barrages for energy production, bear witness to the close intertwining of human life with water. This intensive use has problematic consequences for water and ecosystems. One example is the Ebro Delta: valuable sediments from the Pyrenees are deposited in the reservoirs along the way and are missing where rising sea levels are gnawing away at the coast. In Europe, Spain is already suffering the most from global warming. The water crisis raises distributional conflicts and profound questions of sustainable environmental and economic policy, which could affect everyone sooner or later.

SEJNANE

The Wadi (Qued) Sejnane crosses the hilly landscape of the Mogods in northern Tunisia. It begins on the Djebel El Krab hill at an altitude of around 550 m, near the small town of Sejnane, is then dammed to form Lac Sejnane, flows on to Lac Ichkeul and finally flows into the Mediterranean at Bizerta.

In Tunisia, water is very unevenly distributed between the Mediterranean north and the arid south. There are also disparities between increasingly thirsty cities such as Tunis and poorer rural areas with often inadequate drinking water supplies. This makes the Wadi Sejnane, which is generously supplied by rain, all the more precious for humans and non-human creatures. The biosphere reserve around Lac Ichkeul was declared an endangered World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996. The Garâa des Sejenane marshland is also considered a wetland area particularly worthy of protection. Both areas are important resting and breeding grounds for thousands of water birds.

The Sejnane riverbed holds yet another treasure: This is where the potters of Sejnane find the clay from which they create unique ceramics. Their art combines all the elements: The finely sieved, moist earth must first be left to dry in the air before it is mixed again with water, shaped into tableware and sculptures in an elaborate working process and finally fired on the fire. This art, traditionally practiced by women, dates back to the Bronze Age and has been an intangible World Heritage Site since 2018.

WILD LECH – TAME LECH

Augsburg’s water management system has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2019. The sophisticated network of canals, pumps and water towers has reliably supplied the city with drinking and process water since the 13th century. Buildings such as the water towers at the Red Gate or the power station at the Hochablass (high drain) draw on this wealth of water. A special treasure: the Siebentischwald forest, whose streams are fed by springs of drinking water quality such as the Stempflebach.

Without its many canals, Augsburg would have a different face. However, the seemingly self-evident availability of water sometimes makes us forget that the taming of the rivers also has a downside. At Augsburg’s Augustusbrunenn, the Lech river is iconically situated as a wild old man. But the Lech, the “tearing one”, is only wild in the Tyrolean Alps.

One legacy of its formerly unpredictably meandering riverbed is the location of Augsburg’s old town on a hill. Only dykes made it possible to expand into areas that the Lech used to flood regularly.

The Lech is more domesticated than almost any other river in Bavaria; environmental activists refer to it as a “hybrid river”: more than 30 barrages and weirs not only interrupt the natural course of its 256 kilometers of river, but also the migration of fish and the transport of sediments. The characteristic shallow gravel banks and ecologically significant riparian forests have become endangered rarities. With the “Licca Liber” project, the Lech is to flow more freely again – at least in sections, the face of the river and its city could change once more.

Illustrations: Alex Bon