Orontes

Orontes (Arabic ‘Asi; Turkish Asi), river, southwestern Asia, forming part of the border between Lebanon and Syria and between Syria and Turkey. It rises near the city of Baalbek, Lebanon, and flows in a northerly direction between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains into Syria. It flows north to the city of Antakya, Turkey, and then west to the Mediterranean Sea, through a total course of 571 km (355 mi). The damming of the Orontes River in Syria provides irrigation water for the rich river valley. In ancient times the valley of the Orontes River formed a corridor between Asia Minor and Egypt.