Shkumbin River
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The Shkumbin (; ; la, Genusus, also la, Genessus, label=none or la, Scampis, label=none), also commonly Shkembi, is a
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in
Southern Europe Southern Europe is the southern regions of Europe, region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is essentially marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of Southern Europe include some or all of these countrie ...
. It is long and its drainage basin is . Its average discharge is .


Etymology

It derives from Latin ''Scampinus'' which replaced Illyrian ''Genusus'', as recorded in Latin and ancient Greek literature. A Slavic intermediation has been rejected. Its inclusion in Latin loanwords into Proto-Albanian and phonetic evolution coincides with the historical existence of a large Roman town (near present-day Elbasan) which gave the river its new name.


Overview

The river originates in the eastern Valamara Mountains between ''Maja e Valamarës'' () and ''Gur i Topit'' () in Southeastern Albania. After descending from the Valamaras, it flows northwards through Proptisht and Qukës with many deep gorges and canyons and passes the Gora Mountains. A significant inflow comes from ''Gur i Kamjës'' () southwest of Pogradec. Over the course, it flows inside a
syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimpose ...
between the Mokra and
Shebenik Shebenik is a large mountain located in the Shebenik-Jabllanice National Park in eastern Albania. Shebenik has many peaks over . Geography The highest is Maja e Shebenikut at above sea level. It is found in the north-east of Shebenik. Aroun ...
Mountains in the east and the Polis Mountains in the west. Close to Librazhd the river turns some westwards of its origin and joins the ''Rapun'' stream. At the end the river cross the Myzeqe Plain and forms a small delta in
Karavasta Lagoon Karavasta Lagoon ( sq, Laguna e Karavastasë) is the largest lagoon in Albania and one of the largest adjoining the Mediterranean Sea, spanning an area of . Karavasta is part of the Divjakë Karavasta National Park and is separated from the Adr ...
, the direct proximity of the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
.


Human history

The ancient name of the river was ''Genusus'' and was located in central southern
Illyria In classical antiquity, Illyria (; grc, Ἰλλυρία, ''Illyría'' or , ''Illyrís''; la, Illyria, ''Illyricum'') was a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula inhabited by numerous tribes of people collectively known as the Illyr ...
. At the same time it was referred as ''Scampini'' as it was identified by the town of Scampa. In classical antiquity the valley of the Shkumbin was inhabited by several Illyrian peoples. The
Parthini The Parthini, Partini or Partheni were an Illyrian tribe that lived in the inlands of southern Illyria (modern Albania). They likely were located in the Shkumbin valley controlling the important route between the Adriatic Sea and Macedonia, whi ...
lived in the middle valley of the river. They neighbored to the west the Taulantii who lived in the coastal area including the lower valley of the river, and to the east the
Dassaretii The Dassaretii (Ancient Greek: ''Δασσαρῆται, Δασσαρήτιοι'', Latin: ''Dassaretae'', ''Dassaretii'') were an Illyrian people that lived in the inlands of southern Illyria, between present-day south-eastern Albania and south- ...
who lived in the region of Lake Ohrid, including the upper valley of the river. The ancient
Via Egnatia The Via Egnatia was a road constructed by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It crossed Illyricum, Macedonia, and Thracia, running through territory that is now part of modern Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . of ...
followed the river, giving it the role of a strategically important corridor between
orient The Orient is a term for the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of ''Occident'', the Western World. In English, it is largely a metonym for, and coterminous with, the c ...
and occident. The Via Egnatia started with two branches, the northern one from Epidamnos-Dyrrhachion, and the southern one from Apollonia. The two branches converged at
Ad Quintum Ad Quintum ( sq, Stacioni Romak) was an ancient settlement and a Roman Empire, Roman thermal complex in Illyria, Illyricum, near Bradashesh, present-day Albania. Ad Quintum was a ''mutatio'' ("changing station" or "way station") of the Via Egnatia ...
, near modern Elbasan, continuing eastwards through the valley of the Shkumbin. In Roman Imperial times, the line of division between the administrative provinces of Illyricum and
Epirus Nova sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...
ran from the west somewhere between Scodra and Dyrrachium, to the east somewhere between the north side of the Shkumbin and Lake Ohrid. During this period the valley of Skumbin constituted roughly the border between the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
and the Greek speaking area. The river is roughly the geographical dividing line between Tosk and
Gheg Albanian Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major variety (linguistics), varieties of Albanian language, Albanian, the other being Tosk Albanian, Tosk. The geographic dividing line betwee ...
dialects, with Gheg spoken north of the Shkumbin and Tosk south of it. The dialectal split occurred after Christianisation of the region (4th century AD), with the river as the historic dialectal boundary which straddled the
Jireček line The Jireček Line is a conceptual boundary through the ancient Balkans that divides the influence of the Latin (in the north) and Greek (in the south) languages in the Roman Empire from antiquity until the 4th century. The border has been repeate ...
.Orel, Vladimir; Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Brill, 1998 See also Hamp 1963.


See also

* Geography of Albania * Central Mountain Range *
Rivers of Albania Albania has more than 152 rivers and streams, forming 8 large rivers flowing from southeast to northwest, mainly discharging towards the Adriatic coast. The rivers of Albania have a total annual flow rate of , or per year. A majority of the pre ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Portal bar, Geography Rivers of Albania Geography of Korçë County Geography of Elbasan County Geography of Tirana County Drainage basins of the Adriatic Sea Braided rivers in Albania