For the record, I'm neither an academic nor a scholar, and admittedly, I've never been to many of the places posted here. So if someone should find a mistake, or believe I omitted something, please feel free to email me and I'll correct it.

I can be contacted at dms2_@hotmail.com.

Friday, July 17, 2020

JORDAN RIVER AND VALLEY

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Jordan River, courtesy, Wikipedia
The Jordan River and its valley is the principal river valley of Israel but forms the boundary between Israel and the Arab-occupied Kingdom of Jordan. It runs approximately 200 miles north to south from Mount Hermon where the melting snow caps provides its source, through the Sea of Galilee and on to the Dead Sea
According to the Old Testament account, the Hebrew patriarch Jacob crossed the Jordan and its tributary, the Jabbok, in order to reach Haran (Gen. 22:11, 23-24). His descendants, the Israelites, under Joshua, again crossed the Jordan, near Jericho in order to conquer the Promised Land. Later the tribes that chose to settle on the east side of the river, Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Menasheh, built a large altar on its banks as "a witness" between them and the other tribes (Josh. 22:10). After the other tribes were allotted its own territories, the Jordan was found to be straddling several in addition to those just mentioned: Menasheh (on both sides), Naphtali, Yissasschar, Benjamin, and Judah. Years later, a part of the tribe of Dan broke off from the main tribal territory, migrated north, and established their own small territory along the northern reaches of the river. (Today, this site is marked by a tel and a kibbutz, Dan.) During the Period of the Judges, Jephtah smote 42000 Ephraimites on the banks of one of the river’s fords (Judges 23:5-6). It seems that these are the same fords mentioned as being near Beth Avarah on the eastern bank, where Gideon lay in wait for the Midianites (Judges 7:24). In the plain of the Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan, is the clay ground where Solomon had his brass-foundries (I Kings 7:46). The prophets Elijah and Elisha crossed over the Jordan on dry ground, each of whom dividing the waters with a stroke of the mantle (II Kings 2:8, 14). Elisha performed two other miracles at the Jordan: he healed Naaman by having him bathe seven times in its waters, and he made the ax of one of the children of the prophets, float, by throwing a piece of wood into the water (II Kings 5:14, 6:6). The Jordan was crossed by Judas Maccabeus and his brother Jonathan during their war with the Nabatæans (I Macc. 5:24). A little later it was the scene of the battle between Jonathan and Bacchides, in which the latter was defeated (I Macc. 9:42-49). In Christian tradition, the apostle John was baptized at Beth Arava (Matthew 3:56Mark1:5Luke 3:3John1:28). However, Christian pilgrims today tend to go to the site of Qasr al Yahud on the opposite bank as they do to the site of Yardenit, far to the north, below the Sea of Galilee, which is believed to be the place where John baptized Jesus and also where Jesus took refuge when he was pursued by his enemies. The New Testament speaks several times about Jesus crossing the Jordan during his ministry (Matthew 19:1Mark 10:1), and of believers crossing the Jordan to come hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases (Matthew 4:25Mark 3:7–8).
Before the coming of the Arabs, many Jewish farms dotted the Jordan Valley. But due to persecutions by Crusaders and later by Arabs and other Muslims, the Jews moved away. In the 14th century however, geographer Ishtori haParhi settled in Bet Shean where he published his work on his explorations of the Land of Israel, Kaftor Vaferah. Yehoseph Schwarz, a rabbi from Germany who came to reside in Jerusalem in the 19th century, also explored the Land of Israel and spent several weeks studying the Jordan. 
By the early 20th century, a small settlement existed in the Jisr al Majami caravanserai, near the bridge of the same name and south of the Sea of Galilee. According to the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Jisr al Majami had a population of 121 which included only 4 Jews but also 5 Christians and 112 Muslims. The village grew with the establishment of the First Jordan Hydro-Electric Power House nearby by engineer and later politician Pinhas Rutenberg. Further north, in 1934, during the draining of Lake Huleh as part of a Zionist land reclamation project, the old Bnot Yaakov Bridge was replaced by a modern one further south. At the end of the 1936–1939 Arab riots in Palestine, a fortified "tower and stockade" settlement was established adjacent to Jisr al Majami, Kibbutz Gesher. On the "Night of the Bridges" between June 16 and 17, 1946, when the Haganah destroyed several bridges linking Palestine with other countries and used by the British army, the Jisr al Majami Bridge was destroyed. The Syrians captured the bridge on June 11, 1948, during the War of Independence, but later withdrew as a result of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Syria when the bridge found itself in the central demilitarized zone that was established.
After the war, the western side of the Valley found itself split in two. The northern half, stretching from Tirat Zvi (est. 1937) north to the Jordan’s headwaters, became part of Israel. The southern half (as well as the eastern bank) which stretched down to the Dead Sea, was under Arab occupation. Jews were banned from the southern half for the next 19 years. During that time, the Israeli portion developed in various ways. Archaeological excavations occurred there between 1950 and 1953 when Philip Guy and Pesach Bar-Adon excavated a 5th-6th century synagogue. The synagogue was incorporated into the Beth Yerah National Park which served as a popular tourist destination during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1953, the Bnot Yaakov Bridge was chosen as the original location for the water intake of Israel's National Water Carrier project, but after US pressure the intake was moved downstream to the Sea of Galilee at Eshed Kinrot, which later became known as the Sapir Pumping Station that began diverting water from the Sea of Galilee to the National Water Carrier. Conflict over the waters of the Jordan River was a contributing factor to the Six-Day War when, starting in 1965, Syria attempted to divert some of its headwaters in collaboration with Lebanon and Jordan, as well as shelling Israeli villages in the valley below from their positions in the Golan Heights. During the Six-Day War, Israel recaptured the Golan and the entire western half of the Jordan Valley and Jews began to return to the Arab-occupied half immediately after. The first town established in the Valley was Mechola in 1967 by Bnei Akiva members and named after the biblical city of Abel-mechola (1 Kings 19:16), which was located in the area. The village of Argaman followed, established in 1968 as a Nahal settlement. It was converted to a civilian moshav in 1971. Its name is an acronym for Arik Regev and Gad Mandel, two Nahal commanders who were killed while pursuing terrorists. Massua was established in 1969 as a Nahal settlement, and converted to a civilian moshav by a HaOved HaTzioni gar'in five years later. Next came Gilgal. Since the founding of Gilgal, 17 other communities sprang up in the Valley, not counting that of Maale Efrayim, which is a separate local council and “capital” of the Valley. Route 90, part of which is named after Knesset member Rehavam Zeevi, connects the town of Metulla in the far north, on the Lebanese border, and traverses the Valley, and reaches as far south as Eilat and beyond, connecting to the Nuweiba-Taba Road in the Sinai which passes through Taba.
(For further information, see postings on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Degania, DeadSea, Gilgal, Jericho, Jabbok River, and the Huleh Valley.)

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