JORDAN (the down-corner; Arab. esh-Sheri'a, the watering place), a river of Palestine flowing from north to south in one of the most remarkable depressions of the earth's crust. It was the Aulon of the Greeks and the Ghor of the Arabs.
The Jordan valley is considered to be a great rift valley, in which a large section of the earth's crust has been let down between a series of faults. This line of weakness can be traced north of the Jordan valley proper between Lebanon and Hermon and southwards through the Dead sea, Wel Jeib, the Gulf of tAkaba, the Red sea and into East Africa. The valley of Jordan proper has Cretaceous material on both its banks, with patches of Eocene on the north-west of the Sea of Galilee and on the west bank near the mouth of the Brook Cherith. The northern reaches of the valley, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Sea of Galilee has much volcanic material, perhaps in part re sponsible for the formation of the lake. River terraces are very marked throughout the course. For two-thirds of its length the river lies below the level of the sea; navigation is impossible. Throughout history it has roughly divided the settled from the nomadic populations; and the crossing of Jordan, one way or the other, was always an event in the history of Israel. In Hebrew times its valley was regarded as a "wilderness" and, except in the Roman era, seems always to have been as sparsely inhabited as now.
1 Such human life as may be found in the valley is mainly migratory. The villagers use it in winter as pasture-ground, and cultivate plots here and there. They retire on the approach of summer. Jericho is the only considerable settlement in the lower valley, and it lies some distance west of the stream on the lower slopes of the Judaean heights.
From its sources to the Dead sea the Jordan flows down a continuous inclined plane, broken here and there by rapids and small falls; between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead sea it meanders to such an extent that in a direct distance of 65 m. it traverses at least 200 m. The mean fall is about 9 ft. in the mile. The Jordan has two great sources, one in Tell el-Kadi (Dan) whence springs the Nahr Leddan, the other at Banias (anc. Paneas, Caesarea-Philippi), some 4 m. N., where the Nahr Banias issues from a cave in the Cretaceous rock. Two longer streams with less water may be included among the sources—the Nahr Barrighit and the Nahr Hasbany ; the latter occupies a portion of the northward continuation of the Jordan structural depression. The four streams unite below Banias, once the gateway of the valley, and flow into a marshy tract now called Huleh (Seme chonitis, and perhaps Merom of Joshua). There the Jordan begins to fall below sea-level, rushing down 68o ft. in 9 m. to a delta, which opens in to the Sea of Galilee.
Thereafter it follows a valley which is usually not above 4 m.
broad, but opens out twice into the small plains of Bethshan and Jericho. The river actually flows in a depression, the Zor, which it has hollowed out for itself in the bed of the Ghor. During the rainy season (January and February), when the Jordan over flows its banks, the Zor is flooded, but when the water falls it produces rich crops. The floor of the Ghor falls gently to the Zor, and is intersected by deep channels, which have been cut by the small streams and winter torrents that traverse it on their way to the Jordan. As far south as Kurn Surtabeh most of the valley is fertile, and even between that point and the Dead sea there are several well-watered oases. In summer the heat in the Ghor is intense, IIo° F in the shade, but in winter the temperature falls to 40°, and sometimes to 32° at night. During the seasons of rain and melting snow the river is very full. On leaving the Sea of Galilee the water is clear, but it soon becomes laden with soft marl which it washes away from its banks and deposits in the Dead sea. On the whole it is an unpleasant foul stream running between poisonous banks, and as such it seems to have been regarded by the Jews and other Syrians.
The Hebrew poets did not sing its praises, and others com pared it unfavourably with the clear rivers of Damascus..The clay of the valley was used for brickmaking, and Solomon estab lished brass foundries there. In Roman times it had extensive palm-groves and some small villages, and there were bridges on all the great lines of communication between eastern and western Palestine, and ferries at other places. The natural products of the Jordan valley—a tropical oasis sunk in the temperate zone, and overhung by Alpine Hermon—are unique. Papyrus grows in Lake Huleh, and rice and cereals thrive on its shores, whilst below the Sea of Galilee the vegetation is almost tropical. Sugar-cane has been grown since the days of the Crusades. The flora and fauna present a large infusion of Ethiopian types; and the fish have a great affinity with those of the rivers and lakes of east Africa. The neighbourhood of the Dead sea is very barren. It reaches the lake at 1,290 ft. below the level of the Mediterranean, the de pression continuing downwards to twice that depth in the bed of the Dead sea. From the left the Jordan receives the Yarmuk (Hieromax) which flows in from the volcanic water bearing Jaulan a little south of the Sea of Galilee, and the Jabbok (Zerka) which comes from the Belka district to a point more than half-way down the lower course. On the right the Jalud descends from the plain of Esdraelon to near Beisan, and the Fara from near Nablus. Various salt springs rise in the lower valley. The rest of the tributaries are wadis, dry except after rains.