ALA-LC
ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script.
Applications
The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...
: ''Baradā'') is the main
river
A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
of
Damascus
Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...
, the capital city of Syria.
Etymology
The word "Barada" is thought to be derived from the word ''barid'', which means "cold" in
Semitic languages
The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic,
Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...
. The ancient Greek name (), means "streaming with gold".
Topography and source
Throughout the arid plateau region east of Damascus, oases, streams, and a few minor rivers that empty into swamps and small lakes provide water for local irrigation. Most important of these is the Barada, a river that rises in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains and disappears into the desert. The Barada flows out of the
karst spring
A karst spring or karstic spring is a Spring (hydrology), spring (exsurgence, outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system.
Description
Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known i ...
of Ain al-Fijah, about north west of Damascus in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, but its true source is Lake Barada, a small lake that is also a karst spring located about from Al-Zabadani. The Barada descends through a steep, narrow
gorge
A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...
named "Rabwe" before it arrives at Damascus, where it divides into seven branches that irrigate the Al Ghutah (الغوطة) oasis, the location of Damascus. Eventually the Ghouta reached a size of 370 square kilometers, although in the 1980s, urban growth started replacing agricultural use with housing and industry. Note: text doesn't have permanent URL. Click "Land, Water, and Climate" at link. The river has suffered from severe drought in recent decades, mainly due to the lower rainfall rates and the large increase in the population in the area. It also suffers from serious pollution, especially in the summer, where there is almost no flow and little water in the basin.
Biblical mention
The Barada is identified as Abana (or ''Amana'', in Qere and Ketiv variation in
Chrysorrhoas) which is the more important of the two rivers of Damascus, Syria and was mentioned in the '' Book of Kings'' ( 2 Kings 5:12). As the Barada rises in the Anti-Libanus, and escapes from the mountains through a narrow gorge, its waters debouch fan-like, in canals or ''rivers'', the name of one of which, the Banias River, retains a trace of ''Abana''.
John MacGregor, who gives a description of them in his book ''Rob Roy on the Jordan'', affirmed that as a work of
hydraulic engineering
Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...
, the system and construction of the canals, by which the Abana and Pharpar were used for irrigation, might be considered as one of the most complete and extensive in the world. In the
Bible
The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
, Naaman exclaims that the Abana and Pharpar are greater than all the waters of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
.
Branching
Barada's water branches at Hameh village and the gorge of Rabweh into six distributaries or canals, two of which, Yazid and Tora, branch off the northern bank, while the remaining four, Mezzawi, Derani, Qanawat, and Banias, are formed from the southern bank.
The Yazid canal runs north to the districts of Salihya and Qabun; Tora, the oldest of all, passes through Al-Jisr Al-Abyad district, heading to Jobar and Harasta; Mezzawi tears through Mezzeh; Derani runs towards Darya; Banias runs by the National Museum north of the Citadel and reaches Bab Touma; and, finally, the Qanawat canal pours into the southern quarters of the old city following Via Recta.
Outside the city of Damascus, the water gathers to pour into River Qleit which runs to Eastern Ghouta.
Gallery
File:TOBIN(1855) p282 PASS OF SOOC BARRADA.jpg, The upper valley of the Barada in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains 1855
File:Damascus-8.jpg, Barada river 1868
File:Barada2.jpg, Barada river around 1930
File:Feeja Spring.jpg, Feeja Spring in 2007
File:Barada River desiccated.jpg, The dry riverbed Barada in August 2010
File:ISS036-E-012047.jpg, Annotated view of Barada and Damascus with surroundings, as seen from space in 2013