Nahal Taninim or Tanninim () or Wadi az-Zarka () is a river in

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 ...

near the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Jisr az-Zarqa Jisr az-Zarqa ( lit. ''The blue bridge'', ; often shortened as Jisr) is an Israeli Arab town on Israel's northern Mediterranean coastal plain. Located just north of Caesarea within the Haifa District, it achieved local council status in 1963. A ...

, originating near

Ramot Menashe Ramot Menashe (, ''lit.'' Menashe Heights) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Menashe plateau between the Carmel mountain range and the Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In , it had a popul ...

and emptying into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

south of

Ma'agan Michael Ma'agan Michael (, ''lit.'' Michael's Anchorage) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast between Haifa and Hadera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council. In it had a population of . Ma'a ...

. It marks the southern limit of the Hof HaCarmel, or Carmel Coastal Plain region. there is a dam on the river channel that is used for a nearby plant. in the rainy season if the water level is high enough, the water is diverted to a reservoir to enrich the

groundwater Groundwater is the water present beneath Earth's surface in rock and Pore space in soil, soil pore spaces and in the fractures of stratum, rock formations. About 30 percent of all readily available fresh water in the world is groundwater. A unit ...

Etymology

The river is named for the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the eastern, southern, and ce ...

s that inhabited the nearby Kebara swamps until the early 20th century. The last crocodile was hunted in 1912One of the last clean rivers in Israel

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...

, 30 January 2014 and is part of a German

taxidermic Taxidermy is the Art (skill), art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature (sculpture), armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ' ...

collection currently on display at the natural history museum of the Tel Aviv University. The remains of Krokodelion polis, Greek for "Crocodiles City", a city established there in the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

period (5th–4th century BCE), are still visible today.Stieglitz, Robert R.
''Tel Tanninim''
2000, accessed 17 February 2021 See also the mythological monster

Tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and Precipitation (chemistry), precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' is widel ...

History

The name ''River of Crocodiles'' dates as far back as the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

, during which the crocodiles devoured two knights who were bathing in the river.

Hydrology

The area of the basin and its tributaries is about 200 square kilometers, including the Taninim, Ada, Barkan, Alona and Mishmarot streams. Nahal Taninim is the cleanest of Israel's coastal rivers. Three waterways meet in Nahal Taninim: the natural stream, a Roman aqueduct extending from the Zabrin springs to Caesarea, and Mifale Menashe, the waterworks that collect

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow or terrestrial runoff) is the unconfined flow of water over the ground surface, in contrast to ''channel runoff'' (or ''stream flow''). It occurs when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other ...

water and springwater, routing it into the subterranean water table.

Flora and fauna

The dense undergrowth and reeds along Nahal Taninim are home to many different birds, among them waterside

warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers T ...

and other songbirds. Birding along the Mediterranean
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References

External links

''Owning Extinction: Tracing Rhetorical Figurations of the Last Crocodile in Palestine''
the history of the last crocodile. By Elizabeth Bentley (USA), 2020. Accessed Feb 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taninim, Nahal Rivers of Israel Nature reserves in Israel