The Zarqa River (, ''Nahr az-Zarqāʾ'', lit. "the River of the Blue ity) is the second largest

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the lower

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

, after the

Yarmouk River The Yarmuk River (, ; Greek: Ἱερομύκης, ; or ''Heromicas''; sometimes spelled Yarmouk) is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel, and drains much of the Hauran plateau. Its main tributaries are ...

. It is the third largest river in the region by annual discharge and its watershed encompasses the most densely populated areas east of the Jordan River. The Zarqa rises in springs near

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

, and flows through a deep and broad valley into the Jordan, at an elevation lower. At its spring lays

'Ain Ghazal Ayn Ghazal or Ayn Ghazal () may refer to: * Ayn Ghazal (village), depopulated Palestinian village * Ayn Ghazal (archaeological site), Neolithic archaeological site in Jordan ** Ayn Ghazal statues Ayn Ghazal dates back to approximately c.7300 ...

(Arabic: ), a major

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

that dates back to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. Archaeological finds along the course of the river indicate the area was rich in flora and fauna in the past. The river is heavily polluted and its restoration is one of the top priorities for the Jordanian Ministry of the Environment. Geologically, the Zarqa River is about 30 million years old. It is well known for its

amber Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...

deposits that date back to the

Hauterivian The Hauterivian is, in the geologic timescale, an age in the Early Cretaceous Epoch or a stage in the Lower Cretaceous Series. It spans the time between 132.6 ± 2 Ma and 125.77 (million years ago). The Hauterivian is preceded by the Valangi ...

era of the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

, 135 million years ago. A remarkable flora and fauna was reported from this amber reflecting tropical paleoenvironmental conditions prevailing during the time of resin deposition.

Name

The Arabic name, Nahr az-Zarqa' (نهر الزرقاء) means "the blue river", where ''nahr'' means river and ''zarqa ( زرقاء) means blue.

Biblical Jabbok

The Zarqa River is identified with the

biblical 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) biblical languages ...

river Jabbok. Biblical

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

crossed the Jabbok on his way to Canaan, after leaving

Harran Harran is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. Its area is 904 km2, and its population is 96,072 (2022). It is approximately southeast of Urfa and from the Syrian border crossing at Akçakale. ...

. It leads west into the

Sukkot Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths, is a Torah-commanded Jewish holiday celebrated for seven days, beginning on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It is one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals on which Israelite ...

Valley, from where one crosses over the Jordan and can easily reach

Shechem Shechem ( ; , ; ), also spelled Sichem ( ; ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israe ...

, as Jacob eventually did. The biblical cities of

Zaretan Zaretan or Zarethan (), also known as Zeredathah, is a city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible as near the location where the Hebrews crossed the Jordan (). In the books of Joshua (, KJV "Zaretan") and 1 Kings ( KJV "Zartanah", "Zarthan"), it is calle ...

and

Adam Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam ...

are also at the mouth of the valley. The river is first mentioned in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

in connection with the meeting of Jacob and

Esau Esau is the elder son of Isaac in the Hebrew Bible. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis and by the minor prophet, prophets Obadiah and Malachi. The story of Jacob and Esau reflects the historical relationship between Israel and Edom, aiming ...

, and with the struggle of Jacob with the angel. It was the boundary separating the territory of

Reuben Reuben or Reuven is a Biblical male first name from Hebrew רְאוּבֵן (Re'uven), meaning "behold, a son". In the Bible, Reuben was the firstborn son of Jacob. Variants include Reuvein in Yiddish or as an English variant spelling on th ...

and Gad from that of

Ammon Ammon (; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''ʻAmān''; '; ) was an ancient Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking kingdom occupying the east of the Jordan River, between the torrent valleys of Wadi Mujib, Arnon and Jabbok, in present-d ...

, the latter being described as lying along the Jabbok. The territory of

Sihon Sihon was an Amorite king mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, king of Ashtaroth, who refused to let the Israelites pass through his country. Chronicled in Numbers, he was defeated by Moses and the Israelites at the battle of Jahaz. He and Og were said ...

is described as extending "from Arnon unto Jabbok" (), and it was reclaimed later by the King of Ammon.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

places the river between

Gerasa Jerash (; , , ) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of settl ...

and

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Bible scholars have noticed a something of a contradiction in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Arnon and Jabbok rivers. According to

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The most basic examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

, that area originally belonged to the ''Moabites'' and was later conquered by

, king of the

Amorites The Amorites () were an ancient Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic-speaking Bronze Age people from the Levant. Initially appearing in Sumerian records c. 2500 BC, they expanded and ruled most of the Levant, Mesopotamia and parts of Eg ...

, before the Israelites took it (). However,

Judges A judge is an official who presides over a court. Judge or Judges may also refer to: Roles *Judge, an alternative name for an adjudicator in a competition in theatre, music, sport, etc. *Judge, an alternative name/aviator call sign for a membe ...

presents this land as initially ''Ammonite'' territory, which the Israelites took from Sihon.().

Geography and hydrography

Course

The headwaters of the Zarqa begin just northeast of Amman, rising from a spring named Ain Ghazal ("Gazelle spring"). The river flows to the north before heading west. Rising on the eastern side of the mountains of

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (, ; ''Gilʿāḏ'', , ''Jalʻād'') is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> The region is bounded in the west by the J ...

, it runs a course of about in a wild and deep ravine before flowing into the Jordan River between the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

and the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, at a point below its origin. At its higher reaches, the river banks are mostly steep and canyon-like. Near Ain Ghazal, two tributary

wadis Wadi ( ; ) is a river valley or a wet ( ephemeral) riverbed that contains water only when heavy rain occurs. Wadis are located on gently sloping, nearly flat parts of deserts; commonly they begin on the distal portions of alluvial fans and e ...

join the river, and it opens up into a shallow basin. It forms the border between the Jordanian administrative regions of

Irbid Irbid (), known in ancient times as Arabella or Arbela (Άρβηλα in Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek), is the capital and largest city of Irbid Governorate. It has the second-largest metropolitan population in Jordan after Amman, with a ...

and

Balqa Governorate Balqa' ( ''Al Balqā’'') is one of the governorates of Jordan. It is located northwest of Amman, Jordan's capital. The governorate has the fourth largest population of the 12 governorates of Jordan, and is ranked 10th by area. It has the thir ...

Water flow, catchment area, use

The river is perennial, but with a very low base flow of about 2 million to 3 million cubic meters per month during the summer months, and as much as 5–million to 8 million cubic meters per month during the rainy winter months. This makes it the second largest tributary of the lower Jordan River, after the Yarmouk River, and the third largest river in the region by annual discharge. Irregular

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

s after rain storms may increase the flow to as much as 54 million cubic meters. The median annual flow is 63.3 million cubic meters. The total basin area is the largest in Jordan. A small dam, Al-Rwyha dam, near the village of Dayr Alla, marks the end of the upstream portion of the river, where it is natural and fast-flowing with very clear water. There is very little agriculture along the banks of the river in this region, which are very rocky. Downstream from this dam, the water level is very low, and the river banks are intensively used for agriculture, as well as grazing by sheep and goatsResults of an initial field survey for otters (Lutra lutra) in Jordon
/ref> The King Talal Dam was built across the lower Zarqa in 1970, and created a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

with a capacity of 55 million cubic meters, and increased in 1987 to 86 million cubic meters. When built, it was expected that the reservoir would supply water for municipal use in the Amman region. However, the current levels of pollution in the lake make the water unfit for human consumption, and it is used for irrigation only.Ramsar Sites Information Service

Bridges

The new

Jerash Jerash (; , , ) is a city in northern Jordan. The city is the administrative center of the Jerash Governorate, and has a population of 50,745 as of 2015. It is located 30.0 miles north of the capital city Amman. The earliest evidence of sett ...

Bridge crosses the Zarqa upstream of King Talal reservoir, on the road from Amman to

. The bridge is the site of a gauging station where flow measurements are continuously taken. In the city of Zarqa, several bridges, vehicular and pedestrian, cross the river. The earliest of these was built by the Chechen founders of the city. Current bridges include the Zawahreh Bridge, a vehicular bridge connecting Baha' al-Din Street with al-Zuhur Street and another connecting Baha' al-Din Street with King Talal Street. Two pedestrian bridges connect al-Zuhur Street and Baha' al-Din Street, and Wasfi al-Tal Street and Petra Street.

Natural history

The geological origins of the Zarqa river are about 30 million years old, when the

Jordan Rift Valley The Jordan Rift Valley, also Jordan Valley ( ''Bīqʿāt haYardēn'', Al-Ghor or Al-Ghawr), is an elongated endorheic basin located in modern-day Israel, Jordan and the West Bank, Palestine. This geographic region includes the entire length o ...

was formed. A ripple effect of its formation was the creation of side-wadis. The Zarqa river carved into the western edge of one of these side wadis. The earliest exposed formations in the area date from the

Triassic The Triassic ( ; sometimes symbolized 🝈) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.5 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.4 Mya. The Triassic is t ...

and early

Jurassic The Jurassic ( ) is a Geological period, geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 143.1 Mya. ...

periods, and have been named Zerqa and Kurnub formations. The rock formations are marine sediments, remnants of the prehistoric

Tethys Sea The Tethys Ocean ( ; ), also called the Tethys Sea or the Neo-Tethys, was a prehistoric ocean during much of the Mesozoic Era and early-mid Cenozoic Era. It was the predecessor to the modern Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Eurasia ...

, which used to cover the area running roughly east–west, halfway across the present

. Along the Zarqa, crystalline

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

alternating with

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

was found. The next layer is a 20-30 meter high layer of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...

, argillaceous marly lime, shales and iron-rich stone and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. This layer is rich in

fossils A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

.Tribes and Territories In Transition
/ref>

Flora

Archaeological finds of charcoaled remains indicate that poplar and

tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Ta ...

used to grow along the banks of the Zarqa, with forests of wild

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

growing on the hillsides. Today, tamarix thickets are still widespread in the floodplains, and the banks are cultivated with fruit orchards and vegetable fields. Along the course of Zarqa River, water is pumped directly and used to irrigate crops of leafy vegetables such as

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum''), is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to Greece, Morocco and the former Yugoslavia. It has been introduced and naturalisation (biology), naturalized in Eur ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of '' Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.& ...

cauliflower Cauliflower is one of several vegetables cultivated from the species '' Brassica oleracea'' in the genus '' Brassica'', which is in the Brassicaceae (or mustard) family. Cauliflower usually grows with one main stem that carries a large, rou ...

and

lettuce Lettuce (''Lactuca sativa'') is an annual plant of the family Asteraceae mostly grown as a leaf vegetable. The leaves are most often used raw in Green salad, green salads, although lettuce is also seen in other kinds of food, such as sandwiche ...

, as well as

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

Olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

trees are also found along the river's banks.

Tulips Tulips are spring-blooming perennial herbaceous bulbiferous geophytes in the ''Tulipa'' genus. Their flowers are usually large, showy, and brightly coloured, generally red, orange, pink, yellow, or white. They often have a different coloure ...

grow on many hillsides of the river, while in the springs area and the watercourse, water vegetation is found. Natural

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

forests grow in the King Talal Dam area. Along the upstream banks, where the river runs wild, one finds the common reed,

oleander ''Nerium oleander'' ( ), commonly known as oleander or rosebay, is a shrub or small tree cultivated worldwide in temperate and subtropical areas as an ornamental and landscaping plant. It is the only species currently classified in the genus ...

and

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ' ...

species. Since the waters of the Zarqa are highly contaminated, with high levels of organic matter and various chemical compounds (especially detergents and dyes), the use of Zarqa water for irrigation has significantly altered the biodiversity of the natural flora, and caused the disappearance of the majority of fresh water species.Water scarcity in relation to food security and sustainable use of biodiversity in Jordan
/ref> Zarqa_River_-_panoramio

Fauna

In prehistoric times, the area was rich with fauna, and 45 distinct animal species have been identified, half of them wild animals. Domesticated

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...

s were the most common, and

gazelle A gazelle is one of many antelope species in the genus ''Gazella'' . There are also seven species included in two further genera; '' Eudorcas'' and '' Nanger'', which were formerly considered subgenera of ''Gazella''. A third former subgenus, ' ...

s were the most frequently occurring wild animal species.
Today, the area is still home to a diverse population of birds and mammals, and some of the breeding species found do not breed anywhere else in Jordan. Among the bird species found are the

European roller The European roller (''Coracias garrulus'') is the only member of the Coraciidae, roller family breeding in Europe. Its range extends into the Maghreb, West Asia and Central Asia. It winters in southern Africa, primarily in dry wooded savanna and ...

desert lark The desert lark (''Ammomanes deserti'') breeds in deserts and semi-deserts from Morocco to western India. It has a very wide distribution and faces no obvious threats, and surveys have shown that it is slowly increasing in numbers as it expands ...

Dead Sea sparrow The Dead Sea sparrow (''Passer moabiticus'') is a species of bird in the Old World sparrow family Passeridae, with one subspecies breeding in parts of the Middle East and another in western Afghanistan and eastern Iran. The eastern subspecies '' ...

, desert finch and

blue-cheeked bee-eater The blue-cheeked bee-eater (''Merops persicus'') is a near passerine bird in the bee-eater family (biology), family, Meropidae. The genus name ''Merops'' is Ancient Greek for "bee-eater", and ''persicus'' is Latin for "Persian". It breeds in Nor ...

. The King Talal dam has created a lake which is a habitat for migratory waterfowl and various fish species. Notable birds found in the lake area include the little bittern,

cattle egret The cattle egret (formerly genus ''Bubulcus'') is a cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan clade of heron (family (biology), family Ardeidae) in the genus ''Ardea (genus), Ardea'' found in the tropics, subtropics, and warm-temperate zones. Ac ...

grey heron The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia, and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more norther ...

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

common teal The Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca''), common teal, or Eurasian green-winged teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in temperate Eurosiberia and migrates south in winter. The Eurasian teal is often called simply the teal due to being th ...

and

Eurasian coot The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...

. The lake's waters sustain fish, some of which are indigenous species and some are introduced species. The most common are

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically mos ...

. Migratory birds also winter in the man-made pools which make up the Kherbit Al-Samra Sewage Treatment Plant, located in a broad depression close to Wadi Dhulayl, the main tributary of the Zarqa River. As many as 6,000 white storks have been spotted roosting there. Mammals found in the area include the common otter (''Lutra lutra''), and the

Persian squirrel The Caucasian squirrel (''Sciurus anomalus'') or Persian squirrel, is a tree squirrel in the genus ''Sciurus'' found in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests in south-western Asia. The species is traditionally said to have first been described i ...

(''Sciurus anomalus''). The otter is considered a threatened species.

History

The Zarqa valley was an important passageway connecting the Eastern Desert with the Jordan Valley.

Prehistory

, the origin of the spring the feeds the Zarqa river, is a major archaeological site, dating back to the

period. It was continuously occupied for more than two thousand years, and the earliest finds date to 7200 BCE. 'Ain Ghazal is one of the earliest known human settlements with evidence of domesticated animals. With a population of around 3,000 at its height, it was also one of the largest prehistoric population centers in the Near East, with about five time the population of neighboring Jericho.

Iron Age

During a 1982 survey of the Zarqa Valley, a number of Early

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

sites were discovered, concentrated along the banks of the Zerqa and its tributaries. One of them,

Tulul adh-Dhahab The Tulul adh-Dhahab (Arabic: تلول الذهب; lit. "the hills of gold") is an archaeological site in Jordan. The site features two neighboring Tell (archaeology), tells, separated by the Zarqa River (the biblical River Jabbok), an Affluent ( ...

, is under further research now. It features two neighboring tells which are commonly identified with the ancient

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

cities of

Mahanaim Mahanaim ( ''Maḥănayīm'', "camps") is a place mentioned a number of times by the Bible said to be near Jabbok, in the same general area as Jabesh-gilead, beyond the Jordan River. Although two possible sites have been identified, the precis ...

and

Penuel Penuel (or Pnuel; Hebrew: ''Pənūʾēl'') is a place described in the Hebrew Bible as being not far from Succoth, on the east of the Jordan River and south of the river Jabbok in present-day Jordan. Penuel is mentioned in the Book of Genesis ...

, mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Tulul adh-Dhahab and Jabbok in spring

Hellenistic Jerash

Wadi Jarash, a northern tributary of the Zarqa River, flows through the modern city of

. Inhabited since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, Jerash became an important center during the

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

and

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

s, when it was known as Gerasa, home to noted mathematician

Nicomachus Nicomachus of Gerasa (; ) was an Ancient Greek Neopythagorean philosopher from Gerasa, in the Roman province of Syria (now Jerash, Jordan). Like many Pythagoreans, Nicomachus wrote about the mystical properties of numbers, best known for his ...

. The ruins of the city are well preserved and have been extensively excavated.

Modern town of Zarqa

Zarqa Zarqa () is the capital of Zarqa Governorate in Jordan. Its name means "the blue (city)". It had a population of 635,160 inhabitants in 2015, and is the second most populous city in Jordan after Amman. History Although the area has been inhab ...

, Jordan's second largest city, is built on the banks of the Zarqa River, and is the largest settlement along its course. The town of Zarqa was founded in 1902 by Chechen immigrants. Its population grew rapidly with an influx of

Palestinian refugees Palestinian refugees are citizens of Mandatory Palestine, and their descendants, who fled or were expelled from their country, village or house over the course of the 1948 Palestine war and during the 1967 Six-Day War. Most Palestinian refug ...

who fled the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

during the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

Environmental concerns

The Zarqa river is highly

polluted Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

. In many areas, raw

sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...

flows untreated directly into the river through dry riverbeds (

), contaminating it and creating a stench which has been a cause of numerous complaints, particularly during the summer months. Though sewage treatment stations have been built in a couple of locations (including Ain Ghazal and Khirbet As Samra), these stations often receive more water than they can handle. Such overflow occurs during winter floods, as well as during summer months when the population increases with the return of migrant workers to Amman. During overflow, untreated water runs directly to the Zarqa river. As a result, the Zarqa's water is brownish colored, often with dense foam due to large amounts of organic matter. Other sources of pollutants are the illegal dumping of

industrial waste Industrial waste is the waste produced by industrial activity which includes any material that is rendered useless during a manufacturing process such as that of factories, mills, and mining operations. Types of industrial waste include dirt and ...

, including those from textile factories, and batteries and oils from garages. The river's watershed encompasses the most densely populated areas east of the Jordan River, and it flows through an industrialized area that is home to more than 52% of Jordan's industrial plants, including the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company. During the summer months, treated domestic and industrial waste-water compose nearly all of the flow, and substantially degrade the water quality. Coupled with over-extraction of water from the underground

aquifer An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing material, consisting of permeability (Earth sciences), permeable or fractured rock, or of unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt). Aquifers vary greatly in their characteristics. The s ...

and the naturally low base flow of the Zarqa, this has created a major problem, described as one of Jordan's "environmental black spots". and has made rehabilitation of the Zarqa a top priority for the Jordanian Ministry of the Environment. The restoration project is estimated to cost $30 million.

References

Sources

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External links

Photos of Zarqa River
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past an ...

{{Authority control Rivers of Jordan Hebrew Bible rivers Zarqa Governorate Tributaries of the Jordan River Gilead