The Leddan and the river of Banias meet at an altitude of 14S feet, after the Leddan has flowed 5 miles. A little fartlier down, the ^Jasbani, in its turn, becomes united with them : whence the Jordan is formed.
4. The Upper Jordan. — From the confluence, which we have just mentioned, to the Lake of Tiberias the course of the Jordan is unimportant from a historical point of view. The books of the Bible do not speak of it, and later writers very seldom. Nor, from a specifically geographical point of view, has this part of the river any great im- portance. Its chief interest lies in the fact that at 10 miles distance from the confluence it forms a lake or lagoon, the Bahr or Buheirat (lake or small lake) Huleh, triangular in shape, the level of which is 7 feet above the Mediterranean, and which is rich in papyrus plants. The size of this sheet of water varies very much according to the seasons :
at one time it is a considerable limpid stretch, at another it is simpljf a kind of huge morass. Its tra- ditional identification with ' the waters of Merora ' (Jos ll''- ') must be regarded with caution (cf. ZDPV ix. [1886] p. 252) ; the evidence of Josephus is not favourable. He gives this lake another name, that of ' the lake of the Semechouites ' (BJ IV. i. 1 ; cf . ZDPV I.e. and p. 348 f.). As regards the modern name HuUh, it is perhaps derived from the word Ulatha, by which Josephus denotes a district near Banias. For the description of the whole upper course of the Jordan from its sources to the Lake of Tiberias, including Lake ^uleh, see Macgregor, The Rob Roy on the Jonhm, 1869, 5th ed. 1880.
As soon as it leaves Lake yuleh, the Jordan begins to flow below the level of the sea, and falls almost 700 feet in a distance of 10 miles. We must here notice a bridge, the Jlsr Bendt-YcClfub, ' bridge of Jacob's Daughters,' sometimes ^vrongly called ' bridge of Jacob ' or ' bridge of Jacob's Sons ' ; the name itself is really difficult to explain ; see on this subject an ingenious solution suggested in PEFSt, 1898, p. 29 f., by B. Z. Friedmann.
5. The Lower Jordan. — The Jordan issues from the Lake of Tiberias at a place called Bab et-Tum, leaving on the east the little modern village of Semakh, which has no bridge connecting it with the right bank, and as the river is not fordable at this place, the passage, naturally of frequent occurrence, is accoiuplisheJ by means of boats. A little farther down tliere are the remains of an
Kanatir, and again at a short distance below, the ruins of another bridge, Umm es-Sidd. There the Jordan begins to assume a very sinuous course, describing endless meanders ; Pliny spoke of it as an amnis airobitiosiis, i.e. a winding river. The distance in a straight line from the Lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea is about 65 miles, but if we take into account all the sinuosities of the river it reaches a total of 200 miles.
The Jordan valley at this part is now called the Gh6r, i.e. 'depression,' 'valley.' Even in the OT it was designated (Jos 13''-'-') by the name ha- 'emek, ' the valley,' in opposition to the neighbour- ing heights. But a name much more frequent in the OT is 'Arabah, which was applied to the valley to the north as well as that to the south of the Dead Sea ; nowadays the name 'Arabah, which has been preserved, is applied only to the valley to the south of the Dead Sea. In Greek, not in the LXX, but in Jos., Eusebius, etc., 'Arabah is rendered AuXuiv. Josephus also uses the expressions 'wide wilderness' and 'the great plain' (BJ III. x. 7, IV. viii. 2; A.nt. IV. vi. 1).
The Ghdr is hemmed in on either side by chains of mountains, or at least hills, of variable height, but sometimes rising 1500 or even 1800 feet above the bed of the river. The slopes are generally somewhat steep, but not to such an extent as to prevent their being scaled. Especially at the spots where the wadis come down from one of the side mountains, means of access are opened up. The soil of the valley is fertile, especially in the northern and middle parts. As to the river Itself, it flows in a bed which it has hollowed out for itself, called the Zdr. This bed is somewhat variable in breadth, and it may be easily seen that the river has frequently changed its course. Thus at Damieh, of which we shall speak below, and wliere we find the half- ruined arches of a bridge of the Middle Ages, the Jordan actually no longer passes under the bridge, but at some distance from it. Tlie ground border- ing either side of the river is covered with very thick brushwood ; this is undoubtedly what is called in Jer 12= 49^^ 50«, Zee 11^ the piin ]W3, i.e. 'the majesty (RV 'pride') of Jordan' (AV ' the swelling of Jordan' [in the Jer. passages] arises
from a wrong interpretation, as if the reference here was to the floods of Jordan ; these do exist ; they are sometimes sudden and very violent, rendering the fords impassable ; cf. Jos 3^^, Sir