JORDAN, THE

Forming one of the world's most remarkable watercourses, the Jordan Valley traverses the entire length of Palestine from north to south. The etymology of the word Jordan is uncertain; some scholars favor an Indo-Aryan origin composed of yordon, "year–river," i.e., "perennial river," but most hold that it is derived from the Semitic yārad, "to descend," which is more descriptive, for no valley or river descends deeper than the Jordan (yardēn in Hebrew).

Geology and Geography. The wide, arid Jordan depression is part of the larger geological trough known as the Great Rift Valley, which runs from northern Syria, through the Jordan Valley, the dead sea, the Araba in the south, down through the Gulf of Aqaba and the red sea, to Lake Nyasa in East Africa—a distance of more than 3,000 miles. Some 30 million years ago, probably during the Miocene Age when the main mountain–forming changes occurred in the Near East, two parallel faults in the earth's crust developed, and as the hills shoved higher on either side, the depression between these faults continued sinking along the same line of weakness. In Palestine a large inland sea formed, which for a time extended even into the trans–Jordan region. However, because of the elevation of the Wādi el-’Arabah in the south it did not join with the Gulf of Aqaba. After the last Pluvial period in Palestine, the water flooding the valley receded to the three natural basins of the valley floor, thus creating the present Lake Huleh, the Sea of galilee, and the Dead Sea. These bodies of water are of markedly different altitudes, and each is fed in turn by the waters of the Jordan River flowing into the valley from the region of Mount Hermon.

The streams that cascade from the slopes and foothills of this majestic mountain meet in the marshy area approximately seven miles above Lake Huleh to form the Jordan proper. Lake Huleh is a small, triangular body of water 230 feet above sea level; it serves as the river's first pause on its rapid descent southward. Although well known to Jesus and the Apostles, who traveled as far north as caesarea philippi (ancient Paneas), the lake is not mentioned in the Bible. From Lake Huleh to the Sea jordan, the

of Galilee, which lies 695 feet below sea level, is a distance of not more than ten miles. The river tumbles and cascades vigorously, cutting a gorge in the black basalt rock left by volcanic activity of previous ages and then flows through a delta into the Sea of Galilee. This beautiful lake, which for the Christian evokes such vivid memories of the Master and his fishermen Disciples, measures 13 miles long and about seven miles wide.

Leaving the lake and the verdant Galilean countryside the Jordan descends swiftly again. The valley is now called by the Arabs el-Ghor, which may best be translated as "the canyon." In the central strip the ancient sea bed lies exposed and has been severely eroded, so that qaṭṭarah hills (mounds and gullies of whitish–gray marl and clay) create the very real effect of typical badlands. The river itself has cut a deep channel through this alluvial deposit, and here in the "river bottom" one finds a sort of jungle inhabited by wild life, which in ancient times included large animals such as the lion (Jer 49.19). It is still heavily thicketed and is called in Arabic ez-Zor (the thicket). As one goes further south the valley narrows. The rapid waters of the Jordan swirl and twist as though trying to escape the destiny that awaits them in the Dead Sea. From the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea is a distance of 65 miles, but the Jordan, looping constantly, covers more than three times that distance.

From the east the Jordan is joined by two important tributaries, the Yarmuk and the Jaboc (Jabbok). These streams, which today are used extensively for irrigation by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, equal the Jordan proper in volume of water. Both are perennial and flow through mighty canyons of their own. Below the Jaboc the valley widens again until at jericho it is some 12 miles across. Owing to the high temperatures of the Jericho Plain, caused by the sub-sea level situation, tropical fruits and vegetables respond readily to irrigation. The Jordan River meanders through this plain and finally forms a sizeable delta as it dumps its muddy waters into the deep, salty reservoir of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 1,286 feet below sea level—the lowest point on the surface of the earth.

History and Typology. There is abundant evidence that in prehistoric times the Jordan Valley was dotted by large and small settlements and that a thriving civilization flourished. Archeological surveys made of numerous sites by Nelson Glueck, especially on the eastern side of the valley and at the delta junctures of the Jordan tributaries, as well as the truly astonishing excavations at Tell es–Sulṭān (ancient Jericho) under the direction of Kathleen Kenyon, have dramatized the importance of this valley in man's first efforts toward an agricultural and sedentary way of life. The primitive settlement at Jericho, the oldest known city in the world, dates back to c. 7800 b.c. (plus or minus 210 years), as evidenced by carbon–14 tests.

The Jordan is referred to more than 200 times in the Bible. It is particularly with the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, as popularly told in the Book of josh ua, that the Jordan enters historically and symbolically into the life of Israel. The story of Moses and the Exodus is continued in the account of the Israelites crossing miraculously dry-shod through the Jordan River, storming the walled city of Jericho, and entering into the land of promise. However, it was only in the Christian era that the full typology of the Jordan was developed. The early Church Fathers, particularly of the Alexandrian school, insisted that the crossing of the Jordan into the land of promise is as deeply symbolic of Christian initiation as the crossing of the Red Sea out of the land of bondage. The story of Elijah (2 Kgs 2.11) and the account of Naaman the Syrian (2 Kgs 2.12) were frequently used in a baptismal context.

Turning to the New Testament, the Gospels begin with the scene of john the baptist, a man from the desert near the Jordan, preaching repentance and baptizing the people in the river. The Christian rite of Baptism owes much to the practice of the Baptist and the ascetical communities in the area. see baptism (in the bible). Today there is a little shrine-chapel on the banks of the Jordan not far from Jericho that commemorates the bap tism of christ by John.

Also, an allusion to the Jordan as a symbol of redemption is made in Matthew ch. 19–20 (also possibly in Jn 10.40–42, where Jesus, like Josue, waits three days before crossing the Jordan to raise his friend Lazarus): Jesus, traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem for the last time, proceeds slowly through the territories on the far side of the Jordan, then crosses the river at Jericho and ascends to the Holy City, where the Passover would be realized fully in His own death and Resurrection.

Bibliography: Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Bible, tr. and adap. by l. hartman (New York 1963), from a. van den born, Bijbels Woordenboek 1205–08. k. hÖpf, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche ², ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:1118–19. f. m. abel, Géographie de la Palestine, 2 v. (Paris 1933–38) 1:161–178. d. baly, The Geography of the Bible (New York 1957) 193–216. e. g. kraeling, Rand McNally Bible Atlas (2d ed. New York 1962) 25–27. c. kopp, The Holy Places of the Gospels, tr. r. walls (New York 1963) 99–103. j. daniÉlou, The Bible and the Liturgy (South Bend, Ind. 1956) 86–113, for typology.

[j. w. rausch]