The Jordanian part of the Jordan Rifts is in the northwest of Jordan.
Regions
Anger is called the riverbed of the Jordan in northern Jordan. It is around 1 km wide, because of the border too Israel restricted military area and only accessible in a few places. The wide valley up to the mountains in the east is called Ghor or Al-Ghaur. It is around 4 km wide in the north, at Dead sea around 11 km. South of the Dead Sea then follows the southern Ghor and further the Wadi Arawa (also Wadi Araba) until Red sea.
background
The Jordanian part of the Jordan Rift comprises the east bank of the Jordan a few kilometers south of the Sea of Galilee (sometimes too Jam Kinneret or Lake Tiberias) to the Dead Sea. He belongs to the Great African rift valley. Its extension runs from the south through the Red Sea and continues north through the Jordan Rift to the Beka Plain in Lebanon.
The flows in this rift valley Jordan, from the Hermon Mountains in Syria coming through Israel's Hule Valley, the Sea of Galilee and the southern Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea. The river valley is only around 170 km long, but the river bed is more than 250 km long due to numerous bends.
The northwest region of the Jordan Rift Valley in Jordan is the most fertile part of the country. In the north the region is bounded by the Yarmuk. This river forms the northern border of Jordan with Israel and also partly with Syria. In the west, the riverbed of the Jordan forms the border with Israel. The landscape is consistently below sea level: the Sea of Galilee is already 212 m below sea level, the Dead Sea even over 400 m with a steadily falling tendency. Due to the waters of the Jordan and its tributaries and the protective hills of Israel and Jordan, the climate is mild, outdoors 2 harvests are regularly possible per year. Much of the land is intensively irrigated and partly built under foil. The water of the Jarmuk is also used for this purpose, because even before the Jarmuk flows into the Jordan, Jordan branches off part of the river water, which has been around 100 km long since 1959 East Ghor Canal flows south parallel to road No. 65. This water is used to irrigate around 30,000 hectares of land, which allows cucumbers, tomatoes and bananas to thrive in the hot and humid climate. Since the peace treaty with Israel in 1994, the water of the Jordan has also been used. In the vicinity of the Dead Sea, intensive agricultural use ceases, here only pasture farming is possible, the soil is too salty.
places
- In the north lies on a hill Umm Qais, the ancient Gadara.
- Irbid and Jerash lie on the edge of this region.
Otherwise, the places right in the Jordan Valley are rather small and tranquil.
Tourist Attractions
There are well over 100 archaeological sites in the Jordan Valley. However, most of them are only of interest to experts. But there are also some interesting places for "normal tourists":
- Pella is one of the cities of Decapolis. The city was on a hill above Mashari. Above the excavation site is a restaurant with an enchanting view of the Jordan Valley. In Pella, the west basilica and the so-called valley basilica in the former city center are interesting. At Pella, once a bishopric, was the scene of a battle between Byzantine and Muslim troops in 635. At that time, 80,000 Byzantines allegedly lost their lives in one day. The city was then badly damaged by earthquakes in 658 and 717. It was abandoned after another 747 quake.
- The tells, the hill of ruins. Above all, the are known
- Tell Saidiyeh, 1 km west of Kureyma; in its center was a step building with 125 steps, the fortified village was first settled in the Bronze Age, was finally abandoned in the Islamic period;
- Tell Deir Alla, the hill from the Bronze Age towers over the Ghor plain 9 km south of Kureyma by around 30 m;
- about 7 km east of it are the hills of Tulul ad-Dhababwhere the remains of Iron Age blast furnaces were found.
- The so-called Baptism Site near the ruins of Bethany is likely to be where John the Baptist lived and where Jesus was baptized. Here is the one Tell Mar Elias, the hill of the prophet Elias, a large baptismal font that offered space for well over 100 people, as well as the remains of a church from the 6th century; a modern church, built on the occasion of the visit of Pope John Paul II in 2005, is also included.
Other goals
- From the southern part of the Jordan Trench it is only approx. 50 km to Amman or until Madaba.
- The King Hussein Bridge, also as Allenby Bridge known, is the only Jordan crossing in the direction Jericho to the West Bank.
- The Sheikh Hussein Bridge crosses the Jordan to the north of it Israel.
kitchen
In the Sea of Galilee and Jordan lives the so-called Petrusfish. Today it is bred in tanks. As terrifying as it may look, it is recommended as a meal.
Web links
Bethabara, the place where Jesus was baptized by John
