The modern Arabic name, Zarqa (زرقاء), means "the blue river". The Hebrew name Jabbok derives from the word "baqoq", which means "to flow" or "pour out".
The Zarqa River is identified with the biblical river Jabbok[3] (Hebrew: יבוק). The Biblical Jacob crossed the Jabbok on his way back to Canaan, after leaving Harran. It leads west into the Sukkot Valley, from where one crosses over the Jordan and can easily reach Shechem, as Jacob eventually did.
The river is first mentioned in connection with the meeting of Jacob and Esau, and with the struggle of Jacob with the angel (Genesis 32:23 et seq.). It was the boundary separating the territory of Reuben and Gad from that of Ammon (Deuteronomy 3:16), the latter being described as lying along the Jabbok (Numbers 21:24; Deuteronomy 2:37, 3:16; Joshua 12:2).
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben (Hebrew: שֵׁבֶט רְאוּבֵן, Modern Shevet Re'uven Tiberian Šḗḇeṭ Rəʼûḇēn) was one of the Tribes of Israel.
From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Reuben was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges. (see the Book of Judges) With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Reuben joined the new kingdom with Saul as the first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, but after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul's son and successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Reuben joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel. According to the Book of Chronicles, Adina and thirty Reubenites aided David as members of his mighty warriors in conquering the City of David.[1] However, on the accession of Rehoboam, David's grandson, in c. 930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Reuben was a member of the kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c. 723 BC and the population deported.
From that time, the Tribe of Reuben has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
In the biblical account, Reuben is portrayed as having arrived east of the Jordan after leaving Egypt, but rather than taking land on the west of the Jordan, after conquering it under Joshua, instead took land on the east, as they owned a large number of cattle, and the territory seemed suitable for pasture. Israel Finkelstein et al., however, have claimed that lack of evidence for a systematic conquest or the abrupt appearance of a new culture indicates that the Israelites simply arose as a subculture within Canaanite society.[5]
The territory of Sihon is described as extending "from Arnon unto Jabbok" (Numbers 21:24), and it was reclaimed later by the King of Ammon (Judges 11:13, 22). Eusebius[4] places the river between Gerasa and Philadelphia.
In prehistoric times, the area was rich with fauna, and 45 distinct animal species have been identified, half of them wild animals. Domesticated goats were the most common, and gazelles were the most frequently occurring wild animal species.
'Ain Ghazal, the origin of the spring the feeds the Zarqa river, is a major archaeological site, dating back to the Neolithic period. It was continuously occupied for more than two thousand years, and the earliest finds date to 7200 BCE.[20] '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. During a 1982 survey of the Zarqa valley, a number Early Iron Age sites were discovered, concentrated along the banks of the Zerqa and its tributaries.[13][21] One of them, Tulul adh-Dhahab, is under further research now. Zarqa, Jordan's second largest city, is built on the banks of the Zarqa River, and is the largest settlement along its course. Today, most of the land and plantations on the riverbanks are owned by the heirs of the patrician El-wir clan, the rest is owned by Bani-Hassan tribe, and other local tribes. The town of Zarqa was founded in 1902 by Chechen immigrants.[22] Its population grew rapidly with an influx of Palestinian refugees who fled the West bank during the Six-day war.
The Zarqa River also flows through Jerash. Inhabited since the Bronze Age, Jerash was an important Greco-Roman city (Gerasha), home to noted mathematician Nicomachus. The ruins of the city are well preserved and have been extensively excavated.
The river's watershed encompasses the most densely populated areas east of the Jordan River,[7] 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 and the naturally low base flow of the Zarqa, this has created a major problem, described as one of Jordan's "environmental black spots".[23] 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.[24]
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