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Seven Fascinating Facts about Crossing the Jordan River

I had the opportunity to read a pre-publication draft of an article that David Z. Moster has written on crossing the Jordan River in antiquity. I found it a fascinating study, and I asked him if I could share some of his excellent research with you, and he kindly agreed.

1. The annual flow of the Jordan River today is 2% of what it was 60 years ago, before a number of major dams were constructed.

2. In the biblical period, the Jordan River was shallow and easy to cross in the north, and deep and difficult to cross in the south.

Abel Meholah and Jordan River aerial from northwest, ws052916285

The Jordan River near Abel Meholah, just south of the Beth Shean area. Photo by Bill Schlegel.

3. When William F. Lynch sailed down the Jordan in 1847, the depth at the Sea of Galilee was 2.5
feet deep and 7 feet deep at the Jabbok River.

4. In 1854 an expert swimmer was unable to make it across the river near Jericho because the river was too wide and the current too strong.

5. The PEF identified 41 fords between the Sea of Galilee and the Jabbok River but only 5 fords between the Jabbok and the Dead Sea.

The greatest density of fords in the north was in the vicinity of Beth Shean where 15 were found in one 3-mile (5 km) stretch.
All five fords in the south were near Jericho.

Jordan River with Sheikh Hussein bridge near Beth Shean, mat15248

The Jordan River with the Sheikh Hussein bridge near Beth Shean. Photo from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.

6. Before the Roman period, the only way to cross the Jordan was by fording. In later periods, bridges and ferries were built.

7. The only tribe to span the Jordan River was Manasseh, and that was in the northern section, a fact which corresponds with the topography noted above.

The article will be published as “Crossing the Jordan River during the Biblical Period: North vs. South” in the upcoming ARAM Periodical 29 (2017) entitled “The Jordan River.” David Moster’s research is available on Academia and he blogs at The 929 Chapters. Thanks to David to sharing his work with us!

Jordan River, Allenby Bridge guard house in flood, mat04344

Allenby Bridge guard house during flood of Jordan River. Photo from the American Colony and Eric Matson Collection.

Tagged Jordan Rift

Reader Survey: Favorite Geographical Story in the Bible

This should be a fun one to read the results: what is your favorite geographical story in the Bible? By that, we want to know which story, with a geographical angle, most captures your imagination. I’ll suggest a few examples to get you thinking about more possibilities.

David and Goliath is a ready favorite, with the two armies encamped on either side of the Valley of Elah and the young boy running down from Bethlehem with Lunchables for his brothers (1 Sam 17).

The Good Samaritan grips us as we envision the wilds of the wilderness and a band of hoodlums attacking a lone traveler (Luke 10).

The war between Asa and Baasha is less well-known, but it captures the back-and-forth dynamic on the Benjamin plateau (1 Kgs 15).

The swine dive at Gadara is a subject of regular debate, and I’ve spent much of last week preparing for publication what I hope to be a significant contribution to the discussion (Mark 5).

Or how about Jehoshaphat’s march into the wilderness, leading his army in ~~brandishing their weapons~~ praising the Lord (2 Chr 20).

There are so many wonderful possibilities. Let us know what your favorite is and we’ll share the results on Thursday!

(Email readers may need to click through to respond.)

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Tagged Survey

First-Century Synagogue Discovered in Galilean Village

A first-century AD synagogue has been discovered in eastern lower Galilee at Tel Rekhesh (Tell el-Mukharkhash). The synagogue was apparently in use until the village was abandoned during the Bar Kochba Revolt. Ynet News has the story:

Last Tuesday, an excavation team discovered, just ten centimeters below the peak’s surface, a synagogue from the first century AD. The find contained a huge and impressive room nine meters high and eight meters wide with walls lined with benches made of limestone blocks. Diggers also discovered one of the two foundational pillars supporting the synagogue’s roof.
[…]
“This is the first synagogue of its kind in the Galilee villages,” Dr. Aviam explained. “In Migdal, for example, there is a synagogue but that is a big city. Here we are talking about a magnificent agricultural area about four Dunam [1 acre] in size where buildings are decorated with frescoes and stucco articles. Jewish families lived in the estate but due to the fact that the nearest synagogue was four kilometers away (a distance deemed too far from a community according to Jewish law) the owner of the estate built the synagogue for himself and for the dozens of workers in his employment.”
[…]
Dr. Aviam told Ynet that the remains of objects were found which could definitely be dated back to the first century AD. Prior to the recent discovery, archaeologists already suspected the presence of a Jewish community on the peak.
Indeed, one of the main reasons that the researchers were able to extrapolate that the estate belonged to a Jewish community was the absence of big bones or remains. Indeed, pig was a staple part of a community’s diet in which Jews did not reside.
Further proof that Tel Recheš was an old Jewish community was the existence of many stone utensils. According to Jewish law, stone utensils cannot become impure, unlike other tool such as metal and glass. The preferred material of choice for cooking among Jews toward the end of the Second Temple era was stone.

As the article notes, Tel Rekhesh is not easily accessible to visitors. The 11-acre site is located about 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Mount Tabor and about 7.5 miles (12 km) southwest of the Sea of Galilee. Yohanan Aharoni identified it as biblical Anaharath (Josh 19:19), a city also mentioned in the records of Thutmose III, Amenhotep II, as well as in the Amarna Letters.

HT: Joseph Lauer

Tel Rekhesh from the west
Photo by A.D. Riddle

Tagged Discoveries, Galilee

Weekend Roundup, Part 2

A stunning (!) 36-foot mosaic floor depicting scenes of ancient chariot races in the hippodrome has been revealed outside Nicosia in Cyprus.

Human skeleton remains of a teenage boy dating back to 11 BC have been found on Mt. Lykaion, a site honored as the birthplace of the Greek god Zeus.

The discovery of some rare artifacts in Perge has led to the creation of a special room in the Antalya Museum in Turkey.

After two years of occupation by ISIS, previously unknown Assyrian artifacts in the Syrian city Tal
Ajaja, or ancient Shadikanni have been found looted or destroyed.

A report by Live Science documents the death of children killed as a result of looting in Egypt.

A statue of Zeus lost in the 5th century has been re-created using a 3D printer.

Cal Thomas recommends the new “Ben Hur” movie, opening on Friday.

Ben-Hur the video game is available for free download for Xbox One.

Todd Hanneken has received a $325,000 grant to fund his use of Spectral RTI for the Jubilees Palimpsest Project.

“The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts (CSNTM) is proud to announce the completion of our digitization project at the National Library of Greece (NLG).”

Wayne Stiles considers the value of biblical geography for apologetics.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Agade, Charles Savelle

Mosaic depicting chariot races excavated in Cyprus
Photo by the Associated Press

Tagged Greece, Mediterranean Islands, Movies, Museums, Syria, Technology, Turkey

Weekend Roundup, Part 1

In work to construct a mikveh in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem, archaeologists discovered a Roman bathhouse and below that a cistern connected to the aqueduct from Bethlehem.

Hundreds of Roman fresco fragments from a large building, dating to the 2nd century, have been excavated in Zippori National Park (Sepphoris).

A journalist gets a rare chance to visit Mount Ebal and its “altar.”

A site proposed as one of the Gilgals of the Bible is in danger because of the establishment of a new garbage dump.

Nadav Shragai asks why the media ignores illegal Muslim activity on the Temple Mount.

A new music video by Michael W. Smith was filmed entirely in Israel and includes some beautiful drone footage.

The Baptist News interviews a zooarchaeologist who excavated in the Philistine cemetery of Ashkelon.

A collection of Dead Sea Scroll fragments owned by the Museum of the Bible have been published in a book edited by Emanuel Tov, Kipp Davis, and Robert Duke.

It’s not just the words, but where they were spoken, argues Wayne Stiles.

Dan Warner is on the Book and the Spade this week talking about his excavation of the Canaanite water system at Gezer.

Seth Rodriquez appreciates the support he received for his trip to teach biblical backgrounds at the
Baptist Theological Seminary of Zimbabwe and he reports on his time there.

HT: Joseph Lauer, Ted Weis, Agade, Charles Savelle

Mount Ebal altar from northwest, ws092213002

Proposed altar on Mount Ebal
Photo by Bill Schlegel

Tagged Galilee, Jerusalem, Museums, Samaria, Shephelah, Temple Mount

Favorite Site in Israel Results

Thanks to everyone who participated in our first survey. We had about 70 responses, a small enough number to keep us from drawing any significant conclusions. The winner was Jerusalem.

Jerusalem from Mount of Olives, tb060116015

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

Perhaps we should have excluded Jerusalem, for its centrality in Jewish and Christian history makes it hard to beat. We expect that some of you took the survey as if Jerusalem was not an option, or we may have seen higher than 30% for Jerusalem. Of those votes, most selected a specific site in the city: 3 chose the Temple Mount, and 2 votes each went to the City of David, Hezekiah’s Tunnel, and the Mount of Olives. (The Garden Tomb and Holy Sepulcher each received one.)

Outside of Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee was at the top of the list. Because that can be considered a region with multiple sites, we can look on to a tie at third place between Caesarea Philippi and Hazor (four votes each). Personally I’m surprised by that result. In my experience, tourists enjoy Caesarea Maritima (one vote) more than Caesarea Philippi and Megiddo (one vote) more than Hazor. Shiloh and En Gedi fared well with three votes each.

Hazor stable, tripartite pillared building, tb061416489

Israelite tripartite pillared building at Hazor

We do have some pretty nerdy readers to judge from the votes cast for Jezreel, Tel Burna, Gibeon, and Omrit. Those all tied Masada, Capernaum, and Beth Shean (one vote) and beat out Beersheba, Bethlehem, Nazareth, Mount Carmel, and Ein Harod (no votes). But as we noted in the beginning, the results could have been quite different with more responses.

Thank you for participating. We’ll plan to have another survey next week.

Tagged Survey