Callirrhoe or Callirrhoë ( ar, عين الزارة, '''Ein ez-Zara''; grc-gre, Θερμὰ Καλλιρόης, ''Thermà Kallirhoēs'') is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

in which remains of a

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

can be traced, though it is considered difficult to be interpreted. Callirrhoe is known in

ancient literature Ancient literature comprises religious and scientific documents, tales, poetry and plays, royal edicts and declarations, and other forms of writing that were recorded on a variety of media, including stone, stone tablets, papyri, palm leaves, and ...

for its

thermal spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s, because it was visited by King Herod according to

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for ''The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly d ...

shortly before his death, as a final attempt to be cured or relief his pains. It remains unknown if the ''greatest builder in Jewish history'' is related to any of the observable remains in the area. Callirrhoe is referred by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

(''Natural History'', 70-72),

Ptolemaeus Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

(''Geography'' 15,6) and Solinus (''De mirabilibus mundi'' 35,4) as well as in a

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

Names

The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

name ''Kallirhoē'' means "beautiful brook" or "spring". The

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

name ''Ayn az-Zara'' is sometimes derived from the root ''zar'a'' ("to sow"), in view of the agricultural function of the oasis. More probable is its derivation from an unattested original form ''al-Ayn az-Zahra'' ("the shining spring"), acting as a direct

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

of the Greek.

Madaba Map

Madaba BW 9 THERMA KALLIROIS highlighted

Callirrhoe is represented on Madaba Map. On the mosaic three

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

s can be observed, a spring house, a nymphaeum, and a house. Springs' waters are gathered in basins, and two little palm trees are discerned representing the

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

or the fecundity of this area because of the abundant fresh water supply. Waters of the southern spring sprout from the mountain ending up in the sea.

Archaeological surveys

Callirrhoe is identified as the present day oasis 'Ein ez-Zara, laying on the eastern shore of

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

south of Wadi Zerka Ma'in in

. It was founded circa 1st century

BCE Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

and

excavations In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

between 1985 and 1989 were directed by

August Strobel August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo (astrology), Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin ...

on behalf of the German Evangelical Institute for the Ancient Holy Land. A

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

of the 1st century CE, uncovered in recent excavations, is considered to be inspired by the designs used by Herod for his palaces. Callirrhoe functioned as harbor site for the mountain fortress of

Machaerus Machaerus (Μαχαιροῦς, from grc, μάχαιρα, , makhaira sword he, מכוור; ar, قلعة مكاور, translit=Qala'at Mukawir, lit=Mukawir Castle) was a Hasmonean hilltop palace and desert fortress, now in ruins, located in t ...

. An ancient road of 8 km length connects the two sites. Kallirrhoe 1989

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/, title=Madaba Mosaic Map, accessdate=2 April 2016, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414203937/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/, archive-date=14 April 2016, url-status=dead
Photos of Ayn ez Zara
at the

American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...

Archaeological sites in Jordan Hot springs