The Dan River ( he, דן ''Dan'', ar, اللدان ''Leddan'') is a

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the Jordan River. The sources of the river are multiple springs emerging from

Tel Dan Dan ( he, דן) is an ancient city mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, described as the northernmost city of the Kingdom of Israel, and belonging to the tribe of Dan. The city is identified with a tell located in Upper Galilee, northern Israel, kno ...

along underground fault lines. The river is so named after the

Israelite The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

city of Dan, which was captured by the

Tribe of Dan The Tribe of Dan (, "Judge") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel, according to the Torah. They were allocated a coastal portion of land when the people of Israel entered the Promised Land, later moving northwards. Biblical narrative In th ...

during the Judges period. The tribe of Dan conquered the city, then named Laish and then occupied by Canaanites. Although the Dan River itself is only about 20 km (12 miles) long, its flow provides up to 238 million cubic meters of water annually to the Hulah Valley. In 1966, this was a cause of dispute between Israeli water planners and conservationists, with the latter prevailing after three years of court appeals and adjudication. The result was a conservation project of about at the source of the river called the Tel Dan Nature Reserve.

References

External links

* Tel Da

The Department for Jewish Zionist Education Tributaries of the Jordan River Hebrew Bible rivers Rivers of Israel {{Israel-river-stub