Nahal Ayun ( he, נחל עיון, ''lit.'' Ayun Stream), sometimes spelled Nahal Iyyon, in ar, براغيث ''Bureighit'', or in full Nahr Bareighit, is a

perennial stream A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to intermittent river, one whose flow is interm ...

and 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 drainage ...

of the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...

. The stream originates from two springs in the

Marjayoun Marjayoun ( ar, مرج عيون: Lebanese pronunciation), also Marj 'Ayoun, Marjuyun or Marjeyoun (lit. "meadow of springs") and Jdeideh / Jdeida / Jdeidet Marjeyoun, is a Lebanese town and an administrative district, the Marjeyoun District, in ...

(Merj 'Ayun) valley in southern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

, runs southward for seven kilometers through various irrigation ditches, then flows into

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

near

Metulla Metula ( he, מְטֻלָּה) is a town in the Northern District of Israel. Metula is located next to the northern border with Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the L ...

, where it continues through the

Hula Valley The Hula Valley ( he, עמק החולה, translit. ''Emek Ha-Ḥula''; also transliterated as Huleh Valley, ar, سهل الحولة) is an agricultural region in northern Israel with abundant fresh water, which used to be Lake Hula, prior t ...

in the

Galilee Panhandle The Galilee Panhandle ( he, אצבע הגליל, ''Etzba HaGalil'' (lit. "Finger of the Galilee"), is an elongated geopolitics, geopolitical area or "Salient (geography), panhandle" in northern Israel comprising the northernmost section of the Up ...

until emptying in the

Hasbani River The Hasbani River ( ar, الحاصباني / ALA-LC: ''al-Ḥāṣbānī''; he, חצבני ''Ḥatzbaní'') or Snir Stream ( he, נחל שניר / ''Nahal Sənir''), is the major tributary of the Jordan River. Local natives in the mid-19th centu ...

just before it reaches the Jordan River.

Names

Arabic

The Arabic name is most often transliterated as "Dardara" for the upper course and "Bareighit" or "Bureighith" for the lower one. The "Memoirs of the Survey of Western Palestine", published in 1881 in connection with the maps resulting from the 1870s Survey, use a slightly different spelling; the "very large spring" of a 'Ain ed Derdarah, ''lit.'' "the spring of the ''derdârah'' (

elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of North ...

) tree", from the village of El

Khiam Khiam ( ar, الخيام; sometimes spelled Khiyam) is a large town in the Nabatieh Governorate of Southern Lebanon. Location Khiam is situated approximately south from the capital city of Beirut and south-east from the city of Nabatieh. The bo ...

, is mentioned to create a "strong stream", that once it's enhanced by the waters of '' 'Ain Hosh'' (Hosh Spring) becomes Nahr Bareighit, ''lit.'' "the river of fleas". However, the Survey map actually uses another name altogether for the upper course, Wadi el Kharrar, "the valley of the murmuring water". This seems to be either a typo, or a lesser-used name, since the index list of the Memoirs is sending under "Wadi el Kharrar", to page 36, where the name Wadi el Kharrar doesn't appear at all; instead, on that page there is an explanation regarding names omitted from the map due to lack of space - but this doesn't apply either, since the name "Wadi Kharrar" appears very well visible on Sheet 2 / Qb across the Merj 'Ayun plain.

Nature reserve

During the rainy winter months the water-flow is strongest. During the summer months, water is diverted for crop irrigation close to the stream's springs. Differences in elevation form waterfalls along the stream. These falls were declared a nature reserve, and include: * Tahana ("flourmill") waterfall, 21 m highNahal Ayun
at israelandyou.com, 23 October 2017. Retrieved 18 Dec 2021. * Eshed ("cascades") waterfall, with two steps, 9.5 m the upper fall and 5 m the bottom fall (''eshed'' as a Hebrew root means "to pour", which gave rise to the meaning of "waterfall"; also "bottom, slope, foundation, lower part". * Ayun/Iyyon waterfall, 9.2 m high * Tan(n)ur waterfall, 30 m high, named either after the ''

tannur The primitive clay oven, or earthen oven / cob oven, has been used since ancient times by diverse cultures and societies, primarily for, but not exclusive to, baking before the invention of cast-iron stoves, and gas and electric ovens. The genera ...

'' oven, or after the Lebanese ''tanur'' skirtYona Sabar,
Hebrew word of the week: Tannur
Jewish Journal, 20 October 2015, Tribe Media Corp., accessed 12 December 2019

Flora and fauna

Tree types in the reserve include

terebinth ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous tree species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...

s (''Pistacia terebinthus''), buckthorns ('' Rhamnus palaestinus''), and

maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since http ...

s (''

Acer obtusifolium ''Acer obtusifolium'', the Syrian maple, is a Middle-eastern species of maple. Description ''Acer obtusifolium'' is an evergreen maple that forms a shrub, but can also be grown into a tree to a height of about 16 feet. It has leathery foliage v ...

''). Other growth includes Spanish broom,

rubus ''Rubus'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae, with over 1,350 species. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these ...

, cyclamen (''

Cyclamen persicum ''Cyclamen persicum'', the Persian cyclamen, is a species of flowering herbaceous perennial plant growing from a tuber, native to rocky hillsides, shrubland, and woodland up to above sea level, from south-central Turkey to Lebanon-Syria and the ...

''), and ''

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all continents except Australia, New Zealand an ...

s''.

Grey wagtail The grey wagtail (''Motacilla cinerea'') is a member of the wagtail family, Motacillidae, measuring around 18–19 cm overall length. The species looks somewhat similar to the yellow wagtail but has the yellow on its underside restricted t ...

s can be found during the winter months, as well as

white-throated kingfisher The white-throated kingfisher (''Halcyon smyrnensis'') also known as the white-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. This kingfisher is a r ...

s and

common kestrel The common kestrel (''Falco tinnunculus'') is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iyyun, Nahal Rivers of Israel Nature reserves in Israel Tributaries of the Jordan River Rivers of Lebanon

Names

Arabic

Nature reserve

Flora and fauna

See also

References