PikiWiki Israel 20641 Geography of Israel

Nahal Taninim or Tanninim ( he, נחל תנינים, , Crocodiles Stream) or Wadi az-Zarka ( ar, وَادِي الزرقاء, , Blue Stream) is a river in

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 the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Jisr az-Zarqa Jisr az-Zarqa ( ar, جِسْر الزَّرْقَاء lit. ''The blue bridge'', he, גִ'סְר א-זַּרְקָא; often shortened as Jisr) is an Israeli Arab town on Israel's northern Mediterranean coastal plain. Located just north of Caesare ...

, originating near

Ramot Menashe Ramot Menashe ( he, רָמוֹת מְנַשֶּׁה, ''lit.'' Menashe Heights) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Menashe plateau between the Carmel mountain range and the Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo ...

and emptying into the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

south of

Ma'agan Michael Ma'agan Michael ( he, מַעֲגַן מִיכָאֵל, ''lit.'' Michael's Anchorage) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast between Haifa and Hadera, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Counci ...

. It marks the southern limit of the Hof HaCarmel, or Carmel Coastal Plain region.

Etymology

The river is named for the

Nile crocodile The Nile crocodile (''Crocodylus niloticus'') is a large crocodilian native to freshwater habitats in Africa, where it is present in 26 countries. It is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa, occurring mostly in the central, eastern ...

s that inhabited the nearby Kebara swamps until the early 20th century. The last crocodile was hunted in 1912One of the last clean rivers in Israel

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...

, 30 January 2014 and is part of a German

taxidermic Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body via mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proce ...

collection currently on display at the natural history museum of the Tel Aviv University. The remains of Krokodelion polis, Greek for "Crocodiles City", a city established there in the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

period (5th–4th century BCE), are still visible today.Stieglitz, Robert R.
''Tel Tanninim''
2000, accessed 17 February 2021 See also the mythological monster

Tannin Tannins (or tannoids) are a class of astringent, polyphenolic biomolecules that bind to and precipitate proteins and various other organic compounds including amino acids and alkaloids. The term ''tannin'' (from Anglo-Norman ''tanner'', ...

History

The name ''River of Crocodiles'' dates as far back as the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...

, during which the crocodiles devoured two knights who were bathing in the river.

Hydrology

The area of the basin and its tributaries is about 200 square kilometers, including the Taninim, Ada, Barkan, Alona and Mishmarot streams. Nahal Taninim is the cleanest of Israel's coastal rivers. Three waterways meet in Nahal Taninim: the natural stream, a Roman aqueduct extending from the Zabrin springs to Caesarea, and Mifale Menashe, the waterworks that collect

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...

water and springwater, routing it into the subterranean water table.

Flora and fauna

The dense undergrowth and reeds along Nahal Taninim are home to many different birds, among them waterside

warblers Various Passeriformes (perching birds) are commonly referred to as warblers. They are not necessarily closely related to one another, but share some characteristics, such as being fairly small, vocal, and insectivorous. Sylvioid warblers Th ...

and other songbirds. Birding along the Mediterranean
/ref>

References

External links

''Owning Extinction: Tracing Rhetorical Figurations of the Last Crocodile in Palestine''
the history of the last crocodile. By Elizabeth Bentley (USA), 2020. Accessed Feb 2021. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taninim, Nahal Rivers of Israel Nature reserves in Israel