Pharpar (or Pharphar in the

Douay–Rheims Bible The Douay–Rheims Bible (, ), also known as the Douay–Rheims Version, Rheims–Douai Bible or Douai Bible, and abbreviated as D–R, DRB, and DRV, is a translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English made by member ...

) is a biblical river in

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

. It is the less important of the two rivers of

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

mentioned in the Book of Kings (2 Kings 5:12), now generally identified with the A‘waj (literally, 'crooked'), although if the reference to Damascus is limited to the city, as in 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 ...

version of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, Pharpar would be the modern Taura. In the early

Baedeker Guides ''Baedeker Guides'' are travel guide books published by the Karl Baedeker firm of Germany beginning in the 1830s. List of Baedeker guides by year of publication 1850s (in German) * * * * * * 1860s * * * * ** ** ** * * . * . * ...

it was identified as the Al-Sabirani, a fairly downstream tributary of the A`waj. The stream runs from west to east, flowing from

Hermon Mount Hermon ( ar, جبل الشيخ or جبل حرمون / ALA-LC: ''Jabal al-Shaykh'' ("Mountain of the Sheikh") or ''Jabal Haramun''; he, הַר חֶרְמוֹן, ''Har Hermon'') is a mountain cluster constituting the southern end of th ...

south of Damascus, and like its companion

Abana River , name_etymology = From ''barid'', meaning 'cold' in Semitic languages , image = Barada river in Damascus (April 2009).jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Barada river in Damascus near the Four Seasons Hote ...

travels across the plain of Damascus, which owes to them much of its fertility. The river loses itself in marshes, or ''Lakes of the Marj'', as they are called, on the borders of the great Arabian Desert. John MacGregor, who gives a description of it in his book ''Rob Roy on the

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 ...

'', affirmed that as a work of

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...

, the system and construction of the canals, by which the Pharpar and Abana were used for

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

, might be considered as one of the most complete and extensive in the world. In the Bible,

Naaman Naaman ( he, נַעֲמָן ''Naʿămān'', "pleasantness") the Aramean was a commander of the armies of Ben-Hadad II, the king of Aram-Damascus, in the time of Joram, king of Israel. According to the Bible, Naaman was a commander of the army ...

exclaims that the Abana and Pharpar are greater than all the waters of

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 ...

(2 Kings 5:12).

References

* Rivers of Syria Hebrew Bible rivers Geography of Damascus {{Syria-river-stub

See also

References