Na'aman River

Na'aman River, (Hebrew: נחל נעמן‎, romanized: Nahal Na'aman; Arabic: نهر النعامين‎, romanized: Nahr Na'mein),[1] is a stream in northwestern Israel. To the ancient writers Pliny, Tacitus and Josephus it was known as the Belus or Belos River of Phoenicia.[2][3]

Nahal Na'aman

The Na'aman River today originates from springs near Ein Afek, primarily Ein Nymphit, and flows through the Zebulun Valley from south to north, before emptying into the Bay of Haifa (formerly Bay of Acre) south of Acre (Akko) on the Mediterranean Sea.

History

Once known as Belus or Belos, the river is mentioned by Isidore of Seville.[4] According to the legend, this is where glass-making was invented. Tacitus also mentions glassmaking at the Belus. Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 5.19), using the name 'Pacida', mentions that the river flowed from Lake Cendevia (now below Mount Carmel) for 5 miles (8.0 km) to the sea near "Ptolemais Ace" (Acre, Israel), and that it was celebrated for its vitreous sands. The name is based on Baal.[5]

Ein Naaman fish ponds 1927
Rowing on Na'aman River, c. 1940-1950

Wetlands

The En Afek Nature Reserve near the Haifa Bay suburb of Kiryat Bialik, is the last remnant of the Nahal Na'aman wetlands.[6]

References
  1. The Survey of Western Palestine: A General Index, Volume 1, p.131, Palestine Exploration Fund (1888)
  2. E Marianne Stern (1995). Roman Mold-blown Glass: The First Through Sixth Centuries. Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider with The Toledo Museum of Art. p. 23. ISBN 88-7062-916-3. Retrieved 8 December 2015. the Belus River in ancient Phoenicia
  3. Getzel M. Cohen (2006). The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa. University of California Press. p. 145. ISBN 9780520241480. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  4. Etymologiae
  5. Edward Lipiński (2004). Itineraria Phoenicia. Peeters Publishers. p. 15. ISBN 978-90-429-1344-8.
  6. En Afek Nature Reserve


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