River of Palestine; its various sources rise in the mountains of Hauran and Jaulan; it flows generally west and empties into the Jordan four English miles south of the Lake of Gennesaret. Although it is narrow and shallow throughout its course, at its mouth it is nearly as wide as the Jordan, measuring thirty feet in breadth and five in depth. The Matthew Bridge, which crosses the Yarmuk at its confluence with the Jordan, and which is built of volcanic stones, is celebrated. According to R. Johanan, the Yarmuk was the second largest river in Palestine (B. B. 74b), but its water was not to be used for the water of atonement with the ashes of the red heifer (Parah 8:10).
Bibliography:
- Sepp, Jerusalem und das Heilige Land, 2:287 et seq., Regensburg, 1876;
- Schwartz, Palestine, p. 53, Philadelphia, 1850;
- Neubauer, G. T. p. 31;
- Ritter, Comparative Geography of Palestine, 2:299 et seq.
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The contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia, which was originally published between 1901-1906. The Jewish Encyclopedia, which recently became part of the public domain, contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations.
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