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The Jordan River

The Jordan River at Yardenit, Galilee, Northern Israel. Photograph by Todd Bolen.

The Jordan River flows 156 miles south from the Sea of Galilee, along the border between the kingdom of Jordan and Israel and the West Bank before terminating in the Dead Sea. The Jordan has powerful meaning in both Judaism and Christianity. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelites crossed the Jordan in order to enter the promised land. For Christians the river is the site where Jesus was baptized. Today the river is heavily charged as a political and symbolic border between Israelis and Palestinians. This photograph, taken near Yardenit, is a modern-day baptism site created by the Israeli Ministry of Tourism.

The Jordan River at Yardenit, Galilee, Northern Israel.

A West Semitic language, in which most of the Hebrew Bible is written except for parts of Daniel and Ezra. Hebrew is regarded as the spoken language of ancient Israel but is largely replaced by Aramaic in the Persian period.

The religion and culture of Jews. It emerged as the descendant of ancient Israelite Religion, and is characterized by monotheism and an adherence to the laws present in the Written Torah (the Bible) and the Oral Torah (Talmudic/Rabbinic tradition).

The land that Yahweh promised to Abraham in Genesis, also called Canaan.

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