Nahr al-Allan or Wadi al-Allan is a river in southern Syria which traditionally marks the natural boundary between the Hauran plain and the Golan Heights (though this boundary is alternatively placed at Nahr al-Ruqqad instead). [1] [2] The Allan is one of the tributaries of the Yarmuk, which marks part of the national border of Syria and Jordan.
The length of the Allan is about 19 kilometers (12 mi). [3]
The river flows southward from the foot of the Tell al-Hara mound (the highest point in the Hauran plain) through the stony, volcanic cone-covered country where the river has an altitude of approximately 440 meters (1,440 ft) above sea level. Here it is slightly lower than the roughly parallel Ruqqad river 5.5 kilometers (3.4 mi) to the Allan's west. The river's altitude declines to about 410 meters (1,350 ft) after it passes near the ruins of Beit Akkar then drops another 18 meters (59 ft) down a cliff. The river becomes narrow at this point and is joined by a ravine called the Wadi Beit Akkar. [4]
After about 0.8 kilometers (0.50 mi) the river again falls about 18 meters (59 ft) over a cliff. A little beyond this point it is joined by the stream historically known as Wadi Jabala. [5] The 'Wadi Jabala' no longer appears on modern maps but it is an ancient toponym named after the Ghassanid phylarch Jabala ibn al-Harith. [6] Around 2 miles (3.2 km) after the Allan passes Hayt it is joined by Nahr al-Harir (or Ehreir) and after a further 2 miles (3.2 km) the joint river terminates at the Yarmuk at an elevation of 55 meters (180 ft) above sea level. [7]
The Battle of the Yarmuk was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River, along what are now the borders of Syria–Jordan and Syria-Israel, southeast of the Sea of Galilee. The result of the battle was a decisive Muslim victory that ended Roman rule in Syria after about seven centuries. The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then-Christian/Roman Levant.
The National Water Carrier of Israel is the largest water project in Israel, completed in 1964. Its main purpose is to transfer water from the Sea of Galilee in the north of the country to the highly populated center and the arid south and to enable efficient use of water and regulation of the water supply in the country. It is about 130 kilometers (81 mi) long. Up to 72,000 cubic meters of water can flow through the carrier each hour, totalling 1.7 million cubic meters in a day.
The Hauran is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa field, to the south by Jordan's desert steppe and to the west by the Golan Heights. Traditionally, the Hauran consists of three subregions: the Nuqrah and Jaydur plains, the Jabal al-Druze massif, and the Lajat volcanic field. The population of the Hauran is largely Arab, but religiously heterogeneous; most inhabitants of the plains are Sunni Muslims belonging to large agrarian clans, while Druze form the majority in the eponymous Jabal al-Druze and a significant Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic minority inhabit the western foothills of Jabal al-Druze. The region's largest towns are Daraa, al-Ramtha and al-Suwayda.
The Yarmuk River is the largest tributary of the Jordan River. It runs in Jordan, Syria and Israel, and drains much of the Hauran plateau. Its main tributaries are the wadis of 'Allan and Ruqqad from the north, Ehreir and Zeizun from the east. Although the Yarmuk 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.
Mashta al-Helu is a town and resort in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 35 kilometers east of Tartus. Mashta al-Helu is situated in a verdant area on the eastern slopes of the an-Nusayriyah Mountains, the Syrian coastal mountain range, close to where the mountain give way to the basaltic plateaur of Jabal al-Helu. The town has an elevation of 465 meters (1,526 ft) above sea level. Nearby localities include Kafrun to the west, al-Malloua and al-Bariqiyah to the southwest, Habnamrah and Marmarita to the south, Hadiya to the southeast, Kafr Ram to the east, Ayn Halaqim to the northeast, Ayn al-Shams to the north and Duraykish to the northwest.
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The Ruqqad is a wadi flowing in south-west Syria, and de facto also in Northeast Israel. It flows into the Yarmouk River, of which it is one of the main tributaries, and forms the topographical eastern boundary of the Golan Heights. It marks the south-east part of the de facto border between the Israel-annexed part of the Golan Heights and the Syrian-held part of the region.
Saham al-Jawlan or Saham el-Golan is a Syrian village in the Daraa Governorate, in the Hauran region. It had a population of 6,572 in 2004. Most residents work in the cultivation of cereals, olives and vegetables.
Tell Shihab is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located northwest of Daraa on the Jordan-Syria border. Nearby localities include al-Shaykh Saad and Nawa to the north, Muzayrib, Da'el and Tafas to the northeast, and al-Yadudah to the east. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tell Shihab had a population of 9,430 in the 2004 census.
Wadi Sirhan is a wide depression in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula. It runs from the Aljouf Oasis in Saudi Arabia northwestward into Jordan. It historically served as a major trade and transportation route between Syria and Arabia. From antiquity until the early 20th century, control of Wadi Sirhan was often contested by various Arab tribes. The valley is named after the Sirhan tribe which migrated there in the mid-17th century.
Tasil is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Izra District of the Daraa Governorate. Nearby localities include Nawa to the northeast, Adwan and al-Shaykh Saad to the east, Jalin and Tafas to the south, Saham al-Jawlan to the southwest and Saida and the Golan Heights to the west. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Tasil had a population of 15,985 in the 2004 census. It is the administrative center of a nahiyah ("subdistrict") consisting of three localities with a combined population of 17,778 in 2004.
Al-Shajara is a town in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located west of Daraa, in between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Jordan. Nearby localities include Saham al-Jawlan to the east, Nafia to the north, Jamla to the northwest and Beit Ara to the southwest. The village center has an elevation of 410 meters (1,350 ft) above sea level.
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Tell al-Ḥāra, formerly known as Ḥārith al-Jawlān or Jabal Ḥārith, is the highest point in the Daraa Governorate. During the Arab–Israeli conflict and the Syrian Civil War, it has served as a highly strategic military position because it overlooks wide areas of the Golan Heights and Hauran regions. The closest population center is the town of al-Hara, located at the hill's southeastern foot.
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Beit Ara is a village in southern Syria, administratively part of the Daraa Governorate, located west of Daraa. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics, Beit Ara had a population of 1,878 in the 2004 census. It is situated 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) north of the Yarmuk River and 22 kilometers (14 mi) south of Tafas.
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