Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition

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al-Urdunn
(7,466 words)

, the Arabic name for the Jordan River, used also from early Islamic times onwards to designate the regions adjacent to the river’s course.

1. The river

This appears in Arabic as the nahr al-Urdunn , in Old Testament and later Hebrew as ha-ϒardēn , and in the Septuagint and the classical geographers as ô ’Ιορδάνης. After the Crusading period, local Arabic usage often referred to it as al-S̲h̲arīʿa [ al-kabīra ] “the [Great] watering-place”. It was, and still is, revered by Jews, Christians and Muslims, by Christians in particular on account of Christ’s baptism at …

Cite this page
Buhl, F., Bosworth, C.E., Cobb, P.M., Bosworth C.E. and Wilson, Mary C., “al-Urdunn”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_1297>
First published online: 2012
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004161214, 1960-2007



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