3. The Jordan Valley Region

This entrenched region stretches over the eastern part of Palestine from the Sheik mountains in the north to the Aqaba Gulf in the south. The eastern part of this prolonged region enters the Jordanian borders, while its western side enters the Palestinian lands.

The length of the Jordan Valley is more than 420 km long, and it is a subdivision of a major system that contains a group of entrenched successive valleys. That is, it is a very small part of the African-Asian system that stretches a distance of 6,000 km from the latitude 20 to the south in Mozambique to the northern latitude 45 in Turkey to contain 65 latitudinal degrees, i.e., a fifth of the earth's circumference.

The Jordan Valley is among the depressions that attract great attention all over the world. That is because the Dead Sea is located there, which is the lowest spot below the sea level in the entire world. The Jordan Valley begins at the Sheikh Mountain , ascending for about 160 metres above the sea level. No sooner than it starts to descend towards the south, where it reaches the height of 70 metres at Al-Huleh Lake (previously), and to the sea level at the bridge of Banat Ya'qoub on the Jordan River to the north of Tabarriyya Lake, then it descends below the sea level in Tabarriyya Lake, which is 212 metres below the sea level. Thereafter, it reaches the lowest level below the sea when it gets to the Dead Sea , which is 398 metres below sea level. The deepest point at the bottom of the Dead Sea is about 797 metres below sea level. Then the height of the land starts to increase the more it heads to the south of the Dead Sea , where the height reaches 240 metres above sea level. The Ajram area represents the dividing line between the waters of the Dead Sea to the north and the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aqaba ) to the south. The height of the land in the Araba valley starts to go down again to the south of Al-Ajram as it nears the Aqaba Gulf .

The Jordan Valley was formed out of the severe depressions and cracks that led to its collapse to the depths we see today. It was connected to the sea for a while, and then it was separated from it as the marine formations precipitated from underneath. In the raining age, part of the Jordan Valley was covered with the water in what was known then as the ancient Jordanian Lake , which stretched from the Tabarriyya Lake in the north to about 30 km to the south of the present Dead Sea . This Lake disappeared thousands of years before the historic period, and nothing remained from it but the Tabarriyya Lake and the Dead Sea . We concluded the existence of the lake by observing the marine precipitation of the formations of Marn El-Lisan . The Jordan River appeared and found its way into these formations.

We can distinguish between two levels of land in the Jordan Valley --the level of the depression and the level of Zour. The depression (Al-Ghor) is the higher of the two levels that is formed from the ancient marine precipitation and is mostly covered by new mud layers. As for the Zour, it is the lower level formed from the precipitation of the Jordan River . The height difference between the depression and the Zour is between 20 to 40 metres. They are separated from each other by a group of rough harsh lands known locally as the Al-Katar.

The width of the Jordan Valley varies from 5 km to the north of Aqaba to 35 km on the latitude of Areha to the north of the Dead Sea .

From its two mountain borders, the bottom of the Valley descends to the Jordan River , which is considered a natural drainage for the water streams in the Jordan Valley . The most important valleys that come to the Jordan Valley from the Palestinian mountain heights on their way to the Jordan River are the valleys of Hindaj, Amod, Al-Beera, Jaloud, Al Farei'a, Al-Maleha, Al-Aouja and Al-Qalt.

The valleys east of the Jordan River are Al-Yarmouk, Al Arab, Zeqlab, Al-Yabis, Kafernajja, Rajeb, Al-Jaram, Al-Zarqa, Shu'eeb, Al-Kufreen and Hasban. These are either dry or seasonal, or permanent valleys. Owing to the difference between the heights upon which these valleys run, they descend suddenly to the depression land unload much of their burden in what is known as the flooding fans surrounding their streams near the bases of the high mountains.

4. The Region Desert Mound (Al-Naqab)

This region is composed of a desert mound that stretches along the south of Palestine and takes the form of a triangle, whose basis connects the southern part of the Dead Sea and Gaza on the Mediterranean Sea . Its head is located at the Aqaba Gulf .

The area of the mountainous part of this mound is estimated to be 8,294 square kilometres, i.e., more than 79% of the total area of the mound. This mound is considered to be a junction between the Jerusalem mound and Hebron to the north and the mound of the Seena Peninsula to the south. It is also a southern expansion to the Palestinian heights, which represent the backbone of Palestine . This mound is also adjacent to the Araba valley in the east with a chain of harsh rough mountain borders from which the dry valleys descend on their way to the Araba valley. It then gradually descends to the west to the southern coastal plain, which receives a group of dry valleys on their way to the sea.

The shapes of the surface of the mound vary from the mountain chains and small mounds to the closed and small plains. The terrain is very rough and harsh, to the degree that some scientists describe it as the giants of Naqab instead of the mountains of Naqab.

The sharpness of the appearance of the terrain varies from one site to the other. It is low on the north as if it were a plain, with vast extremes especially the area that stretches to the west and south of Beer Sabe' City. However, it gets rougher to the south of Beer Sabe' in the area of middle Naqab where the heights increase to more than 1,000 metres above sea level.

It is interesting to note that the mountains to the southwest of Beer Sabe' are higher than those in the other areas of Naqab. These mountains represent a natural expansion to Seena's southern mountains, and its height ranges from between 600 and 1,035 metres above the sea level.

Ras El-Rumman (1,035 m), which lies at the Egyptian-Palestinian border, is considered the highest peak in these mountains. It is also the third highest Palestinian mountain.

These mountains are comprised of Ajrameyya (1,015 m), Quroun El-Rumman (1,006 m), Sammawi (1,006 m), Ras El-Kharashe (1,000 m), Kharouf (1,000 m), Areef (957 m) and Edeed (935 m). The mountains to the southeast of Beer Sabe' range in height between 500 and 844 metres, namely Abu Alaleeq (844 m), Huthera (716 m), Ras Erdeha (713 m), Haleqem (625 m) and Um Tarfa (525 m).

The desert mound sustained several depressions in some of its more ancient parts, especially in the middle Naqab. This resulted in the height inconsistencies of the level of the land.

The mound was subject to the influence of many dry valleys and to soil degradation, either by the wind or by water, resulting in the formation of precipitation of sand, mud and small stones. These precipitants moved to far distances, where they precipitated again over wide areas of the northern Naqab, whether in Beer Sabe' or the eastern, northern or western sides of the Naqab itself. These precipitants resulted in the formation of what is known as the bow desert soil, which is basically composed of sand and small stones.

Climate and Water

The climate of Palestine fluctuates between the climate of the Mediterranean Sea and a desert climate. It is affected by both the sea and the desert. The climate of the sea dominates, though there are times in which it is influenced by the desert climate.

Source: The Palestinian Information Center