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25-399: The Jordanian Highlands extend about 300 km north to south. The highlands are bounded on the north by the deeply-incised Yarmouk River valley, which forms part of the border between Jordan and Syria . They extend to south to Jordan's border with Saudi Arabia . From the plateau to the east the highlands appear as a series of hills. To the west the highlands drop steeply 1,000 meters or more to

50-512: A natural border between the plains to the north - Hauran, Bashan and Golan - and the Gilead mountains to the south. Thus it has often served as boundary line between political entities. The Yarmukian is a Pottery Neolithic culture that inhabited parts of Israel and Jordan. Its type site is at Sha'ar HaGolan , on the river mouth. Early Bronze Age I is represented in the Golan only in

75-492: Is a chamaeophyte that grows to 20–40 cm (8–16 in). Leaves are strongly aromatic and covered with fine glandular hairs that reflect sunlight giving a grayish aspect to the shrub. The leaves of sterile shoots are grey, petiolate , ovate to orbicular in outline; whereas, the leaves of flowering stems, more abundant in winter, are much smaller. The flowering heads are sessile , oblong and tapering at base. The plant flowers from September to December. The receptacle

100-786: Is a narrower steppe zone on the western slopes between the upper-elevation Mediterranean forests and the lower-elevation deserts of the Jordan Rift Valley. Predominant steppe plants are low shrubs, particularly Artemisia herba-alba , and grasses. Desert vegetation is found in the Jordan Rift Valley, the southern highlands, and the eastern plateau where average annual rainfall is 200 mm or less. Yarmouk River The Yarmuk River ( Arabic : نهر اليرموك , romanized :  Nahr al-Yarmūk , Hebrew : נְהַר הַיַּרְמוּךְ ‎ , romanized :  Nəhar hayYarmūḵ ; Greek : Ἱερομύκης, Hieromýkēs ; Latin : Hieromyces or Heromicas ; sometimes spelled Yarmouk )

125-830: Is good fodder for grazing animals, mainly sheep, and in the Algerian steppes cattle. This species of sagebrush is widely used in herbal medicine for its antiseptic , vermifuge and antispasmodic properties. Artemisia herba-alba was reported as a traditional remedy of enteritis , and various intestinal disturbances, among the Bedouins in the Negev desert. Based on laboratory assays, essential oil showed antibacterial activity, as well as, antispasmodic activity on rabbits and cytotoxic effect on cancer cells. Artemisia herba-alba based teas were used in Iraqi folk medicine for

150-727: Is naked with 2–5 yellowish hermaphrodite flowers per head. Essential oil of A. herba-alba , from the Sinai Desert , contains mainly 1,8-cineole and appreciable amounts of α- / β- thujone as well as other oxygenated monoterpenes including terpinen-4-ol , camphor and borneol . Davanone , chrysanthenone and cis-chrysanthenol have been described as major constituents in some populations of A. herba-alba from Morocco and Spain. Less common non-head-to-tail monoterpene alcohols have been identified in some populations from Negev desert, such as santolina alcohol and yomogi alcohol. Several sesquiterpene lactones were found in

175-697: 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. Yarmuk forms

200-524: Is the largest city in this portion, near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The ancient city of Petra is also in this portion of the highlands, on the western side of the highlands facing Wadi Araba. The highlands were formed by relatively recent ( Neogene – Quaternary ) tectonic events, as the northwestern rim of the Arabian Plate was uplifted as it moves northward and clockwise. The climate of

225-672: Is used as an antiseptic and antispasmodic in herbal medicine . Its specific epithet herba-alba means "white herb" in Latin , as its stems and leaves are white and woolly. Similarly, it is armoise herbe-blanche or armoise blanche in French. In Arabic , it is shīeḥ ( الشيح ). And it is la'anah ( לענה ) in Old Testament Hebrew . "Wormwood" (in the Bible, Rev. 8:10–11). Artemisia herba-alba

250-587: The Hebrew Bible , might have set their boundary line along the Yarmouk occasionally. Under the Assyrian and Persian empires the province of Ashteroth Karnaim laid to the north, and that of Gal'azu (Gilead) to the south. In Hellenistic times, the territory of Hippos was across from those of Gadara and Abila (Abel) on the south, while Dion sat on the eastern tributaries. When Pompey conquered

275-619: The Jordan Rift Valley , which contains the Jordan River and the Dead Sea , a saline lake with a surface below sea level. Elevation of the higher peaks ranges from over 1,200 meters in the north to 1,700 meters at Jebel Mubarak in the south. The highlands are crossed by several east–west wadis, or canyons, carved by permanent or intermittent streams. The northern wadis empty into the Jordan River , which flows southward into

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300-641: The 2000s. There are political agreements between Jordan and Syria (1953 and 1987) and between Jordan and Israel (1994), about the management and allocation of the shared waters of the Yarmouk. Artemisia herba-alba Artemisia herba-alba , the white wormwood , is a perennial shrub in the genus Artemisia that grows commonly on the dry steppes of the Mediterranean regions in Northern Africa (Saharan Maghreb ), Western Asia ( Arabian Peninsula ) and Southwestern Europe . It

325-671: The Dead Sea. The southern wadis empty into the Wadi Araba , which flows northward into the Dead Sea. The highlands are divided into three main portions. The northern portion is called the Sawad al-Urdunn , ‘the arable land of the [River] Jordan’, and lies between the Yarmouk River on the north and the Zarqa River on the south. Both rivers are tributaries of the Jordan River. Irbid , Jordan's second largest city, and Ajloun are

350-470: The Highlands ranges from north to south and with elevation. Towards the north and west and at higher elevations a Mediterranean climate prevails, with mild rainy winters and hot, dry summers. A desert climate prevails towards the east and south and at lower elevations. The rainy season extends from October to May, with the heaviest rainfall between November and March. Rainfall ranges from 600 mm annually in

375-404: The aerial parts of A. herba-alba . Mainly, eudesmanolides and germacranolides types were reported in most cases. A variety of flavonoids were also described mainly with methylated (i.e. patuletin ) and O -methylated (i.e. hispidulin , cirsilineol ) aglycones. The presence of C -glycosides (i.e. isovitexin , schaftoside , isoschaftoside ) is also noticeable. Artemisia herba-alba

400-416: The area of the river. Abila (Tel Abil) is attested in the 14th-century BC Amarna Letters . This is possibly the case also for Geshur , assumed to have lain north of the river. Other historical cities on the course of the river are Dara'a , Hit , Jalin ; and the archaeological sites of Tell Shihab and Khirbet ed-Duweir (See Lo-debar ). The Aramean kingdoms and the northern Kingdom of Israel , of

425-584: The largest cities in this portion. The central portion is the Balqa Heights , which extend from the Zarqa River south to Wadi al-Mujib. Wadi-al-Mujib empties into the Dead Sea. Amman , Jordan's capital and largest city and the largest city in the highlands, is in this portion, as are the towns of Al-Salt and Madaba . The southern portion is called the Bilad al-Sharat or Jabal al-Sharat. Al-Karak

450-418: The lower-elevation steppe. The forests and woodlands have been reduced in area and degraded by centuries of deforestation and over-grazing by livestock. A semi-arid steppe zone lies between 600 and 800 meters elevation on the eastern slope of the mountains, where rainfall is between 200 and 350 mm annually. In the drier southern mountains the eastern steppe zone extends up to 1100 or 1200 meters elevation. There

475-439: The northern and southern parts of the highlands. Trees in the northern forests include Aleppo pine ( Pinus halepensis ), evergreen oaks ( Quercus calliprinos , Quercus infectoria , and Quercus ithaburensis ), and Arbutus andrachne . Forests and woodlands in the southern highlands include Quercus calliprinos , cypress ( Cupressus sempervirens ), juniper ( Juniperus phoenicea ), and pistachio ( Pistacia atlantica ). In

500-439: The northern mountains to 50 mm in the southernmost highlands and the eastern desert plateau. The western slopes and highest elevations are semi-arid to semi-humid, with average annual rainfall of 350 mm or more. The natural vegetation was Mediterranean forest, woodland, and scrub, occurring above 700 meters elevation in the northwest, and between 900 and 1700 meters elevation in the southwest. Forests and open woodlands are found in

525-581: The region in 64/63 BCE, he liberated the Hellenistic city of Gadara from Jewish Hasmonean rule (see also Decapolis ). It seems that one way they celebrated the event was by damming the Yarmuk and organising a naumachia as part of games held in honour of Pompey, possibly at what is now Hammat Gader . The Battle of the Yarmuk , where Muslim forces defeated those of the Byzantine Empire and gained control of Syria , took place north of

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550-804: The river in CE 636. A fork of the Hejaz Railway (connecting to the Jezreel Valley railway in Samakh ) ran in the river valley from 1905 to 1946. It was deprecated after being bombed by the Jewish Haganah in the Night of the Bridges on 16 June 1946. The hydroplant of Naharayim , on the confluence with Jordan River, served Mandatory Palestine from 1932 to 1948 . Today, the lower part of

575-533: The river, close to the Jordan Valley , forms part of the border between Israel and Jordan . Further upstream it forms part of the border between Syria and Jordan (a border largely inherited from the 1923 Franco-British Boundary Agreement ). The area of Al-Hamma , or Hamat Gader in the valley is held by Israel but claimed by Syria. The Al-Wehda Dam was constructed on the Jordan-Syria border in

600-404: The southern forests and woodlands oaks are found on limestone-derived soils, with open woodlands of juniper growing over sandstone. In the southern highlands there are shrublands of wild hawthorn ( Crataegus azarolus ), almond ( Amygdalus communis ), and pistachio, and acacia woodlands with Acacia spirocarpa and Acacia raddiana in the transition zone between the forests and woodlands and

625-615: The treatment of diabetes mellitus . An aqueous extract of aerial parts of the plant has shown a hypoglycemic effect in alloxan -induced diabetic rabbits and mice. Artemisia herba-alba is thought to be the plant translated as " wormwood " in English-language versions of the Bible ( apsinthos in the Greek text). Wormwood is mentioned seven times in the Jewish Bible , always with the implication of bitterness. Wormwood

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