Na'aman River
{{short description|Stream in northwestern Israel}}
File:עין נעמן - גידול דגים-JNF037174.jpeg
File:PikiWiki Israel 13847 Cruising in Naaman..jpg
The Na'aman ({{langx|he|נחל נעמן}}, Nahal Na'aman) or Na'mein River ({{langx|ar|نهر النعامين}}, Nahr Na'mein)[https://books.google.com/books?id=H6A_AAAAYAAJ&dq=nahr+namein&pg=PA131 The Survey of Western Palestine: A General Index, Volume 1, p.131, Palestine Exploration Fund (1888)] is a stream in northwestern Israel. To the ancient writers Pliny, Tacitus, and Josephus, it was known as the Belus (Latin) or Belos River ({{langx|grc|Βῆλος}}, Bē̂los) of Phoenicia.{{cite book |title=Roman Mold-Blown Glass: The First through Sixth Centuries |author=E. Marianne Stern |year=1995 |location=Rome |publisher=L'Erma di Bretschneider with The Toledo Museum of Art |page=23 |isbn=88-7062-916-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8a5acebpRz8C&q=%22Belus+river%22&pg=PA23 |quote=the Belus River in ancient Phoenicia |access-date=8 December 2015 }}{{cite book |title= The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa |author=Getzel M. Cohen |year=2006 |publisher=University of California Press |page=145 |isbn=9780520241480 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RqdPcxuNthcC&q=belos |access-date=8 December 2015 }}
Course
The Na'aman River originates from springs near Ein Afek (primarily Ein Nymphit) and flows through the Zebulun Valley from south to north before emptying into the Bay of Haifa (formerly Bay of Acre) south of Acre (Akko) on the Mediterranean Sea.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} It previously flowed directly south of Tel Akko (the site of ancient Acre) but has shifted over time to be about {{convert|800|m|sp=us}} away.
The En Afek Nature Reserve near the Haifa Bay suburb of Kiryat Bialik, is the last remnant of the Nahal Na'aman wetlands.[https://en.parks.org.il/reserve-park/en-afek-nature-reserve/ "En Afek Nature Reserve"]
History
Once known as Belus or Belos, the river is mentioned by Isidore of Seville.[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/L/Roman/Texts/Isidore/16*.html#16 Etymologiae] According to the legend, this is where glass-making was invented. Tacitus also mentions glassmaking at the Belus. Pliny the Elder (Natural History, 5.19), using the name 'Pacida', mentions that the river flowed from Lake Cendevia (now below Mount Carmel) for {{convert|5|mi|km}} to the sea near "Ptolemais Ace" (Acre, Israel), and that it was celebrated for its vitreous sands. The name is based on Baal.{{cite book |author=Edward Lipiński |title=Itineraria Phoenicia |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=SLSzNfdcqfoC&pg=PA15 |year=2004 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-429-1344-8 |page=15}}
See also
References
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{{Coord|32|52|37.56|N|35|6|23.9|E|display=title}}