Taninim

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Nahal Taninim
Wadi al-Zarqa
The Taninim at Ma'agan Micha'el

The Taninim at Ma'agan Micha'el

Data
location Israel
River system Taninim
source salty springs of En Timsach
muzzle at Ma'agan Micha'el in the Mediterranean Coordinates: 32 ° 32 ′ 25 "  N , 34 ° 54 ′ 5"  E 32 ° 32 ′ 25 "  N , 34 ° 54 ′ 5"  E

length 25 km
Catchment area 200 km²
Taninim River

The Taninim ( Hebrew נַחַל תַּנִּינִים Nachal Tannīnīm , German 'Bach der Krokodile' , ancient Greek Κροκοδείλων , Arabic وادي الزرقاء' DMG Wādī az-Zarqā' '  Blue River') is a river in Israel that flows into the Mediterranean north of Caesarea Maritima near Ma'agan Micha'el , as well as the name of a nature reserve and the ancient settlement of Tel Taninim on a rocky promontory on the south bank the Taninim estuary. The name of the water is a reference to the fact that the Kebara swamps of the Taninim were once habitat for crocodiles . The last reptiles left in the wild were sighted around 1905.

Nahal Taninim

The Taninim rises in the salty springs of En Timsach. Since its water was therefore not usable for drinking water supply or agriculture , the spring was not included in the national water project that was implemented in the 1960s. Also because no industrial or agricultural pollution has taken place so far, the Taninim is considered to be the cleanest of Israel's coastal rivers. With its tributaries Ada, Alona, ​​Barkan and Mischmarot, the Taninim drains a total area of ​​200 km².

In the late Roman and Byzantine times, a dam was built, which at that time dammed a 6 km² lake. From the Taninim or the Kebara Marshes, water was conducted to Caesarea, the aqueducts are still to be found north of Caesarea, at the Taninim estuary and inland between Jisr az-Zarqa and Beit Hanania. The Kebara swamps are now largely drained, and the land obtained is mainly used for agriculture by the Ma'agan Micha'el kibbutz . A small section of swamp has been preserved and is now part of the Taninim Nature Reserve .

After a stretch of river of 25 km, the Taninim flows into the Mediterranean at Jisr az-Zarqa.

Taninim Nature Reserve

The INPA set up the Taninim Nature Reserve with the assistance of the Carmel Drainage Authority, the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Ministry of Environment. It is located in a flat section of land between the coastline and the western flank of Mount Carmel , west of Zichron Ya'akov . The nature reserve includes a section of the Taninim river and the remains of the Byzantine dam.

The remains of the 193 m long dam wall were discovered by accident during the winter flooding of 1991/1992. Heavy rainfall had led to widespread flooding and damage to agriculture. During the flood protection measures that were then initiated, the dam was completely sunk in the dirt. Further archaeological excavations brought to light the large-scale Byzantine waterworks, which in addition to the dam also includes aqueducts, water lifts and mills.

Tel Taninim

Tel Taninim, in Arabic Tell al-Milat , was a settlement inhabited from the Persian period to the early Ottoman period . The oldest finds point to a Phoenician foundation in the 5th century BC. At that time this coastal area belonged to the Kingdom of Sidon, which was a vassal empire of the Persians.

The place was called Krokodeilonpolis in the Hellenistic period . Presumably it is also the place called Migdal Malha in the Jerusalem Talmud . In Byzantine times, Tel Taninim was the northern boundary of Caesarea. The Latin name is Turris Salinarum , a translation of the Aramaic name which means salt tower. This name was used until the crusader era.

While the Hellenistic and Hebrew name of the place refers to the crocodiles formerly native to the river, the Latin and Aramaic name refers to the economic importance: Tel Taninim was an ancient center for the production of sea salt, which was produced in evaporation basins behind the coastline. Another branch of the economy was fish farming and fish processing into salted fish. A fresh water basin system was created for fish farming, which was fed from the aqueducts and was in operation from the 4th to the end of the 7th century AD. The supply via the aqueducts collapsed in the 6th century, after which wells were dug and the supply of groundwater continued.

The first excavations were carried out in 1979 when the western part of the Tel threatened to be lost due to erosion. The remains of Byzantine buildings were uncovered. From 1996 to 1999 Robert Stieglitz of Rutgers University led large-scale archaeological research. The first Phoenician and Hellenistic settlement was probably devastated by a flood and only rebuilt in Byzantine times.

literature

Web links

Commons : Taninim  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Israel Ministry of Environment
  2. ↑ a b c Nahal Tanin in the Master Plan (PDF)
  3. ↑ a b c Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land , p. 491
  4. ↑ a b Trekker
  5. ↑ B&B in Israel ( Memento of the original from April 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. News of May 6, 2005 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bb-israel.com
  6. ↑ Taninim Nature Reserve  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at INPA@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.parks.org.il  
  7. ^ Aqueducts and Tunnels by SightseeingIsrael.com