Comments | dhole: For the Israelis.

dhole

For the Israelis.

Oct 22, 2012 20:09

In Syria there is a region known as Phœnice, adjoining to Judæa, and enclosing, between the lower ridges of Mount Carmelus, a marshy district known by the name of Cendebia. In this district, it is supposed, rises the river Belus, which, after a course of five miles, empties itself into the sea near the colony of Ptolemaïs. The tide of this river is ( Read more... )

Comments 5

seawasp October 22 2012, 18:29:07 UTC

Pliny the Elder knew, obviously!

del_c October 22 2012, 20:08:52 UTC

Presumably its being unwholesome is related to its being "sluggish". In modern language we talk about the "residence time" of an estuary. The longer the residence time, the worse an idea it is to dump stuff in the river.

dhole October 25 2012, 08:53:59 UTC

Right. That's part of why it's funny--partly because of that, and partly because of the general middle-eastern disregard for environmental concerns, the Kishon river is hilariously polluted. It's not as bad as it was in the 70s and 80s, when contact with the "water" in the Kishon could cause chemical burns, but it's still at the level of "if you drink this, seek medical attention immediately."

del_c October 25 2012, 16:45:55 UTC

I saw in the wikipedia article that it flows into what they described as one of the best bays on that side of the Mediterranean. Is that where the Phoenicians started out from?

dhole October 27 2012, 20:50:03 UTC

As far as I know, Haifa bay wasn't heavily used until the 20th century--the major Bronze Age port there was Tel Abu Hawam, which was a good ways up the Kishon. It's probably an issue with the scale of the bay--for the sort of ships that you had during the Bronze and Iron ages, the smaller bays near Sidon or Tyre were more useful than the deep-water Haifa bay.