The Banias (Arabic: نهر بانياس, romanized: Nahr Baniyas; Hebrew: נחל חרמון, romanized: Nahal Hermon)[3] is a river flowing from the Golan Heights to Israel. It is the easternmost of the three main northern tributaries of the Jordan River; together with the Dan River and the Hasbani River, it forms the Jordan River's upper catchment (UCJR).[4] Israel has included the stream in the Hermon nature reserve.
Banias River | |
---|---|
Physical characteristics | |
Source | |
• location | Banias spring[1] |
• coordinates | 33°14′55″N 35°41′40″E / 33.24861°N 35.69444°E |
Mouth | |
• location | Dan River |
• coordinates | 33°11′45″N 35°37′32″E / 33.1957°N 35.6256°E |
Length | 9 km |
Basin features | |
River system | Upper Catchment of the Jordan River |
Tributaries | |
• left | Sa'ar Stream Pera' Stream |
• right | Guvta Stream Sion Stream[2] |
The main source of the Banias River is the Banias spring, located at the southern base of the Hermon mountain range and contributing a discharge of 67·million m3 annually. From there the stream flows south for nine kilometers before draining into the Dan River just north of Sde Nehemia.[1][5] Along the way, it drains the Guvta Stream (right), the Sa'ar Stream (left), the Pera' Stream (left), and the Sion (Ar.: el-'Asl[6]) Stream (right), with a total drainage area of 158 km2. The total annual streamflow of the river comes to 106 million m3.[4]
The banks of the river abound in willow trees, oriental planes, silver-leaf poplars, Tabor oaks, Palestine oaks, Mt. Atlas mastics, terebinths, carobs, ferns, giant canes, and various vines.
The stream is home to a variety of fluvial fish, including longhead barbel, large-scale barbel, Damascus barbel, and tilapia. Living and roaming around the stream or in it are wild boars, Syrian rock hyrax, swamp cats, nutria, and Indian porcupines.[7]
Birds that frequent the vicinity of the stream include rock doves and Western rock nuthatch.[8]
Banias Spring is the spring contributing most of the discharge to the Hermon stream.
Rainfall and snowmelt of Mt. Hermon recharge the main tributaries of the UCJR: (1) Dan (252 x 106 m3 annually); (2) Snir also known as Hatzbani (118 x 106 m3); and (3) Hermon also known as Banias (106 x 106 m3) (Table 2 and Fig. 2).[dead link]
Nine kilometers from its source, the Hermon Stream meets the Dan, and together they form the Jordan River.
במי הנחל רבים הדגים, ביניהם: בינית-ארֻכת-רֹאש, בינית גדולת-הקשקשים, חפף, בינון, לבנונית ואמנוּן.
Sometimes, rock hyrax can be found, lying on the piled-up rocks, and flocks of rock doves nest in depths of caves. You can occasionally spot Neumayer's Rock Nuthatch, which flies from Mount Hermon, and black sweet-water snails (melanopsis praemorsa) lie on the floor of pools.