Editing Jordan River (section)

==Etymology==
Several hypotheses for the origin of most of the river's names in modern languages (e.g., Jordan, Yarden, Urdunn), one is that it comes from Semitic 'Yard|on' 'flow down' <√ירד reflecting the river's declivity, possibly appearing also in other river names in the region such as [[Yarkon River|Yarkon]] and  [[Yarmouk River|Yarmouk]], or it may be related to the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] loanword  'yǝʾor' ('big river',  the [[Nile]]).<ref name="rahkonen">{{cite journal |last1=Rahkonen |first1=Pauli Ensio Juhani |title="Canaanites" or "Amorites"? A Study on Semitic toponyms of the second millennium BC in the Land of Canaan |journal=Studia Orientalia Electronica |date=11 October 2016 |volume=4 |pages=108–130 |url=https://journal.fi/store/article/view/46542 |language=en |issn=2323-5209 |access-date=25 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725183831/https://journal.fi/store/article/view/46542 |archive-date=25 July 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to this hypothesis, "Den" might be linked to the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] word [[Dan (cuneiform)|dannum]] for "powerful".<ref>Gelb, I. J. (1973). Glossary of Old Akkadian. University of Chicago Press.</ref>  Cognates of the word are found in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]], and other [[Semitic languages]].<ref name="etm1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC|title=Mercer Dictionary of the Bible|access-date=15 June 2018|year=1990|pages=466–467, 928|first1=Watson E.|last1=Mills|first2=Roger Aubrey|last2=Bullard|publisher=Mercer University Press|isbn=978-0-86554-373-7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018095243/https://books.google.com/books?id=goq0VWw9rGIC|archive-date=18 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The first recorded use of the name appears as ''Yārdon'' in [[Papyrus Anastasi I|Anastasi I]], an ancient Egyptian [[papyrus]] that probably dates to the time of [[Rameses II]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dGFtAAAAMAAJ|title=Canaanite toponyms in ancient Egyptian documents|access-date=15 June 2018|year=1984|first1=Shmuel|last1=Aḥituv|publisher=Magnes Press|page=123|isbn=978-965-223-565-7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018095621/https://books.google.com/books/about/Canaanite_toponyms_in_ancient_Egyptian_d.html?id=dGFtAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=18 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Early Arab chronicles referred to the river as ''Al-Urdunn''.<ref name="etm2">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lest|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A. D. 650 To 1500|page=[https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lest/page/52 52]|publisher=Alexander P. Watt for the Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|first=Guy|last=Le Strange|date=1890|access-date=15 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005052930/http://www.archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lest|archive-date=2010-10-05|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]], the etymologically related term ''[[yardna|Yardena]]'' ({{langx|myz|ࡉࡀࡓࡃࡍࡀ}}) can refer not only to the Jordan River, but also any other body of flowing water that can be used for Mandaean baptismal rituals (''[[masbuta]]'').<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=978-0-19-515385-9|oclc=65198443}}</ref>

After the [[Crusades]], the Arabic name ''Nahr Al Sharieat'' ({{langx|ar| نهر الشريعة}}), literally "the watering place" began to be used,<ref name="etm2"/> and was recorded by medieval geographers such as [[Abu'l-Fida]] and [[Al-Dimashqi (geographer)|Al-Dimashqi]].<ref name="etm2"/> The name was shown in various forms on most [[Cartography of Palestine#Notable 19th century maps|notable 19th century maps of the region]] and is described by [[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Edward Robinson]] in his ''[[Biblical Researches in Palestine]]''.<ref>Robinson, p.[https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearc00smitgoog/page/n279/mode/1up 257]</ref><ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/167/mode/1up 167] (= SWP map 9): ''Esh Sheriah'': The watering-place. This is the modern title of Jordan. The root means also to ´flow straight on or through: Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/350/mode/1up 350] (= SWP map 18): ''Esh Sheriah'': The watering-place.  The Jordan. In literary Arabic it is called ''Urdunna''.</ref> Although historical sources do not appear to make this distinction, it is described in some modern sources as the name for the part of the river before it flows into the Sea of Galilee.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Development of the Jordan River|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8_dQAQAAMAAJ|year=1961|publisher=Arab Information Center|page=2|quote=The River is composed of two important sections, the al-Sharea and the Jordan. The al-Sharea River, which is the name of the Jordan before it enters Lake Tiberias, descends from a height of 230 feet above sea level to Tiberias|access-date=2020-03-01|archive-date=2023-11-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231114203010/https://books.google.com/books?id=8_dQAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>