Golan Heights | QuickiWiki
Posted By admin on July 8, 2015
Farms in the Golan Heights
Arabic names are Jawln[22] and Djolan (Arabic: ).[23] In the Bible Golan is mentioned as a city of refuge located in Bashan: Deuteronomy 4:43, Joshua 20:8, 1Chronicles 6:71.[24] Nineteenth-century authors interpreted the word "Golan" (Hebrew: ) as meaning "something surrounded, hence a district".[25][26] The Greek name for the region is Gaulanitis (Greek: ).[22] In the Mishna the name is Gabln similar to Aramaic language names for the region: Gawlna, Guwlana and Gubln.[22]
Arab cartographers of the Byzantine period referred to the area as jabal (mountain), though the region is a plateau.[27] The Muslims took over in 7th century CE.[22] The 1906 Jewish Encyclopedia refers to the region as Gaulonitis.[28] The name Golan Heights was not used before the 19th century.[24]
The Golan Heights borders Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. According to Israel, it has captured 1,150 square kilometres (440sqmi). [29] According to Syria the Golan Heights measures 1,860 square kilometres (718sqmi), of which 1,500km2 (580sqmi) are occupied by Israel.[30] According to the CIA, Israel holds 1,300 square kilometres (500sqmi)[21]
The area is hilly and elevated, overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River and 2,743.2 metres (9,000ft) tall Mount Hermon.[31] The plateau has an average altitude of 1,000 metres (3,300ft) and an area totaling 1,800 square kilometres (690sqmi), and straddles the boundary between Syria and Israeli-held territory. Elevations range from 2,814 metres (9,232ft) in the north at Mount Hermon, to below sea level along the Sea of Galilee and the Yarmuk River in the south.[21] The plateau that Israel controls is part of a larger area of volcanic basalt fields stretching north and east that were created in the series of volcanic eruptions that began recently in geological terms, almost 4 million years ago, and continue to this day. It has distinct geographic boundaries. On the north, the Sa'ar valley (Banias) generally divides the lighter-colored limestone bedrock of the mountains from the dark-colored volcanic rocks of the Golan plateau. The western border of the plateau is truncated structurally by the Jordan Rift Valley, which falls down steeply into the lake. The southern border is lined by the Yarmuk River, which separates the plateau from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Finally, the east end of Golan Heights is carved out by the Raqqad river (Wadi Ruqqad) and areas still controlled by Syria.[32]
Panorama showing The upper Golan Heights and Mt. Hermon with the Hula Valley to the left
The plateau's north-south length is approximately 65 kilometres (40mi) and its east-west width varies from 12 kilometres (7.5mi) to 25 kilometres (16mi).[33][34]Topographically, the Golan Heights ranges in elevation from 2,814 metres (9,232ft) on Mount Hermon in the north, to about 400 metres (1,300ft) elevation along the Yarmuk River in the south. Lake Kinneret (also known as Sea of Galilee, Lake Tiberias) at the southwest corner of the plateau is 200 metres (660ft) below sea level. The steeper, more rugged topography is generally limited to the northern half, including Mount Hermon foothills; on the south the plateau is more level.[33]
The broader Golan plateau exhibits a more subdued topography, generally ranging between 120 metres (390ft) and 520 metres (1,710ft) in elevation. In Israel, the Golan plateau is divided into three regions: northern (between the Sa'ar and Jilabun valleys), central (between the Jilabun and Daliyot valleys), and southern (between the Dlayot and Yarmouk valleys). The Golan Heights is bordered on the west by a rock escarpment that drops 500 metres (1,600ft) to the Jordan River valley and the Sea of Galilee. In the south, the incised Yarmouk River valley marks the limits of the plateau and, east of the abandoned railroad bridge upstream of Hamat Gader and Al Hammah, it marks the recognised international border between Syria and Jordan.[35]
Geologically, the Golan plateau and the Hauran plain to the east constitute a Holocene volcanic field that also extends northeast almost to Damascus. Much of the area is scattered with dormant volcanos, as well as cinder cones, such as Majdal Shams. The plateau also contains a crater lake, called Birkat Ram ("Ram Pool"), which is fed by both surface runoff and underground springs. These volcanic areas are characterised by basalt bedrock and dark soils derived from its weathering. The basalt flows overlie older, distinctly lighter-colored limestones and marls, exposed along the Yarmouk River in the south.
The rock forming the mountainous area in the northern Golan Heights, descending from Mount Hermon, differs geologically from the volcanic rocks of the plateau and has a different physiography. The mountains are characterised by lighter-colored, Jurassic-age limestone of sedimentary origin. Locally, the limestone is broken by faults and solution channels to form a karst-like topography in which springs are common.
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