Jordan River stops flowing

Description

Where the Jordan River stopped

 

This map illustrates the dramatic moment recorded in Joshua 3, when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land. As the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant stepped into the water, the river stopped flowing—piling up far upstream near the town of Adam (modern Damia), allowing the people to cross on dry ground near Jericho.

The map traces the likely route from Acacia Grove (Shittim) across the Jordan River at a shallow ford, toward Gilgal and Jericho. It also highlights the key geographical detail mentioned in Joshua 3:16: the waters “dammed up” at Adam, several miles north of the crossing point.

Modern parallels to the Bible's account

Okay, this is especially interesting.

Rockslides from cliffs above the Jordan River have dammed the water many times in recorded history, most recently in 1956. The entire river valley sits on a fault line, a crack in the earth’s shifting crust. In 1927, a devastating earthquake produced a landslide that blocked the river for 21 hours—incredibly, at what some scholars say is the same site Joshua reported: “Adam” (3:16). The location today is known by the similar-sounding name of Damiya. It’s about 20 miles (32 km) upstream from the fords near Jericho. The epicenter of that quake was somewhere near where the Israelites camped before crossing the river. Some scholars put the epicenter north of the camp, near the Damya Bridge some 15 miles (24 km) north of the southern fords of the river. Others place it beneath the Dead Sea, about 20 miles (30 km) south of the river fords. Split the difference and the epicenter would have been below where the feet of the Israelite priests reportedly stood more than 3,000 years ago, when the river stopped flowing for them.

This visual resource helps readers better understand both the geography and the historical plausibility of one of the Bible’s most memorable miracles—Israel’s entrance into the Promised Land.