Abana was one of the principal rivers of Damascus, later identified with the Barada. Rising in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, it supplied water and helped make the plain around Damascus fertile.
Definition
Abana was one of the principal rivers of Damascus. Its name is associated with the senses “stony” and “perennial.” The river is identified with the modern Barada, also called the Chrysorrhoas, or “golden stream,” by the Greeks. After descending from the Anti-Lebanon range, it flowed through the region of Damascus and helped make the surrounding plain fertile.
Biblical Usage
Abana is named in 2 Kings 5:12 as one of the rivers of Damascus. Naaman referred to it in comparison with the rivers of Israel.
Historical Background
The Barada rises in the Anti-Lebanon, about twenty-three miles from Damascus, and passes through the city before spreading across the plain. It was regarded as the chief source of that plain’s fertility; the river eventually loses itself in the lake or marsh Bahret-el-Kibliyeh.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
Stony (Heb. marg. “Amanah,” perennial), the chief river of Damascus (2 Kings 5:12). Its modern name is Barada, the Chrysorrhoas, or “golden stream,” of the Greeks. It rises in a cleft of the Anti-Lebanon range, about 23 miles north-west of Damascus, and after flowing southward for a little way parts into three smaller streams, the central one flowing through Damascus, and the other two on each side of the city, diffusing beauty and fertility where otherwise there would be barrenness.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(perennial, stony), one of the “rivers of Damascus.” (2 Kings 5:12) The Barada and the Awaj are now the chief streams of Damascus, the former representing the Abana and the latter the Pharpar of the text. The Barada (Abana) rises in the Antilibanus, at about 23 miles from the city, after flowing through which it runs across the plain, of whose fertility it is the chief source, till it loses itself in the lake or marsh Bahret-el-Kibliyeh.
