Bnot Ya'akov Bridge

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge over the Jordan River from the south.

Bnot Ya'akov Bridge (Hebrew: גשר בנות יעקב‎; Arabic: جسر بنات يعقوب‎, Jisr Banât Ya'qūb, lit. Crossing of Jacob's Daughters)^[1] is a bridge across the Jordan River on Highway 91 in northern Israel, approximately eighty aerial miles north of Jerusalem. The area around the bridge was settled in antiquity, and a river crossing there, known as Jacob's Ford, served as part of the regional route between central Israel and Syria, along the ancient Via Maris. The Hebrew and Arabic name of the bridge translates as "Daughters of Jacob." Crusaders and Muslims have traditions that associate the area with the life of the patriarch Jacob. The bridge is of strategic military and historical significance as it is one of the few fixed crossing points over the northern Jordan River which enable access from the Golan Heights to the Upper Galilee.

Jacob's Ford

Jacob's Ford Battlefield, looking from the west bank to the east bank of the Jordan River.

Jacob's Ford is was a key river crossing point and major trade route between Acre and Damascus.^[2] Jacob's Ford was also one of the safest crossings of the river Jordan and was utilized by Christian Palestine and Seljuk Syria as a major intersection between the two civilizations, making it strategically important. When Humphrey II of Toron was besieged in the city of Baniyas in 1157, King Baldwin III of Jerusalem was able to break the siege, only to be ambushed at Jacob's Ford in June of that year.^[3] Later in the twelfth century, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Saladin continually contested the area around Jacob's Ford. Baldwin built a castle close to Jacob's Ford commanding the road from Quneitra to Tiberias.^[4]

On 23 August 1179 the Battle of Jacob's Ford took place there.

Modern history

The bridge was destroyed in 1918 during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in World War I by Turkish forces who were retreating from a British attack, but was rebuilt. On the "night of the bridges" between 16 and 17 June 1946, the bridge was again destroyed by the Haganah. The Syrians captured the bridge on 11 June 1948 during the Israeli War of Independence, but later withdrew as a result of the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Syria. After the war, the bridge was in the central demilitarised zone established by the armistice agreement. In 1953, the site was chosen as the original location for the water intake of Israel's National Water Carrier project, but after US pressure this was moved to Eshed Kinrot on the Sea of Galilee.^[5]

During the Six Day War, an Israeli paratrooper brigade captured the area, and the Israeli Combat Engineering Corps constructed a Bailey bridge.

In the Yom Kippur War, Syrian forces approached the vicinity of the bridge but did not cross it.

By 2007 there were two Bailey bridges employed at the site, one for traffic from east to west and the other for the opposite direction. However, in 2007 a modern concrete span was completed and as a consequence one of the Bailey bridges was dismantled and the other left intact for use on an emergency basis.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Murray, Alan V. editor. (2006), The Crusades: An Encyclopaedia, ISBN 1576078620
• Payne, Robert (1998) The Crusades: A History Wordsworth Editions, ISBN 1853266892
• Richard, Jean (1999) The Crusades c.1071-c.1291 Cambridge University press ISBN 0-521-62566-1
• Sharon, Moshe (1997) Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae, (CIAP) BRILL, ISBN 9004110836

External links

• Bridge at Jisr Banat Ya'qub, 12th century bridge pictured early 20th century.
• 80th Brigade's Battles in the Six-Day War. Paratroopers Brigade website. (Hebrew)
• Bridge Destruction During the Night of the Bridges (Hebrew)
• About the Prehistoric Artifacts that Were Found on the Bridge (Hebrew)

Coordinates: 33°0′37.02″N 35°37′41.83″E / 33.0102833°N 35.6282861°E / 33.0102833; 35.6282861