Adam
אָדָם
Where was biblical Adam? At Tell ed-Damiyeh, by the Damiya Bridge, in Jordan, about 45 km northeast of Jerusalem. I mark it very likely.
The priests carrying the Ark stepped into the flooded Jordan, and the river stopped far upstream, at a town called Adam.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tell ed-Damiyeh, by the Damiya Bridge, in Jordan
- How sure
- Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
- Other names
- Adamah, Tell ed-Damiyeh, Tell Damiyah, Damiya
- Location
- 32.1039° N, 35.5468° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The Book of Joshua says the water "stood up in one heap, very far away, at Adam, the town beside Zarethan." So Adam has to lie upstream, well north of the crossing opposite Jericho. That is exactly where the name still sits. The mound, the ford and the modern bridge are all called Damiya, Adam carried over into Arabic. It lies about 18 miles north of Jericho, near the mouth of the Jabbok. Pharaoh Shishak's list of conquered towns, carved at Karnak, includes an Adamah usually linked with this site.
The ground explains why the river stopped here and not somewhere else. At Damiya the Jordan runs between soft cliffs of marl, a crumbly clay. When those cliffs slump, they block the river. It happened in the 13th century, and again in the earthquake of 1927, and both times the Jordan stood still for hours. The crossing was a miracle. And the place the Bible names is a place where the river is known to stop.
Excavators at Tell ed-Damiyeh found an Iron Age town with a sanctuary destroyed by fire. The tel is fairly small, so the name Adam may have covered the wider area around it.
The prophet Hosea may name the town too. His words can be read "like Adam they broke the covenant" or "at Adam they broke the covenant," and translations divide.
Visiting today
The low mound sits beside the Damiya Bridge on the Jordanian side, in a military zone with no visitor facilities.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Adam on the interactive map →
The whole Land on your wall
A hand-drawn map of Biblical Israel, with more than 160 places from Dan to Kadesh Barnea, printed on archival matte paper.
Free with every print: a companion ebook on every place on the map, a $19.99 value.
From $49.99 · Free US shipping
Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Succoth 12 km northeast
- Mahanaim 18 km northeast
- Penuel (Peniel) 18 km northeast
- Shiloh 25 km west
- Gilgal 27 km south
- Shechem 28 km northwest