The Arnon River

נַחַל אַרְנֹן

Where is the Arnon River? Wadi Mujib, in Jordan. I mark it certain.

Israel crossed this canyon at G-d's command and fought its first battle of conquest, against Sihon, on the far side.

By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker

Site today
Wadi Mujib, in Jordan
How sure
Certain The name, the sources and the finds all agree.
Other names
Wadi Mujib, Mujib River
Location
31.4493° N, 35.7850° E (Google Maps)
The Arnon River on the hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel
Arnon on our hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel. Get the full map as a print →

How we know where it was

The Arnon was Moab's border. Israel went around Moab and never crossed into it. Then came the word to rise up and cross the Arnon.

Wadi Mujib is the one great canyon cutting across the Moab plateau, about 400 meters (1,300 feet) deep. The towns "on the Arnon" confirm it. Aroer survives as Khirbet Ara'ir on the north rim. Dibon, the Moabite capital, is Dhiban, just north of it.

At Dhiban the stone of King Mesha of Moab was found. On it Mesha claims that he "made the highway in the Arnon." The King's Highway still drops into the canyon and climbs out the other side. Eusebius and the Madaba Map place the Arnon here too.

Visiting today

In Jordan. The King's Highway crosses the canyon with wide views, and near the Dead Sea the Mujib reserve runs wet canyon hikes.

Read it in the Bible

Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.

See Arnon on the interactive map →

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