The Yarkon River

מֵי הַיַּרְקוֹן

Where is the Yarkon River? Rosh HaAyin springs to the sea at Tel Aviv. I mark it very likely.

The Philistines camped at the springs of this river before the battle where Israel lost the Ark.

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

Site today
Rosh HaAyin springs to the sea at Tel Aviv
How sure
Very likely Strong evidence, with no serious rival.
Other names
Me-jarkon, Mei HaYarkon, Nahr el-Auja
Location
32.1168° N, 34.8645° E (Google Maps)
The Yarkon River on the hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel
Yarkon on our hand-drawn Map of Biblical Israel. Get the full map as a print →

How we know where it was

Joshua lists "the waters of the Yarkon" in the land of Dan, by the border near Jaffa. Only one large river flows all year into the sea just north of Jaffa, and this is it. Its springs rise at the foot of Tel Afek, biblical Aphek, the Philistine staging ground.

The name itself had dropped away. The Arabs called the river Nahr el-Auja, the crooked river, and modern Hebrew took the biblical name back from Joshua's list. Yarkon suggests green water, which suits a slow stream lined with reeds.

Because the verse is one line in a list, scholars debate whether it names the river or a town on it. Either way, the place sits by Jaffa.

Visiting today

Yarkon Park runs through Tel Aviv. Yarkon Springs National Park at Tel Afek has the pools and an Ottoman fortress.

Read it in the Bible

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

See Yarkon on the interactive map →

The Biblical Israel Map print

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 ebook

Nearby places