User:Huldra/Jisr al-Sidd

William F. Lynch in 1849 in his Official Report: "Near the ruined bridge, Om el-Qanatir, fragments of basalt were obtained more charged with olivine than the trap of Tubariya... A little south of Jisr Om el-Qanatir is another bridge in ruins, with the remnants of a mill-sluice and fish-weir."

William F. Lynch 1849's trip published in his Narrative: "At 3.45, we swept out of the lake; course, W. by N… On the extreme low point to the right are the ruins, called by the Arabs, Es Sumra, only a stone foundation standing… At 4.30, course W. S. W. abruptly round a ledge of small rocks; current, two knots. Our course varied with the frequent turns of the river, from N. W. by W. at 4.35, to S. at 4.38. At 4.43, we passed an inlet, or bay, wider than the river, called El Mfih, which extended north a quarter of a mile. We lost sight of the lake in five minutes after leaving it. 4.46, passed a low island, ninety yards long, tufted with shrubbery; left bank abrupt, twenty-five feet high; a low, marshy island, off a point on the right, which runs out from the plain at the foot of the mountains… At 4.56, current increasing, swept round a bend of the shore, and heard the hoarse sound of a rapid. 4.57, came in sight of the partly whole and partly crumbled abutments of “Jisr Semakh,” the bridge of Semakh. The ruins are extremely picturesque; the abutments standing in various stages of decay, and the fallen fragments obstructing the course of the river; save at one point, towards the left bank, where the pent-up water finds an issue, and runs in a sluice among the scattering masses of stone… After reconnoitering the rapid, at 5.05, we shot down the sluice. The following note was made on shore: “We halted at the ruins of an old bridge, now forming obstructions, over which the foaming river rushed like a mountain torrent… The boats were securely moored for the night in a little cave on the right bank, and were almost hidden among the tall grass and weeds which break the force of the eddy current. We found the tents pitched on a small knoll, commanding a fine view of the river and the bridge. Over the ruins of the latter were yet hovering a multitude of storks, frightened from their reedy nests, on the tops of the ruined abutments, by the strange sights and sounds. There were two entire and six partial abutments, and the ruins of another, on each shore. The snowy crest of Mount Hermon bore N. E. 1/2 N. The village of Semakh, lying in an E. N. E. direction, was concealed by an intervening ridge… 8.10 A. M., started, the boats down the river, the caravan by land. The current at first about 2 1/2 knots, but increasing as we descended, until at 8.20 we came to where the river, for more than three hundred yards, was one foaming rapid; the fishing-weirs and the ruins of another ancient bridge obstructing the passage. There were cultivated fields on both sides."

Umm al-Qanatir, aka Jisr Semakh


By Degania Alef
 * Umm al-Kanatir, meaning "The building with the arches", was shown on the map from Napoleon's invasion of 1799 by Pierre Jacotin, named as Omm Qanatir, ruine. A second bridge was shown to the north, labelled as Pont ruine. In 1881, the PEF's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) describes it as a "Ruined  bridge of five arches over Jordan; pointed arches, Saracenic masonry." The SWP also showed two bridges in their map.
 * Jisr Umm al-Qanafir

Jisr al-Sidd
By Degania Bet
 * Jisr al-Sidd, meaning "The bridge of the dam", was shown on the 1799 map of Jacotin as "Point ruine". The 1881 SWP described Jisr es Sidd as a "Ruined bridge over Jordan, of five pointed arches of small masonry, well-dressed- The foundation formed a footpath about the level of the water when the river was not flooded."