# Damiyah Bridge > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Damiyah_Bridge > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Damiyah_Bridge.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiyah_Bridge > Source revision: 1306399229 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox bridge | name = Damiyah Bridge | image = גשר אדם.JPG | caption = Looking from the West Bank to Jordan | coordinates = {{coord|32|06|10|N|35|32|07|E|region:JO|display=it}} | crosses = [Jordan River](/source/Jordan_River) | locale = [Palestinian territories](/source/Palestinian_territories) and [Jordan](/source/Jordan) | official_name = Jisr ed-Damiye | open = Roman period{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} | below = | design = [Arch](/source/Arch_bridge) | length = | width = | height = }} The '''Damiyah Bridge''' ({{langx|ar| جسر الدامية |Jisr ed-Damieh|Bridge of ed-Damieh}}),{{cite book |author= Stewardson, Henry C. (compiler) |title= The Survey of Western Palestine: A General Index |publisher=[Harrison & Sons](/source/Harrison_%26_Sons) for the [Palestine Exploration Fund](/source/Palestine_Exploration_Fund) |location= London |year= 1888 |page= 98 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=H6A_AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA98 |access-date=27 January 2015}}{{cite journal |title= Chronology August 16, 1968-November 15, 1968 |year= 1969 |pages= 63-80 [65] |journal=[Middle East Journal](/source/Middle_East_Journal) |publisher=[Middle East Institute](/source/Middle_East_Institute) |volume= 23 |number= 1 (Winter, 1969) |via= Stanford U. website |jstor= 4324395 |url= http://web.stanford.edu/group/tomzgroup/pmwiki/uploads/3447-1969-Winter-MiddleEastJournal-a-LPP.pdf |access-date= 19 August 2022}} known as '''Prince Muhammad Bridge''' in [Jordan](/source/Jordan), and as '''Gesher Adam''' ({{langx|he|גשר אדם||Adam Bridge}}) in [Israel](/source/Israel), is a historical bridge that crosses the [Jordan River](/source/Jordan_River) and located between the [Palestinian territories](/source/Palestinian_territories) and the town of [Damia](/source/Damia%2C_Jordan) in the [Balqa Governorate](/source/Balqa_Governorate) in [Jordan](/source/Jordan).{{cite web |title= Where is Jisr ed Damiye, Jordan? |publisher= geotargit.com |url= http://geotargit.com/index.php?qcountry_code=JO&qregion_code=02&qcity=Jisr%20ed%20Damiye |access-date=27 January 2015 }} In 1918, during the [Sinai and Palestine Campaign](/source/Sinai_and_Palestine_Campaign) of the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), it was [captured](/source/Capture_of_Jisr_ed_Damieh) by [Imperial British forces](/source/Egyptian_Expeditionary_Force). At the time it was used as part of the [Nablus](/source/Nablus) – [Es Salt](/source/Es_Salt){{cite web |title = New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade Headquarters War Diary |work = First World War Diaries AWM4, 35-1-41 |date = September 1918 |publisher = Australian War Memorial |location = Canberra |url = https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1348752?image=1 |access-date = 2024-01-04 }} – [Amman](/source/Amman) road. After 1991 it was used only for goods transported by truck between Israel, the [West Bank](/source/West_Bank) and Jordan until its closure for security reasons sometime between 2002 and 2005 during the [Second Intifada](/source/Second_Intifada).{{cite web |title= PA, Jordan working to reopen bridge Israel closed in 2005 |publisher= [Ma'an News Agency](/source/Ma'an_News_Agency) |date= 2014-02-13 |url= http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=672813 |access-date= 2014-11-02 |archive-date= 2014-11-02 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141102110149/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=672813 |url-status= dead }} As of 2014, the Israeli side is part of a closed military area. ==Etymology== The [Hebrew Bible](/source/Hebrew_Bible) mentions a [town called Adam](/source/city_of_Adam) near [Zaretan](/source/Zaretan) in the [Jordan Valley](/source/Jordan_Valley) ({{bibleverse|Joshua|3:16}}). Most scholars identify nearby [Tall Damiyah](/source/Tall_Damiyah), called by some Tel Adam in [Modern Hebrew](/source/Modern_Hebrew), with the historical and [biblical](/source/Hebrew_Bible) city of [Adama](/source/Adama_(biblical)),{{Cite journal|last=Petit|first=Lucas|last2=Kafafi|first2=Zeidan|date=2016-03-01|title=Beyond the River Jordan: A Late Iron Age Sanctuary at Tell Damiyah |url= https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.5615/neareastarch.79.1.0018|journal=Near Eastern Archaeology|volume=79|issue=1|pages=18–26|doi=10.5615/neareastarch.79.1.0018|issn=1094-2076|url-access=subscription}} with the US-American biblical scholar [William F. Albright](/source/William_F._Albright) offering the theory that Adama/Admah and Adam are one and the same.Albright, W. F. "The Expedition of Xenia Theological Seminary and the American Schools". ''BASOR'' 14 (1924): 1–12 The Arabic name is spelled variously as Damiye, Damieh, Damia, etc., with or without the definitive article (spelled either al-, el-, ad-, ed-). ==History== [[File:1849 Lynch Map of the Jordan River.jpg|thumb|left|1849 [William F. Lynch](/source/William_F._Lynch) map of the [Jordan River](/source/Jordan_River) showing Jisr ed Damiye ("Old Roman Bridge") as well as [Jisr el-Majami](/source/Jisr_el-Majami).]] [[File:1940s Survey of Palestine map of Damiya.png|thumb|left|1940s [Survey of Palestine](/source/Survey_of_Palestine) map of the bridge]] thumb|German military truck crossing the bridge in March 1917 The bridge was used as a crossing between the west and east banks of the Jordan due to good access in both directions over the Far'a{{cite web |title=The Wadi el-Far'a & Our Research Area |publisher=[Calvin College](/source/Calvin_College), [Grand Rapids](/source/Grand_Rapids), Michigan |url=http://www.calvin.edu/~dvrb/gallery_files/fara |access-date=2014-11-02 |archive-date=2016-06-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609104252/http://www.calvin.edu/~dvrb/gallery_files/fara/ |url-status=dead }}/[Tirzah](/source/Tirzah_(ancient_city)) Valley to the west and the [Zarqa/Yabbok Valley](/source/Zarqa_River) to the east. In 1849, [William F. Lynch](/source/William_F._Lynch) described the ruins of the old bridge as "a [Roman bridge](/source/Roman_bridge) spanning a dry bed, once, perhaps, the main channel of the Jordan, now diverted in its course. The bridge was of Roman construction, with one arch entire, except a longitudinal fissure on the top, and the ruins of two others, one of them at right angles with the main arch, probably for a mill-[sluice](/source/sluice). The span of the main arch was fifteen feet; the height, from the bed of the stream to the [keystone](/source/Keystone_(architecture)), twenty feet."{{cite book |author=[Lynch, W. F.](/source/William_F._Lynch) |title= Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea |year= 1856 |page= 249 |publisher= Blanchard and Lea |location=[Philadelphia](/source/Philadelphia) |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iaYzAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA249 |access-date= 19 August 2022}} Still visible are ruins of several consecutive bridges:{{cite web |title= Adam Bridge |publisher= BibleWalks.com |date= 14 March 2011 |url= http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/AdamBridge.html |access-date=2014-11-02 }} the stone bridge built by the [Mamluk](/source/Mamluk) [sultan](/source/sultan) [Baibars](/source/Baibars) in the 13th century, blown up by [Haganah](/source/Haganah) forces during Operation Markolet (known as the [Night of the bridges](/source/Night_of_the_bridges)) on the night of 16–17 June 1946; a British bridge built soon after, and a Jordanian one from the 1950s, both destroyed by the [Israeli army](/source/Israel_Defense_Forces) during the [Six-Day War](/source/Six-Day_War) in 1967. Right after the war, in August 1967, Israeli [Minister of Defense](/source/Ministry_of_Defense_(Israel)) [Moshe Dayan](/source/Moshe_Dayan) allowed the uncontrolled traffic of goods between the Palestinians and Jordan using the ford of Damiya, as a way of avoiding the economic collapse of the West Bank and for avoiding Palestinian discontent, since the Israeli markets were not open yet to Palestinian produce. This was an element of what became known as the "policy of the open bridges".{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/foreignpolicy/peace/mfadocuments/pages/the%20jordan%20bridges-%20feb-94.aspx |title=The Jordan Bridges |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |date=1994-02-01|access-date=2014-11-02 }} In January 1968, Jordan built a prefabricated metal bridge to facilitate the trade connections to the West Bank. The bridge was open to both goods and people, but fighting due to the [War of Attrition](/source/War_of_Attrition) led to the 1968 [Battle of Karameh](/source/Battle_of_Karameh) during which the bridge was damaged by Jordanian artillery who tried to prevent Israeli armour from passing. In 1969, the Jordanians blew up parts of this bridge,{{cite web|url=https://www.jta.org/1969/01/08/archive/jordanians-blow-up-part-of-damiya-bridge-i-of-3-west-bank-links-with-their-state |title=Jordanians Blow Up Part of Damiya Bridge, 1 of 3 West Bank Links with Their State |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=1969-01-08|access-date=2014-11-02 }} but it was repaired at some later point. During the [Jordanian Civil War](/source/Black_September) (better known as Black September) in 1970, the bridge was again closed for several days during the fighting between the Palestinians and the Jordanian Army. The Jordanians repaired the bridge in early 1975 after it had been damaged by floods, and performed some amendments in 1976.{{cite web|url=http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967s-Israel-Original-old-photograph-The-Damia-Bridge-explosion-Antique-Signed-/161441628558 |title=1967 Israel Original old photograph, The Damia Bridge explosion; uses Hebrew Wikipedia information passed through Google Translate |publisher=[eBay](/source/eBay) |date=2014-11-02|access-date=2014-11-02 }} The Jordanian metal bridge still stands but is currently out of use. In 2014, [Palestinian authorities](/source/Palestinian_National_Authority) were negotiating with Jordan the possibilities of reopening traffic between the two sides.{{cite web |title=PA, Jordan working to reopen bridge Israel closed in 2005 |publisher=[Ma'an News Agency](/source/Ma'an_News_Agency) |date=2014-02-13 |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=672813 |access-date=2014-11-02 |archive-date=2014-11-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102110149/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=672813 |url-status=dead }} ==See also== *[List of Roman bridges](/source/List_of_Roman_bridges) *[Allenby Bridge](/source/Allenby_Bridge) *[Barid](/source/Barid), Muslim postal network renewed during Mamluk period (roads, bridges, khans) **Jisr al-[Ghajar](/source/Ghajar), stone bridge south of Ghajar **[Daughters of Jacob Bridge](/source/Daughters_of_Jacob_Bridge) (Jisr Banat Yaqub), Mamluk bridge on the upper Jordan River **[Al-Sinnabra](/source/Al-Sinnabra) Crusader bridge, with nearby Jisr Umm el-Qanatir/Jisr Semakh and Jisr es-Sidd further downstream **[Jisr el-Majami](/source/Jisr_el-Majami) bridge over the Jordan, with Mamluk khan **[Jisr Jindas](/source/Jisr_Jindas), Mamluk bridge over the Ayalon near Lod and Ramla, Israel **[Yibna Bridge](/source/Yibna_Bridge) or "Nahr Rubin Bridge" **[Isdud Bridge](/source/Isdud_Bridge) (Mamluk, 13th century) outside Ashdod/Isdud ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * [http://www.biblewalks.com/sites/AdamBridge.html BibleWalks.com – Adam Bridge] * [http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/easternfront.asp – For the role of Damiya Bridge in the 1967 6-Day War] * [https://books.google.com/books?id=s3torytPXdUC&pg=PA365 ''Middle East Record, Volume 4''] – For the role of Damiya Bridge in the March 1968 [Battle of Karameh](/source/Battle_of_Karameh) *{{cite web |title= Jisr Ed Damiye Monthly Climate Average, Jordan |publisher= worldweatheronline.com |url= http://www.worldweatheronline.com/Jisr-Ed-Damiye-weather-averages/Al-Balqa/JO.aspx |access-date= 27 January 2015}} Category:Bridges in Jordan Category:Bridges over the Jordan River Category:Jordan–West Bank border crossings Category:Bridges completed in 1968 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Damiyah Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiyah_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damiyah_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.