Вади Муджиб: Библейская река и заповедник у Мертвого моря.

River in Jordan, near the Dead Sea, known for its biblical connections and a popular nature reserve

The Wadi Mujib (وادي الموجب, Wadi el Mujib), also known as Arnon Stream (Hebrew: נַחַל ארנון), is a river in Jordan. The river empties into the Dead Sea circa below sea level. In ancient times, the river served as the northern boundary of the kingdom of Moab. Today, the Wadi Mujib is fed by seven tributaries. The western part of the river is the site of the Mujib Biosphere Reserve, popular for hikes & canyoning amid dramatic rock formations.

During the last ice age the water level of the Dead Sea reached below sea level, about higher than it is today. It flooded the lower areas of the canyons along its banks, which became bays and begun to accumulate sediments. As the climatic conditions changed, about 20,000 years ago, the water level of the lake dropped, leaving the re emergent canyons blocked with lake marl. Most canyons managed to cut through their plugged outlets and to resume their lower courses. However, Wadi Mujib, abandoned its former outlet by breaking through a cleft in the sandstone. This narrow cleft became the bottleneck of an enormous drainage basin of with a huge discharge and annual sediment yield of 143,780 tonnes. During the years the cleft was scoured deeper and the gorge of Wadi Mujib was formed. The Mujib Dam was completed in 2004 at the bottom of the wadi, where the modern road crosses the river. As a result, a large lake has formed.

The Mujib Reserve of Wadi Mujib is located in the mountainous landscape to the east of the Dead Sea, in the southern part of Jordan valley, approximately south of Amman. A reserve was created in 1987 by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature and is regionally and internationally important, particularly for the bird life that the reserve supports. In 2011, UNESCO declared Mujib biosphere reserve. The reserve consists of mountainous, rocky, and sparsely vegetated desert (up to ), with cliffs and gorges cutting through plateaus. Perennial, spring fed streams flow to the shores of the Dead Sea. Over 300 species of plants, 10 species of carnivores and numerous species of permanent and migratory birds have been recorded. Many carnivores also inhabit the various vegetation zones in Mujib, such as the striped hyena and the Syrian wolf. Another common animal in Mujib is the Nubian ibex, a large mountain goat which became threatened as a result of over hunting.

Wadi Mujib, or the Arnon Stream as it was known in biblical times, has always been an important boundary line. According to the Hebrew Bible, it once separated the Moabites from the Amorites ( 21:13 26 (NKJV); 3:8 (NKJV); 11:18 (NKJV)). Following the Israelite settlement the stream divided, theoretically at least, Moab from the tribes of Reuben and Gad ( 3:12 16 (NKJV)). But Moab, in fact, lay as much to the north as it did to the south of the Arnon. To the north, for example, were Aroer, Dibon, Medeba, and other Moabite towns. Even under Omri and Ahab, who held part of the Moabite territory, Israel did not hold sway farther south than Ataroth, about ten miles north of the Arnon. Mesha, King of Moab, in his inscription (Mesha Stele, line 10) says that the Gadites (not the Reubenites) formerly occupied Ataroth, whence he in turn expelled the people of Israel. He mentions (line 26) his having constructed a road along the Arnon. The ancient importance of the river and of the towns in its vicinity is attested by the numerous ruins of bridges, forts, and buildings found upon or near it. Its fords are alluded to by the Book of Isaiah Its "heights," crowned with the castles of chiefs, were also celebrated in verse ( 21:28 (NKJV)).

In Roman times, a fort garrisoned by Cohors III Alpinorum, known as Apud Arnona, was situated close to the point where the Via Nova route crossed the Arnon river. One of the river's confluents, Seil Heidan, was known in Roman times as Aidonas.