Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Abana

ABANA and Pharpar, "rivers of Damascus" (2 Kings v. 12), are now generally identified with the Barada and the Awaj respectively. The former flows through the city of Damascus; the Awaj, a smaller stream, passes eight miles to the south. Both run from west to east across the plain of Damascus, which owes to them much of its fertility, and lose themselves in marshes, or lakes, as they are called, on the borders of the great Arabian desert. Mr Macgregor, who gives an interesting description of these rivers in his Rob Roy on the Jordan, affirms that "as a work of hydraulic engineering, the system and construction of the canals by which the Abana and Pharpar are used for irrigation, may be still considered as the most complete and extensive in the world."