"Jordan River"



The River Jordan flows through Israel, Palestine and Jordan. Along its route, it connects the Sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea, and of its total length of 320 kilometres, this stretch of river between the two lakes is the part that is most frequently referred to in the Bible.

It is thought that Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan at the point where the river flows out from the Sea of Galilee. This region has therefore become a sacred site of pilgrimage for Christians.

Perhaps even more famously than its association with Jesus' baptism, however, the River Jordan is also the celebrated site of miraculous divine intervention. According to Joshuah 3-4, God temporarily dried up the River Jordan, supernaturally interrupting its flow, in order to let the Israelites cross the dry river bed into the Promised Land. Today, as with most 'supernatural' events in the Bible, various theories have been put forward to explain this occurence in rational terms. Whatever the case, folk memory is strong, and the crossing of the Jordan has gone into legend.

In the Rastafarian context, it has gone one step further and become a powerful metaphor of the fulfilment of a dream. Marcus Garvey's 'Back to Africa' movement was partly inspired by a dynamic re-application of the legend to the contemporary plight of Black Africans in the Caribbean and USA. The Atlantic Ocean became the 'Jordan River', which could be crossed with God's help, allowing people to reach the 'Promised Land' of the African continent.



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