Abana

Abana (or Amanah in some manuscripts, meaning stony or perennial) was the chief river of Damascus, known to the Greeks as the Chrysorrhoas (golden stream) and identified with the modern Barada. It rises in the Anti-Lebanon range about twenty-three miles northwest of Damascus, flows south, then divides into three streams that water the city and its surrounding plain, giving Damascus its exceptional fertility.

Abana is mentioned in 2 Kings 5:12, where Naaman the Syrian general protests that the rivers of Damascus are superior to all the waters of Israel—a remark that reflects the river's renown and its importance to the region's prosperity.