- silence

- Jordan enjoys its archeological

- and historical sites,

- full with steams from the past,

- to tell history that passed by.

- We can add to the ranking list of the monuments of Jordan

- the discover of the longest water tunnel ever built,

- the Tora Umm Qais tunnel.

- A Jordan-German group discovered

- the longest water tunnel ever dug in the rock.

- It runs on a distance close to 100 km

- and is located in the north of Jordan.

- The tunnel, that is considered to be one of the wonders of the civilizations,

- is a true miracle that asserts the genius of the men of the Antiquity

- who managed, thanks to his wit and instinct,

- follow the direction of the water spring in the regions

- between Tora and Chajara,

- the water springs of Umm Jrim and Zayraqoun,

- towards the region of Sal and Al-Megayir,

- the well-known springs of Rahub,

- then towards the springs of Ain Turab,

- in the valley that separates the villages of Samer, Kaferthoum and Abder,

- and then towards the valley of Abder and the town of Umm Qais.

- We now find ourselves in front of the main entrance of the tunnel.

- This entrance joins this place called

- the entrance to Tal al-Fekhar,

- to Umm Jerine, about 2.5 km away.

- This entrance dug in the limestone rocks

- is about 5 meters deep,

- then it is flat.

- This tunnel is about 2.5 meters high

- and almost 1 meter wide.

- There used to be slope degrees but

- because of the crumbling, the traces disappeared.

- It is used to drilling tools

- thanks to the traces that were left in the entrance.

- Fortunately the entrance is high.

- That is the reason why it has not been opened again,

- a testimony of the existence of this tunnel in the region.

- The tunnel stretches on about 56 km underground,

- there are 40 km spread of surface of the water canal.

- As regards to the height of the inner surface

- is located between 450 meters

- in altitude at the entrance of the tunnel,

- and 350 meters at the end of the tunnel,

- in the region Umm Qais,

- the average of the slope does not overreach a degree,

- the existence of secondary confluents was spotted

- in many regions into which the valleys lay,

- such as the confluent of the valley Maalaqa, in the province of Al-Meghir

- and the confluent of Ayoun Al-Maa

- in the valleys of Hikma, Alal, Samer and Abder.

- Its confluents collect water

- and strengthen the canals of those valleys.

- Some studies showed that the building works of the tunnel

- began with Roman Emperor Hadrien,

- around 130 AD,

- and lasted over 80 years,

- over successive periods of time

- and the aim of the creation of this tunnel

- was joining the towns of the Decapolis,

- Abila, Arbila and Jdara,

- to the canal of water in the concept of water safety,

- and the ultimate station was that of Umm Qais.