PHARPAR. A river of Damascus mentioned with the Abanah ( 2 Kings 5:12 ) by Naaman as contrasting favourably with the Jordan. Its identification is by no means so certain as that of Abanah with the Barada . The most probable is that suggested by Thomson, namely, the ‘Awaj , a river rising east of Hermon. A wady near, but not tributary to, one of its sources is called the Wady Barbar , which may possibly be a reminiscence of the ancient name. The principal obstacle to this identification is the distance of the river from the city; but Naaman was perhaps thinking as much of the fertile plain of Damascus as of the city itself. Other identifications have been with either the river flowing from ‘Ain Fijeh , or else one or other of the canals fed by the Barada.
R. A. S. Macalister.