Bethsaida Valley

[3] The Arabic name of the valley is Buq'at al-Butayhah, also spelled Bik'at Beteiha,[1][5] or el-Batikha.

[6][7] The Jordan River and the streams coming down from the Central Golan create a landscape of swamps and open water surfaces, variously called deltas, estuaries or lagoons.

The following five rivers or streams flow through the valley (west to east): Jordan, whose upper course ends here, at the northern edge; then Meshushim (Wadi el-Hawa in Arabic; collects the waters of the Katzrin and Zavitan streams), Yehudiya (with Batra as a tributary), Daliyot, and Sfamnun/Sfamnon (Hebrew: נחל שפמנון Nahal Sfamnon).

The wetlands are protected as part of the Majrase – Betiha (Bethsaida Valley) Nature Reserve [he].

[10] Multiple archaeological sites, including dolmens, suggest that it was settled by farmers and fishermen since the early Bronze Age.