[4] The first recorded use of the name appears as Yārdon in Anastasi I, an ancient Egyptian papyrus that probably dates to the time of Rameses II.

[6] The name was shown in various forms on most notable 19th century maps of the region and is described by Edward Robinson in his Biblical Researches in Palestine.

Exiting the now much-diminished lake, it goes through an even steeper drop over the 25 kilometres (16 mi) down to the Sea of Galilee, which it enters at its northern end.

In the 19th century the River Jordan and the Dead Sea were explored by boat primarily by Christopher Costigan in 1835, Thomas Howard Molyneux in 1847, William Francis Lynch in 1848, and John MacGregor in 1869.

[19] The full text of W. F. Lynch's 1849 book Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea is available online.In 1964, Israel began operating a pumping station that diverts water from the Sea of Galilee to the National Water Carrier.

[20] The Jordan River basin has a unique ichthyofauna as it serves as the meeting point for several different biogeographic regions, including the northern Palearctic, the Afrotropics, East & South Asia, and the Mediterranean.

Native fish include cyprinids such as the Jordan bream (Achanthobrama lissneri), Jordan himri (Carasobarbus canis), Jordan barbel (Luciobarbus longiceps), Levantine scraper (Capoeta damascina; the most common native fish in the basin), red garra (Garra rufa), & Damascus garra (Garra nana), hillstream loaches such as the Palestine loach (Oxynoemacheilus insignis), catfish such as the African sharptooth catfish (Clarias gariepinus), cichlids such as the blue tilapia (Oreochromis aureus), redbelly tilapia (Coptodon zillii), & mango tilapia (Sarotherodon galilaeus), and blennies such as the freshwater blenny (Salariopsis fluviatilis).

[21] A native freshwater reptile is the Balkan terrapin (Mauremys rivulata), which is thought to have also been a food source for the earliest Neanderthal residents of the region.

[20] In 2007, FoEME named the Jordan River as one of the world's 100 most endangered ecological sites, due in part to lack of cooperation between Israel and neighboring Arab states.

[26] Route 90, part of which is named after Rehavam Zeevi, connects the northern and southern tips of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and parallels the Jordan River on the western side.

Jordan receives 50,000,000 cubic metres (1.8×109 cu ft) of water from the river, a quantity which is regulated by the 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

[28] Water quality has also deteriorated sharply, with high levels of salinity and pollution from agricultural fertilizer and untreated wastewater upstream in Israel and the West Bank.

[31] In the Hebrew Bible the Jordan is referred to as the source of fertility of a large plain ("Kikkar ha-Yarden"), said to be watered like "the garden of the LORD" (Genesis 13:10).

Biblical commentator Albert Barnes suggests that "trees were rare in most parts of Palestine, but plentiful in the Jordan Valley".

Scholars have concluded that the site called Al-Maghtas on the east side has long been considered the location for the Baptism of Jesus and a place of pilgrimage.

[36] Earlier, On 15 May 1717, the Empress Maria Theresa was baptised in Vienna by the Papal Nuntius Giorgio Spinola, representing Pope Clement XI, with baptismal water containing a few drops from the River Jordan.

The baptism of Jesus is referred to in a hymn by the reformer Martin Luther, "Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam" (1541), base for a cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, Christ unser Herr zum Jordan kam, BWV 7 (1724).

The Jordan River, due primarily to its rich spiritual importance, has provided inspiration for countless songs, hymns, and stories, including the traditional African-American spiritual/folk songs "Michael Row the Boat Ashore", "Deep River", and "Roll, Jordan, Roll".

[citation needed] It is mentioned in the songs "Eve of Destruction", "Will You Be There", and "The Wayfaring Stranger" and in "Ol' Man River" from the musical Show Boat.

[citation needed] Jordan River is the subject of roots reggae artist Burning Spear's song of the same title.