Jisr az-Zarqa
Jisr az-Zarqa
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| Hebrew transcription(s) | |
| • ISO 259 | Ǧissr ˀa-Zárqaˀ |
View of Jisr az-Zarqa
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 Jisr az-Zarqa
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| Coordinates: 32°32′16.51″N 34°54′44.02″E / 32.5379194°N 34.9122278°ECoordinates: 32°32′16.51″N 34°54′44.02″E / 32.5379194°N 34.9122278°E | |
| District | Haifa |
| Founded | 1963 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Local council |
| • Head of Municipality | Az-Adin Amash |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1,520 dunams (1.52 km2 or 380 acres) |
| Population (2015) | |
| • Total | 13,962 |
| Name meaning | The bridge over the River Zerka |
Jisr az-Zarqa (Arabic: جِسْر الزَّرْقَاء, Hebrew: גִ'סְּר א-זַּרְקָא lit. bridge over the blue; often shortened as Jisr) is an Israeli Arab town on Israel's northern Mediterranean coastal plain. Located just north of Caesarea within the Haifa District, it achieved local council status in 1963. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) the town had a population of 13,689 in 2014, living on 1,500 dunams (1.5 km2) of coastal land. 80% of residents reportedly live below the poverty line. The name Jisr az-Zarqa is a reference to Taninim Stream, which is known in Arabic as the "Blue Valley" (Wadi az-Zarka). The mayor is Az-Adin Amash. Jisr az-Zarqa is the only remaining Arab town in Israel located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Excavations have revealed walls with pottery remains dating from the 1st CE, with amphoras dating from the 4th to 7th CE, and remains of a structure carrying a ceramic pipe, most probably dating to the Byzantine era. It has been suggested that the aqueduct in Jisr az-Zarqa is part of the aqueduct ending in Caesarea Maritima, but was never completed.
In 1882, the Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine (SWP) described it: “This is properly speaking a dam rather than a bridge, built across the river so as to form a large pool. There is a causeway on the top of the dam: the height on the west is 20 feet; on the east the level of the water was 3 feet below the roadway. The masonry resembles that of the aqueduct fed from the pool. [..] The eastern face of the dam is cemented. Sluices lined with cement are constructed in the dam. The roadway is 8 feet to 10 feet broad. The work appears to be Roman."
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