At its mouth it is 130 feet wide, and in the winter it brings down a great body of water into the Jordan.

In summer, however, it shrinks up into an inconsiderable brook, having no more remote sources than the perennial springs at Mazarib, Dilly, and one or two other places on the plateau of Jaulan.

It runs through a fertile country, and has generally a deep course far below the surface of the plain; ere falling into the Jordan it makes its way through a wild ravine, between rugged cliffs of basalt, which are in places upwards of a hundred feet in height.
The Zurka, or Jabbok, is a stream of the same character with the Hieromax, but of inferior dimensions and importance.

It drains a considerable portion of the land of Gilead, but has no very remote sources, and in summer only carries water through a few miles of its lower course.

In winter, on the contrary, it is a roaring stream with a strong current, and sometimes cannot be forded.