ABANAH [AB ah nah] — the chief river of Damascus. The Abanah flowed through the center of the city. With the Pharpar, it supplied an abundance of water, making the country around it a beautiful and fertile spot. When Naaman the leper was asked to bathe in the Jordan River seven times, he complained that he would rather bathe in the Abanah or the Pharpar (2 Kin. 5:12; Abana, KJV, NIV, NRSV). The Abanah River's modern name is Barada.