The Jordan Rift Valley is a crucial natural and geo-political artery of the Middle-East. From ancienttimes to the construction of large-scale irrigation and urban water facilities in the second half of the20th century, and to the current struggle for water in Jordan, the appropriation of its water hasbeen constantly remodelled and re-ordered. The paper provides a historical retrospective of suchtransformations, with a focus on the current viewpoints and meanings of its "development" as wellas on the allocation of water itself.