Ein Gedi (, ), also spelled En Gedi, meaning " spring of the kid", is an

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, located west of the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea (; or ; ), also known by #Names, other names, is a landlocked salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, the Israeli-occupied West Bank to the west and Israel to the southwest. It lies in the endorheic basin of the Jordan Rift Valle ...

, near

Masada Masada ( ', 'fortress'; ) is a mountain-top fortress complex in the Judaean Desert, overlooking the western shore of the Dead Sea in southeastern Israel. The fort, built in the first century BCE, was constructed atop a natural plateau rising ov ...

and the

Qumran Caves The Qumran Caves ( '; ''HaMeara Kumran'') are a series of caves, both natural and artificial, found around the archaeological site of Qumran in the Judaean Desert. It is in these caves that the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Israel Nature a ...

. Ein Gedi is a popular tourist attraction and was listed in 2016 as one of the most popular nature sites in Israel. The site attracts about one million visitors a year.What Israel's nature reserves booking system reveals

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

Next to the reserve is the Ein Gedi Archaeological Park, which hosts the remains of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-era

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

settlement located nearby. Immediately to the south is modern

Ein Gedi Ein Gedi (, ), also spelled En Gedi, meaning "Spring (hydrology), spring of the goat, kid", is an oasis, an Archaeological site, archeological site and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. ...

, a ''

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

'' (collective community) established in 1954.

Etymology

The name ''Ein Gedi'' is composed of two words (In both

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

): ''ein'' means spring or a fountain and ''gǝdi'' means goat-kid. Ein Gedi thus means "kid spring" or "fountain of the kid". The Hebrew name is also transliterated as 'En Gedi, En-gedi, Eggadi, Engaddi, and Engedi; the Arabic name as 'Ain Jidi and 'Ein Jidi.En Gedi
at bibleplaces.com. Accessed 11 March 2024. The archaeological mound ( tell) is known in Hebrew as Tel Goren and in Arabic as Tell el-Jurn or Tell Jurn. The site has been identified with the biblical Hazazon Tamar (חַצְצוֹן תָּמָר ''ḥaṣṣōn tāmār'', "portion f landof

date palm ''Phoenix dactylifera'', commonly known as the date palm, is a flowering-plant species in the palm family Arecaceae, cultivated for its edible sweet #Fruits, fruit called dates. The species is widely cultivated across North Africa, northern A ...

s"), on account of the palm groves which surrounded it.Sir William Smith (1914). ''A Smaller Dictionary of The Bible'', John Murrey, London. Page 169. It is also written Hazazon-tamar,e.g. ASV,

NRSV The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is a translation of the Bible in American English. It was first published in 1989 by the National Council of Churches, the NRSV was created by an ecumenical committee of scholars "comprising about thirty ...

and CEB Hazazontamar, Hatzatzon-Tamar,e.g. CJB Hazezon Tamar,e.g.

NKJV The New King James Version (NKJV) is a translation of the Bible in contemporary English, working as a revision of the King James Version. Published by Thomas Nelson, the complete NKJV was released in 1982. With regard to its textual basis, the ...

and Hazezontamar.

Overview

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, declared at the end of 1971 and expanded in 1988, is one of the most important reserves in Israel. It is situated on the eastern slopes of the

Judean Desert The Judaean Desert or Judean Desert (, ) is a desert in the West Bank and Israel that stretches east of the ridge of the Judaean Mountains and in their rain shadow, so east of Jerusalem, and descends to the Dead Sea. Under the name El-Bariyah, ...

, bordering to the east on the Dead Sea, and covers an area of 14000

dunam A dunam ( Ottoman Turkish, Arabic: ; ; ; ), also known as a donum or dunum and as the old, Turkish, or Ottoman stremma, was the Ottoman unit of area analogous in role (but not equal) to the Greek stremma or English acre, representing the amo ...

s ( or ). The elevation ranges from the level of the

at 423 meters (1,388 ft) below sea level, to the plateau of the Judean Desert at 200 meters above sea level. The nature reserve includes two streams flowing year-round and each fed by a perennial spring:

Nahal David Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

with Ein David ('David's Spring'), and Nahal Arugot with Ein Arugot ('Terraces Spring'). Two further springs, the Shulamit and Ein Gedi springs, also flow in the reserve. Together, the springs generate approximately three million cubic meters of water per year. Much of the water is used for agriculture or is bottled for consumption.

Flora and Fauna

The reserve is a sanctuary for many types of plant, bird and animal species. The vegetation includes plants and trees from the tropical, desert, Mediterranean, and steppian regions, such as Sodom apple,

acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...

jujube Jujube (UK ; US or ), sometimes jujuba, scientific name ''Ziziphus jujuba'', and also called red date, Chinese date, and Chinese jujube, is a species in the genus '' Ziziphus'' in the buckthorn family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused wit ...

, and poplar. The many species of resident birds are supplemented by over 200 additional species during the migration periods in the spring and fall. Mammal species include the

Nubian ibex The Nubian ibex (''Capra nubiana'') is a desert-dwelling goat species (Genus ''Capra (genus), Capra'') found in mountainous areas of North Africa, northern and Horn of Africa, northeast Africa, and the Middle East. It was historically considered ...

and the

rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (from some interpretations of a word used in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Common ...

Chalcolithic shrine and Iron Age remains

Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, administered separately from the Ein Gedi archaeology park (see above), features several archaeological sites including a rare Chalcolithic shrine, but also Tel Goren, an archaeological mound with

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

remains corresponding to Hazazon-tamar, a city mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' Mamluk period, etc.

Sinkholes

Ein Gedi has been subject to a large number of

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are also known as shakeholes, and to openings where surface water ...

s appearing in the area, which have even damaged the highway built in 2010 which was supposedly built to a "sinkhole-proof" design. The sinkholes are due to the decline in the water level of the Dead Sea, at an annual rate of more than a metre, which is attributed to the battle for scarce water resources in the very

arid region Aridity is the condition of geographical regions which make up approximately 43% of total global available land area, characterized by low annual precipitation, increased temperatures, and limited water availability.Perez-Aguilar, L. Y., Plata ...

. The sinkholes form as a result of the receding shoreline (with the surface of the Sea having shrunk by about 33 per cent since the 1960s), where a thick layer of underground salt is left behind. When fresh water arrives in the form of heavy rains, it dissolves the salt as it sinks into the ground, forming an underground cavity, which eventually collapses under the weight of the surface ground layer. Tourism has been affected by the receding shoreline and the sinkholes, and the amount of water from the rains reaching the sea has diminished since

flash flood A flash flood is a rapid flooding of low-lying areas: washes, rivers, dry lakes and depressions. It may be caused by heavy rain associated with a severe thunderstorm, hurricane, or tropical storm, or by meltwater from ice and snow. Flash f ...

s started pouring into the sinkholes. Huge cave systems called

karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

s convey water underground between the sinkholes. Scientists in the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

area south of Ein Gedi have been using cameras,

water testing Water testing is a broad description for various procedures used to analyze water quality. Millions of water quality tests are carried out daily to fulfill regulatory requirements and to maintain safety. Testing may be performed to evaluate: * am ...

, videos using drones and

satellite monitoring An Earth observation satellite or Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite used or designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit, including spy satellites and similar ones intended for non-military uses such as environmental monitoring, m ...

to map the area for safety.

Nearby sites

Antiquities National Park

89115_the_ancient_synagogue_in_ein_gedi_PikiWiki_Israel

The Late Roman- and Byzantine-period synagogue and the village remains around it is run as a separate, archaeological park, distinct from the nature reserve and the antiquities contained therein. The Antiquities National Park centered on the synagogue was declared in 2002 and covers an area of 8 dunams ( or ). Iron Age remains have been discovered at the site dating to the 7th century BCE. Ein Gedi is first mentioned in the

Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Israel from the conquest of Canaan to the Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile. It tells of the ...

, the narrative of which takes place in the 7th century BCE. Later, the settlement is mentioned as the place where

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

fled from

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

. In

Book of Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Heb ...

2, Ein Gedi is called Hazazon Tamar.

Modern village

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

, founded in 1953, is located about a kilometer from the oasis. It offers various tourist attractions and takes advantage of the local weather patterns and the abundance of natural water to cultivate out-of-season produce. Part of the kibbutz's inhabited area is landscaped as an internationally acclaimed botanical garden, covering an area of 100

s (10 ha, 24.7

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s) and holding more than 900 species of plants from all over the world.It is the only populated botanical garden in the world."Dead Sea Ein Gedi Botanic Garden"

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a plant conservation biology, conservation Charitable organization, charity based in Kew, Surrey, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, wh ...

. Re-accessed 16 Oct 2024. The kibbutz is also home to the Ein Gedi Eco Park, which functions as both a zoo and an environmental education center, demonstrating sustainable technologies such as

solar cooker A solar cooker is a device which uses the energy of direct sunlight to heat, cook or pasteurize drink and other food materials. Many solar cookers currently in use are relatively inexpensive, low-tech devices, although some are as powerful or as ...

greywater Greywater (or grey water, sullage, also spelled gray water in the United States) refers to domestic wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, i.e., all streams except for the wastewater fro ...

systems, mud buildings, and

compost toilet A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that treats human waste by a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turns human waste into compost-like material. Composting is carried out b ...

References

Bibliography

* (pp
384
386) * * * * (Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p.
116
* * * (pp
143
150)

External links

Virtual Tour of Ein Gedi
- View from the Ein Gedi Promenade

- Bird's-eye view in

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority - Site page

Ein Gedi Travel Guide

Pictures of Ein Gedi synagogue

Ein Gedi mill, 1893
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 22
IAAWikimedia commonsPhotos of Ein Gedi synagogue
at the

Manar al-Athar Manar al-Athar is a photo archive based at the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford which aims to provide high-quality open-access images of archaeological sites and buildings. The archive's collection focuses on areas of the Roman Em ...

photo archive
Times of Israel - Nature of Ein Gedi - a Photo Essay
{{authority control Nature reserves in Israel National parks of Israel Oases of Israel Springs of Israel Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1972 Botanical gardens in Israel Protected areas of Southern District (Israel) Tells (archaeology) Canaanite cities Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea Hebrew Bible places Israeli mosaics Dead Sea basin Judaean Desert Pre-Pottery Neolithic A Ghassulian