The Valley of Elah, Ella Valley ("Valley of the

terebinth ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous shrub species of the genus '' Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and ...

"; from the ), or Wadi es-Sunt (), is a long, shallow valley in the

Shephelah The Shephelah () or Shfela (), or the Judaean Foothills (), is a transitional region of soft-sloping rolling hills in south-central Israel stretching over between the Judaean Mountains and the Coastal Plain. The different use of the term "Jud ...

area of

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 ...

. It is best-known from the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' 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 ...

defeated

Goliath Goliath ( ) was a Philistines, Philistine giant in the Book of Samuel. Descriptions of Goliath's giant, immense stature vary among biblical sources, with texts describing him as either or tall. According to the text, Goliath issued a challen ...

( 1 Samuel 17:2 and 19). It is home to several important archaeological sites, including those identified as the ancient towns of Azekah and Sokho (1 Samuel 17:1). Rising from the valley on its extreme southeast end lies the hilltop ruin Adullam, and on its north lie the ruins of the ancient fortress city of

Khirbet Qeiyafa Khirbet Qeiyafa (), also known as Elah Fortress and in Hebrew as Horbat Qayafa (), is the site of an ancient fortress city overlooking the Valley of Elah and dated to the first half of the 10th century BCE. The ruins of the fortress were uncove ...

, which is identified with the ancient town of Shaaraim mentioned in 1 Samuel 17:52. The valley is named after its indigenous trees: in Hebrew after the large and shady terebinth trees (''

Pistacia terebinthus ''Pistacia terebinthus'' also called the terebinth and the turpentine tree, is a deciduous shrub species of the genus ''Pistacia'', native to the Mediterranean region from the western regions of Morocco and Portugal to Greece and western and s ...

'' and '' P. palaestina''), and in Arabic for the white acacia trees ('' Faidherbia''). On the west side of the valley, near Socho, there is a huge and ancient terebinth, in height with a trunk in circumference and a canopy at least in diameter. This tree is notable for being one of the largest terebinths in the area, and marks the valley's upper end. Elah Valley - Passover 2014

Since the early 1970s, the valley has also contained a large

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

relay station, with an

antenna farm An antenna farm, satellite dish farm or dish farm is an area dedicated to television or radio telecommunications transmitting or receiving antenna equipment, such as C band (IEEE), C, Ku band, Ku or Ka band, Ka Band (radio), band satellite dish ...

containing some 120

satellite dish A satellite dish is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive or transmit information by radio waves to or from a communication satellite. The term most commonly means a dish which receives direct-broadcast satellite televisio ...

es of various sizes. From 2010 to 2014, the region around the valley was believed to be threatened by shale oil extraction through the CCR ground-heating process, with the Green Zionist Alliance (now Aytzim) and the grassroots group , among others, working to stop exploitation of the region. The plan was ultimately blocked in 2014 by a zoning committee decision. In July 2019, the Elah Valley came under the

Israel Nature and Parks Authority The Israel Nature and Parks Authority (, ; ) is an Israeli government organization that manages nature reserves and national parks in Israel, the Golan Heights and parts of the West Bank. The organization was founded in April 1998, merging two o ...

, owing mainly to its historical importance and the desire to curtail the encroaching city limits of

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...

to its north.

History

In 2009, Professor Yosef Garfinkel discovered a fortified city from the Iron Age II dated sometime between 1050 and 915 BC at

, southwest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

in the Elah Valley. The fortifications have been said to support the biblical account of the

United Monarchy The Kingdom of Israel (Hebrew: מַמְלֶכֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, ''Mamleḵeṯ Yīśrāʾēl'') was an Israelite kingdom that may have existed in the Southern Levant. According to the Deuteronomistic history in the Hebrew Bible ...

, the theory that Israel in the time of King David at the beginning of Iron Age II was more than simply a tribal chiefdom. Others are skeptical and suggest it might represent either a Judahite or

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

ite fortress.Julia Fridman
'Crying King David: Are the ruins found in Israel really his palace? ,'
at

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 ...

, 26 August 2013. HaElaFortressDSCN2167

In the late 19th century, Claude Conder and Herbert Kitchener described the Elah Valley as being "one of the most fertile districts in Palestine. It is an open flat vale about half a mile across, and covered with corn; a narrow trench runs down the center full of white pebbles worn by the water in winter. Here and there large terebinths grow along its course (''Butmet Wâdy es Sûr''), and solitary oak trees (''Ballûtet Kŭssis''). On either side rise the stony hills covered with brushwood and wild growth."C.R. Conder & H.H. Kitchener, ''The Survey of Western Palestine'', vol. III, London 1883, p. 298

Flora and fauna

Numerous plant species are native to the Elah Valley, including: * Terebinth (''

'') * Kermes oak (''

Quercus coccifera ''Quercus coccifera'', the kermes oak or commonly known as Palestine oak, is an oak shrub or tree in section '' Ilex'' of the genus. It has many synonyms, including ''Quercus calliprinos''. It is native to the Mediterranean region and Northern ...

'') * Buckthorn ('' Rhamnus lycioides'') *

Carob The carob ( ; ''Ceratonia siliqua'') is a flowering evergreen tree or shrub in the Caesalpinioideae sub-family of the legume family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible fruit, which takes the form of seed pods, and as an ornam ...

('' Ceratonia siliqua'') * Sweet marjoram ('' Origanum syriacum'') * Sage ('' Salvia fruticosa'') * Khella ('' Visnaga daucoides'') *

Fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

('' Foeniculum vulgare'') * Anemone (''

Anemone coronaria ''Anemone coronaria'', the poppy anemone, Spanish marigold, or windflower, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Anemone coronaria'' is a herbaceous perennial ...

'') * Cyclamen ('' Cyclamen persicum'') * Lupine ('' Lupinus pilosus'') * Daisy ('' Glebionis coronaria'') * Syrian cornflower-thistle ('' Centaurea cyanoides'', rare) * Mallow ('' Malva nicaeensis'') * Asparagus ('' Asparagus palaestinus Baker'') * Chicory (''

Cichorium pumilum ''Cichorium pumilum'' is a Mediterranean species of plant in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae . Like the other species of ''Cichorium'', its leaves are edible by humans. The plant produces bluish-violet flower heads A pseudan ...

''; syn. ''

Cichorium endivia ''Cichorium endivia'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the genus ''Cichorium'', which is widely cultivated as one of the species of similar bitter-leafed vegetables known as endive Endive () is a leaf vegetable belonging to the ge ...

'') * Broom lettuce ('' Lactuca serriola'') * Stinging nettle ('' Urtica urens'') * Asphodel ('' Asphodelus aestivus'') * Wild oat (''

Avena sterilis ''Avena sterilis'' (animated oat, sterile oat, wild oat, wild red oat, winter wild oat; syn. ''Avena ludoviciana'' Durieu; ''Avena macrocarpa'' Moench; ''Avena sterilis'' ssp. ''sterilis''; ''Avena sterilis'' ssp. ''ludoviciana'') is a species ...

'') * Wild barley (''

Hordeum spontaneum ''Hordeum spontaneum'', commonly known as wild barley or spontaneous barley, is the wild form of the grass in the family Poaceae that gave rise to the cereal barley (''Hordeum vulgare''). Domestication is thought to have occurred on two occasion ...

''; syn. ''H. ithaburense'') * White mustard ('' Sinapis alba'') * Arum; cuckoo-pint ('' Arum palaestinum'') * Caper ('' Capparis spinosa'') * Wild carrot (''

Daucus carota ''Daucus carota'', whose common names include wild carrot, European wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is native to temperate regions of the Old World ...

'') * Globe-thistle ('' Echinops adenocaulos'') * Ciliate vetchling ('' Lathyrus blepharicarpus'') * Spiny broom ('' Calicotome villosa'') * White acacia ('' Faidherbia'') Animal species native to the Elah Valley include: * Mountain gazelle ('' Gazella gazella'') * Syrian jackal ('' Canis aureus syriacus'') * Arabian red fox (''Vulpes thaleb'') * Crested porcupine ('' Hystrix cristata'') * Egyptian mongoose (''

Herpestes ichneumon The Egyptian mongoose (''Herpestes ichneumon''), also known as ichneumon (), is a mongoose species native to the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands of Africa and around the Mediterranean Basin in North Africa, the Mi ...

'') * Southern white-breasted hedgehog ('' Erinaceus concolor'') * Middle East blind mole-rat ('' Spalax ehrenbergi''; syn. ''Nannospalax ehrenbergi'') *

Greek tortoise Greek tortoise (''Testudo graeca''), also known as the spur-thighed tortoise or Moorish tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It is a medium sized herbivorous testudinae, widely distributed in the Mediterranean basin, M ...

(''

Testudo graeca Greek tortoise (''Testudo graeca''), also known as the spur-thighed tortoise or Moorish tortoise, is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. It is a medium sized herbivorous testudinae, widely distributed in the Mediterranean region. ...

'') * Günther's vole ('' Microtus guentheri'') * Sheltopusik ('' Pseudopus apodus'')

References

External links

1 Samuel Chapter 17Porcupines, Emperors, and the New Middle EastEllah Valley (HD)

Gallery

File:View_of_Elah_Valley_from_atop_Aderet,_March_2015.jpg, Panoramic view of Elah Valley and Neve Michael as seen from atop Moshav Aderet File:Elah Valley below Adullam.jpg, The Valley of Elah, near Adullam File:Elah_Valley_as_seen_from_Tel_Socho,_Feb._2015.jpg, Elah Valley as seen from atop of Tel Socho File:Elah_Valley_from_Tel-Socho,_Feb._2015.jpg, View of Elah Valley, looking east from atop of Tel Socho File:The Elah Valley, en route to Tel Socho, Feb 2015.jpg, Elah Valley, en route to Tel Socho File:Elah Valley Wheat Fields.jpg, Elah valley in Spring, with ripening grain File:Crown_Daisy_(Chrysanthemum_coronarium),_March_2015.jpg, Crown daisy ( Glebionis coronaria) File:Pistacia atlantica, Elah Valley, June 2015.jpg, ''

Pistacia atlantica ''Pistacia atlantica'' is a species of Pistacia, pistachio tree known by the English language, English common name Mt. Atlas mastic tree, Atlas pistachio, Atlantic pistacio, Atlantic terebinth, wild pistachio, and Cyprus turpentine tree. ''P. a ...

'', from which the valley takes its name File:Pistacia atlantica, in sunlight.jpg, Beneath the shady boughs of a Persian turpentine tree (''Pistacia atlantica'') in the Elah valley File:Asphodel flowers.jpg, Asphodel in blossom, in the Elah Valley {{DEFAULTSORT:Valley Of Elah Elah Land of Israel Valleys of Israel Valleys of the West Bank Ancient Israel and Judah District of Jerusalem Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Goliath

History

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links

Gallery