Ein Gedi National ParkEin Gedi National Park was founded in 1972 and is one of the most important reserves in Israel. The park is situated on the eastern border of the Judean Desert, on the Dead Sea coast, and covers an area of 6,250 acres. The elevation of the land ranges from the level of the Dead Sea at 418 meters (1,371 ft) below sea level to the plateau of the Judean Desert at 200 meters above sea level.
Ein Gedi National Park includes two spring-fed streams with flowing water year-round: Nachal David (David Stream) and Nachal Arugot (Arugot Stream). Two other 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.
The park 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, jujube 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 ibex and the hyrax.
In the summer of 2005, nearly two-thirds of the oasis burned to the ground after a tourist dropped a lit cigarette onto the park grounds
The remains of a pool and living quarters indicate that members of the Essene sect may have inhabited the area above Ein Gedi during the first century CE. This is supported by the writings of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder.
Other finds, as well as writings by Pliny, Simon Bar Kokhba and Josephus Flavius, indicate that the first Jewish settlement began in the seventh century BCE and lasted until some time after the destruction of the First Temple (also known as the Temple of Solomon) by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia in 586 BCE. The colony was reestablished in the fifth century BCE and again during the Second Temple period in the second century BCE. This period of Jewish habitation lasted intermittently for 700 years, until the end of the Byzantine empire around 550 CE, when the settlement was destroyed by fire and abandoned. Ein Gedi was developed extensively during this time and the remains of agricultural terraces, cisterns and aqueducts can still be seen.
The ruins of an ornate synagogue dating from the Byzantine era and mosaics with Hebrew and Aramaic inscriptions have been extensively restored and can be viewed in the Ein Gedi National Park.
Between the 13th century and the Israeli War of Independence, Ein Gedi was inhabited at various times by both Jews and Bedouin Arabs.
In April 1849, Captain William Lynch led an American expedition down the Jordan River. Upon "discovering" Ein Gedi, he renamed it George Washington Spring.
References
- Genesis 14:7
- 1 Samuel 24:1, 2
- 2 Chronicles 20:1, 2 Jos 15:62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and Engedi: six cities with their villages.
- 1 Sam 23:29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
- 1 Sam 24:1 When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told, "Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi."
- 2 Ch 20:2 Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, "A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar" (that is, Engedi).
- Sgs 1:14 My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms in the vineyards of Engedi.
- Eze 47:10 "Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.
|