Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi (
Ein Gedi is a popular tourist attraction, and was listed in 2016 as one of the most popular nature sites in Israel.[3] The site attracts about one million visitors a year.[4]
Etymology
The name Ein Gedi is composed of two words (In both Arabic and Hebrew): 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.[5] The archaeological mound (tell) is known in Hebrew as Tel Goren and in Arabic as Tell el-Jurn or Tell Jurn.[5] The site has been identified with the biblical Hazazon Tamar[5] (חַצְצוֹן תָּמָר ḥaṣṣōn tāmār, "portion [of land] of date palms"), on account of the palm groves which surrounded it.[6] It is also written Hazazon-tamar,[7] Hazazontamar,[5] Hatzatzon-Tamar,[8] Hazezon Tamar,[9] and Hazezontamar.[6]
History and archaeology
Early habitation
At Mikveh Cave archaeologists found
Hebrew Bible
In Joshua 15:62, Ein Gedi is enumerated among the wilderness cities of the
- Fishing nets will be spread from En-gedi to En-eglaim.[11]
Fleeing from
In 2 Chronicles 20:2 Ein Gedi is identified with Hazazon-tamar,
The
Persian, Hellenistic, and early Roman periods
The settlement at Tel Goren is a rare example of a town which reached its zenith during the Persian period, probably during the late 5th century BCE.[citation needed] Ein Gedi receives a fortress under Hellenistic rule and becomes a royal Hasmonean estate.[citation needed] According to Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, Ein Gedi served as the capital of a toparchy, and there were excellent palm trees and balsam growing there.[13] The date palm's fruit and the balsam plant's fragrance were essential to the village's economy. The balsam plant also served as a source for expensive medications.[14]
During the First Jewish-Roman War, the Sicarii, who fought the Romans until their defeat and mass suicide at Masada, plundered local villages including Ein Gedi. At Ein Gedi, they drove out the defenders, and killed over seven hundred women and children who could not run away.[15][16][17] Pliny claims that Ein Gedi was destroyed during the war, although the Babatha archive shows that Jews lived there once again during the reign of Hadrian and probably earlier. The Babatha archive mentions Ein Gedi as a crown property; the Cohors I Milliaria Thracum is attested there, indicating the presence of Roman soldiers there at the time. The Babatha archive also refers to Ein Gedi as "a village in the territory of Jericho in Judaea". This evidence led researchers to believe that Ein Gedi was no longer a toparchy in its own right following the First Jewish-Roman War and had instead become a village inside the toparchy of Jericho.[13]
Late Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods
Ein Gedi survived the catastrophic results of the Bar Kokhba revolt and continued to exist until the sixth or seventh centuries.[14] Eusebius described Ein Gedi as "a large Jewish village" in his early fourth-century Onomasticon.[14] In the early third century CE, a synagogue was built in the center of the village. Its remains include a Judeo-Aramaic inscription mosaic now on display at Jerusalem's National Archaeology Campus warning inhabitants against "revealing the town's secret" – possibly the methods for extraction and preparation of the much-prized balsam resin, though not stated outright in the inscription – to the outside world.[18]
Ein Gedi was destroyed in a fire during the late Byzantine period. According to the archaeologists who excavated the synagogue, the village was destroyed during the early 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justinian as part of his persecution campaign against Jews in his empire. Others claim that the village was destroyed in a Bedouin raid that occurred before the Persian invasion, probably around the late 6th or early 7th century.[18]
After Ein Gedi was destroyed, the cultivation of balsam around the Dead Sea ceased, and it is believed that its Jewish residents, who were now refugees, took the knowledge of cultivating the balsam with them, causing this knowledge to be lost forever.
Modern
In 1998–99, the archaeological expedition of Yizhar Hirschfeld at Ein Gedi systematically excavated what has been called "the Essenes site", first discovered by Yohanan Aharoni in 1956.[21]
The Ein Gedi race, also known as the Shalom Marathon – Dead Sea Half Marathon is a popular road running event over several distances that has been held by the Tamar Regional Council since 1983. The starting point for all races is the Ein Gedi Spa, 80 kilometers (50 mi) southeast of Jerusalem and 4 kilometers south of Kibbutz Ein Gedi.[22][23]
Nature reserve and national park
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 (2.0 acres or 8,000 m2).[24]
Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, declared at the end of 1971 and expanded in 1988,
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
Sinkholes
Ein Gedi has been subject to a large number of
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
See also
- Ancient synagogues in Palestine
- Archaeology of Israel
- En-Gedi Scroll, oldest Torah scroll found in a Torah ark
- Hiking in Israel
- Tourism in Israel
- Wildlife of Israel
References
- ^ a b c Tlozek, Eric (9 June 2021). "The Dead Sea is disappearing, leaving behind a landscape shattered by sinkholes". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- ^ Conder, C. R.; Kitchener, Horatio Herbert (1881). The survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English name lists collected during the survey. Translated by Palmer, Edward Henry. p. 416 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Israel nature spots draw 2 million visitors, Haaretz
- ^ What Israel's nature reserves booking system reveals, Haaretz
- ^ a b c d En Gedi at bibleplaces.com. Accessed 11 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Sir William Smith (1914). A Smaller Dictionary of The Bible, John Murrey, London. Page 169.
- ^ NRSV and CEB
- ^ CJB
- ^ NKJV
- ^ Gošić Arama, Milena (2016). "Temples in the Ghassulian Culture: Terminology and social implications". Issues in Ethnology and Anthropology. 11 (3): 872–874. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
- ^ Jerusalem Bible: Ezekiel 47:10
- Joseph Lightfoot, Works, vol. 1. p. 58, referenced by Gill, J. in Gill's Exposition of the Bibleon 1 Samuel 23, accessed 24 May 2017
- ^ OCLC 663773367.
- ^ a b c Hirschfeld, Y. (2004). Ein Gedi: A Large Jewish Village1. Qadmoniot, 37, 62-87.
- ^ The Wars of the Jews, or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, by Flavius Josephus, translated by William Whiston, Project Gutenberg, Book IV, Chapter 7, Paragraph 2.
- ^ Flavius Josephus, De bello Judaico libri vii, B. Niese, Ed. J. BJ 4.7.2
- ^ Ancient battle divides Israel as Masada 'myth' unravels; Was the siege really so heroic, asks Patrick Cockburn in Jerusalem, The Independent, 30 March 1997
- ^ a b c Bar-Am, Aviva (2010-01-26). "Ein Gedi, A Streamlined approach". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2011-11-24.[dead link]
- ^ Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 212
- ^ William Francis Lynch (1852). Narrative of the United States' expedition to the river Jordan and the Dead sea. Blanchard and Lea. pp. 282–296. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
- ISBN 978-0-8028-4880-2
- ^ "Ein-Gedi Race" Archived February 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Yagna, Yanir (2008-04-02). "Runners collapse near Dead Sea as temperatures hit seasonal highs". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 2011-11-24.
- ^ a b c "List of National Parks and Nature Reserves" (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
Bibliography
- Conder, C.R; Kitchener, H.H. (1883). The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology. Vol. 3. London: Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund. (pp. 384-386)
- Hirschfeld, Yizhar, ed. (2006). "Ein Gedi – A Very Large Village of Jews". Hecht Museum. Archived from the original on 2011-06-25.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 2. Boston: Crocker & Brewster.
- Robinson, E.; Smith, E. (1841). Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838. Vol. 3. Boston: Crocker & Brewster. (Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 3, Appendix 2, p. 116)
- Palmer, E.H. (1881). The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer. Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
- Warren, C. (1869). "Remarks on a visit to 'Ain Jidy and the southern shores of the Dead Sea in mid-summer 1867". Quarterly Statement - Palestine Exploration Fund. 1: 143–150. (pp. 143-150)
External links
- Virtual Tour of Ein Gedi - View from the Ein Gedi Promenade
- Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea Map - Bird's-eye view in Flash
- The Israel Nature and Parks Authority - Site page
- Ein Gedi Travel Guide Archived 2019-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
- Pictures of Ein Gedi synagogue
- Ein Gedi mill, 1893
- Survey of Western Palestine, Map 22: IAA, Wikimedia commons
- Photos of Ein Gedi synagogue at the Manar al-Athar photo archive
- Times of Israel - Nature of Ein Gedi - a Photo Essay