Arabah
The Arabah/Araba (
The old meaning, which was in use up to around the early 20th century, covered almost the entire length of what today is called the
Geography
The Arabah is 166 km (103 mi) in length, from the Gulf of Aqaba to the southern shore of the Dead Sea.
Topographically, the region is divided into three sections. From the Gulf of Aqaba northward, the land gradually rises over a distance of 77 km (48 mi), and reaches a height of 230 m (750 ft) above sea level, which represents the
The Arabah is scenic with colorful cliffs and sharp-topped mountains. The southern Arabah is hot and dry and virtually without rain.
Flora and fauna
There are numerous species of flora and fauna in the Aravah Valley.[2] Notably the caracal (Caracal caracal) is found on the valley's savanna areas.[3]
Important Bird Areas
A 15,000 ha (37,000-acre) tract of the northern Arava Valley, from the Ne'ot Hakikar Nature Reserve in the north to the Hazeva and Shezaf Nature Reserve in the south, has been recognised as an
Furthermore, a 60,000 ha (150,000-acre) tract of the southern Arava Valley, from Yotvata in the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south, including the western (Israeli) half of the valley floor and the ridge of the Eilat Mountains, has also been recognised as an IBA, with additional significant species being Lichtenstein's sandgrouse, grey herons, great white pelicans, slender-billed curlews, marsh sandpipers, black-winged pratincoles, white-eyed gulls, white-winged terns, pallid scops owls, European honey buzzards, Egyptian vultures, eastern imperial eagles, lesser kestrels, lanner falcons, Arabian larks, Sinai rosefinches and cinereous buntings.[5] On the eastern (Jordanian) side of the southern Arava Valley is the corresponding, 17,200 ha (43,000-acre), Wadi Araba IBA, about 160 km (99 mi) long by up to 25 km (16 mi) wide. An additional species recorded there is the vulnerable MacQueen's bustard, in very small numbers.[6]
History
Bronze and Iron Ages; Nabatean period
In the
Archaeology: Kingdom of Edom
The existence of the biblical Kingdom of Edom was proved by archaeologists led by Erez Ben-Yosef and Tom Levy, using a methodology called the punctuated equilibrium model in 2019. Archaeologists mainly took copper samples from the Timna Valley and Faynan in Jordan's Arava valley dated to 1300–800 BCE. According to the results of the analyses, the researchers thought that Pharaoh Shoshenk I of Egypt (the Biblical "Shishak"), who attacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BC, encouraged trade and production of copper instead of destroying the region. Tel Aviv University professor Ben-Yosef reported, "Our new findings contradict the view of many archaeologists that the Arava was populated by a loose alliance of tribes, and they're consistent with the biblical story that there was an Edomite kingdom here".[8][9]
Israel and Jordan, 20th-21st c.
The
Population and localities
Israel
Demography
The Israeli population of the region is 52,000,[
Localities
Below is a list of Israeli localities in the Arava, from north to south. They belong to one city council, Eilat, and three regional councils: Tamar (a), Central Arava (b), and Hevel Eilot (c), all part of the Southern District.
- Moshav Ein Tamar (a)
- Moshav Neot HaKikar (a)
- community settlement(b)
- Moshav Idan(b)
- Moshav Ein Hatzeva (a)
- Moshav Hatzeva (b)
- Moshav Ein Yahav (b)
- Sapir, community settlement (b)
- Moshav Tzofar (b)
- Tzukim, community settlement (b)
- Moshav Paran (b)
- Kibbutz Yahel (c)
- Kibbutz Neot Smadar (c)
- Kibbutz Neve Harif (c)
- Kibbutz Lotan(c)
- Kibbutz Ketura(c)
- Kibbutz Grofit (c)
- Kibbutz Yotvata (c)
- Kibbutz Samar (c)
- Kibbutz Elifaz (c)
- Be'er Ora, community settlement (c)
- Kibbutz Eilot (c)
- Eilat
Jordan
Demography
The total Jordanian population in the region is 103,000, of whom 96,000 live in Aqaba[when?] (95,048 as of 2021).
In 2004, the Jordanian administrative district of Wadi Araba had a population of 6,775.[10]
Five major
Localities
Below is a list of Jordanian population clusters in Wadi Araba:
Landmarks
Feynan Ecolodge was opened in Wadi Feynan by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in 2005.
See also
- Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, academic program in Israel
- Nahal HaArava, a wadi in the northern part of the Arava
- Negev
- Sands of Samar, an expanse of sand dunes in the southern Arava
- Southern District (Israel)
- Wadi Araba Crossing, southernmost border crossing between Jordan and Israel
References
- Mapa. 2000. pp. 107–110.
השם קדום (דברים א 1 ועוד) ומשמעו אזור שומם ויבש
- ^ Henry Chichester Hart. 1891, Some account of the fauna and flora of Sinai, Petra, and Wâdy Arabah, 255 pages
- ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Caracal: Caracal caracal, GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Northern Arava Valley". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Southern Arava valley and Elat mountains". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Wadi Araba". BirdLife Data Zone. BirdLife International. 2021. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- doi:10.1016/j.jas.2016.05.010. Retrieved 2020-09-03.)
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ "Israeli researchers identify biblical kingdom of Edom". Jerusalem Post. 19 September 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ^ Amanda Borschel-Dan. "Bible-era nomadic Edomite tribesmen were actually hi-tech copper mavens". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
- ^ Jordan Department of Statistics. 2004
External links
- WadiFeynan Eco-Lodge
- The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies
- Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature
- Wadi Araba Archaeological Research Project: Integrating Investigations of the Cultural Landscape of Wadi Araba since 1996. For Publications, see http://wadiaraba.tripod.com/waarpubs.htm
- Wadi Arabah Project: Crossing the Rift
- French Institute of Oriental Archaeology
- Photos of Wadi ‘Araba at the American Center of Research