Ein Gedi (, ), also spelled En Gedi, meaning "spring of the kid", is an oasis, an archeological site and a nature reserve in Israel, located west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Qumran Caves. Ein Gedi, a kibbutz, was established nearby in 1954.
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.
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".
History and archaeology
Neolithic
At Mikveh Cave archaeologists found Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) flint tools and an arrowhead.
Chalcolithic
A Chalcolithic temple (ca. mid-fourth millennium BCE) belonging to the Ghassulian culture was excavated on the slope between two springs, Ein Shulamit and Ein Gedi. More Chalcolithic finds were made at the Moringa and Mikveh Caves.
Bronze Age
No traces of Bronze Age settlement have been found at Ein Gedi.
Iron Age
The remains of the Iron Age settlement at Ein Gedi are located at a tell on the north bank of Wadi Arugot, known in Arabic as Tell el-Jurn (grid position 187/097 PAL) and in Hebrew as Tel Goren. The first permanent Iron Age settlement was Judean and was established around 630 BCE. The site was destroyed or abandoned after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587/86 BCE.
Hebrew Bible
In , Ein Gedi is enumerated among the wilderness cities of the Tribe of Judah in the desert of Betharaba, and in , it is prophesied that one day, its coastal location will make it into a fishing village, after the water of the Dead Sea has been made sweet: Fishing nets will be spread from En-gedi to En-eglaim.
Fleeing from King Saul, David hides in the strongholds at Ein Gedi ( and ) and Saul seeks him "even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats" (). Psalm 63, subtitled a Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah, has been associated with David's sojourn in the desert of En-gedi.
In Ein Gedi is identified with Hazazon-tamar, Hazezon Tamar, Hatzatzon-Tamar or Hazezontamar (חַצְצוֹן תָּמָר ḥaṣṣōn tāmār, "portion [of land] of date palms"), on account of the palm groves which surrounded it, where the Moabites and Ammonites gathered in order to fight Josaphat, king of Judah. In Hazazon-tamar is mentioned as being an Amorite city, smitten by Chedorlaomer in his war against the cities of the plain.
The Song of Songs () speaks of the "vineyards of Ein Gedi". The words of Ecclesiasticus 24:18, "I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades" ('en aígialoîs), may perhaps be understood as the palm trees of Ein Gedi.
Persian period
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.
Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods
Ein Gedi receives a fortress and becomes a royal Hasmonean estate.
Early Roman period
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. 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.
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. 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.