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The Ein Gedi Nature Reserve (Getting Israel Together)
The Ein Gedi reserve, on the eastern periphery of the Judean Desert,
is bordered by cliffs to the West, the Dead Sea shore to the East, the
Mount Yishai Ridge and the Ein Gedi lookout to the North, and Nahal Hever
in the South.
The lowermost section - the lowest point in the world - is 400 meters
below sea level, and the highest summits are 200 meters above sea level.
The 6,750-acre reserve, officially declared in 1972, includes Nahal
David and Nahal Arugot and the slopes between them.
 The oasis
is fed by four springs: David Spring (in the channel of Nahal David),
Shulamit Spring and Ein Gedi Spring (on the southern slope of Nahal David),
and Ein Arugot (in Nahal Arugot).
Together these springs supply about three million cubic meters of water
each year.
The supply of water from the springs is quite steady, with only slight
seasonal variations.
It is not direct affected by the amount of rainfall in a particular year,
even though the springs get their water from the rainfall that flows eastward
from the Hebron Hills watershed, in the direction of the Dead Sea.
The Limestone and dolomite in the Hebron Hills are jointed and the water
seeps through the rock until it reaches the layers of impermeable clay
and Marl.
The water flows east over the clay and Marl, running in the direction
of the rock strata, until it reaches the cliffs.
At the cliffs the water gushes out as four springs.
The springs are all more or less at the same altitude: about 200 meters
above the Dead Sea.
A visual marker of the groundwater level - the point at which the springs
emerge - is provided by the moringa trees growning nearby.
Ein Gedi's geographic location on the Syrian-African Rift, coupled with
the combination of a hot climate and plentiful sweet water in an arid
desert environment, created a unique oasis, the largest on the western
shores of the Dead Sea.
History
People have been aware of the extraordinary conditions of the Ein Gedi
oasis since the ancient settlement in the land of Israel, as we know from
the Chalcolithic temple found above the Ein Gedi Spring and the biblical
references to Ein Gedi.
The description of the war of the war of the four kings against the
five kings in Genesis 14:7 recounts, "and also the Amorites who dwelt
in Hazazon-tamar..." Hazazon-tamar is identified as Ein Gedi.
A verse in Chronicles, discussing the war between Jehoshaphat and the
Moabites and the Ammonites tells, "The report was brought to Jehoshaphat:
'A great multitude is coming against you from beyond the sea, from Aram,
and is now in Hazazon-tamar' that is Ein Gedi" (II chronicles 20:2).
At the time of the conquests of Joshua, Ein Gedi is listed among the cities
bequeathed to the tribe of Juda: "in the wilderness: Beth-arava, Middin,
Secacah, Nibshan, Ir-melah, and Ein Gedi: six towns, with their villages"
(Joshua 15:61-62).
In I Samuel 24:1, we are told that after David ran away from Saul, he
wandered through the Judean desert, and reached Ein Gedi: "David went
from there and stayed in the wilderness of Ein Gedi."
A number of descriptions of Ein Gedi are found in the Song of Songs:
"My beloved to me is a spray of henna blooms from the vineyards of Ein
Gedi" (1:14), and an image appropriate to the landscape, "O my dove, in
the cranny of the rocks, hidden by the cliff" (2:14).
Archeological finds at Tel Goren and in the Ein Gedi region supports
some of the historical accounts.
The findings date from the seventh century B.C.E. to the end of the biblical
period.
According to the Talmud (Tractate Shabbath), Jews continued to reside
in Ein Gedi after the First Temple was destroyed.
Ein Gedi had a large Jewish community during the Second Temple period
(second century B.C.E.).
This Jewish settlement, which grew dates, is mentioned in the book of
Ben Sira. Josephus Flavius tells that that the residents of Ein Gedi were
massacred by the zealots - followers of Elazar Ben Yair - at the end of
the Second Temple period. Letters Bar Kokhva wrote to the local commanding
officers (135 C.A.), found in the Nahal Hever caves on the Ein Gedi slopes,
shed light on the period of the Bar Kokhva War and the part Ein Gedi played
in the events of this time.
The first letters are worded like orders and threats; the later ones are
reprimands.
The many unique finds from the Mishna
-Talmud
period, including a synagogue and a bathhouse ,
attest to the size and special nature of the community.
The settlement in Ein Gedi flourished during the fourth to sixth centuries.
The continual settlement of Ein Gedi ended in the sixth century.
The archeological remains point to a large, thriving, and well-organized
settlement, which utilized every piece of land and drop of water for agriculture,
as is illustrated by the terraces, aqueducts and reservoirs.
Balsam was the "special secret" of Ein Gedi. This fruit was used to
produce a particular type of perfume, which was especially valuable for
trade.
The central authority in Judea long considered Ein Gedi to be imperial
property, most likely because of Ein Gedi's wealth of economic resources.
The gradual decline of Ein Gedi began in the Byzantine period.
We know from the testimony of nineteenth century researchers and travelers,
especially the well-known zoologist Henry Baker Tristram, that a large
part of the agricultural system became run down.
From this time, Ein Gedi was portrayed as a wild place, with a few Bedouin
families of the Rashida tribe living in reed huts at the foot of the Ein
Gedi Spring.
In the mill building, the sugar (or flour) mill, which used water from
the Ein Gedi Spring to power the upper and lower millstones, dates from
the Islamic period.
The renewed Jewish settlement of Ein Gedi began with the arrival of
the Israel Defense Forces in March 1949.
A rout was opened from the South (Sodom) and Kibbutz Ein Gedi was established.
This transformed the area into an agricultural paradise.
Today the kibbutz has about 250 members and 300 children and most of
its income comes from tourism.
The Ein Gedi area also has a field school and a youth hostel.
Fauna
 The
abundant water, diverse vegetation, and warm climate naturally attract
a wide variety of animal life.
The ibex and hyrax, whose habitat is supported by the scarps, are prominent
and characteristic residents of the oasis.
The male ibex can be identified by his large horns, pointing back; the
female is smaller and her horns are shorter and thinner.
The Ibex generally live in separate herds of males and females, except
during the annual mating season (September-October).
 The courtship
ritual and the battles among the males are fascinating to witness.
Another heartwarming scene takes place in the early spring (April), when
the female ibex and her young descend from the desert highlands to the
spring and streams.
 Families
of hyrax make their homes in the thicket of reeds, between the salvadora
trees (see picture) and the rockfalls at the foot of the cliffs.
"The high mountains are for the ibex; the crags are refuge for the hyrax"
(Psalms 104:18).
The nocturnal mammals in the reserve include two species of fox (red fox
and Afghan fox), as well as wolves, striped hyenas, and leopards.
The leopard is very rare and in danger of extinction.
Today approximately four leopards live in Ein Gedi Reserve.
Decidedly territorial animals, the leopards have adopted the reserve as
their permanent home.
The prey on partridges, hyrax, and ibex for food.
The Nature Reserve Authority is making every efforts to guarantee their
continued survival, despite the significant presence of human beings.
The reptile world is also extremely diverse and includes two species
of vipers (mole and carpet) and one nonvenomous snake, the wipe snake.
A number of species of lizards and agamas also live in Ein Gedi.
Many of the birds seen in Ein Gedi have made the reserve their permanent
home.
 They
include Tristram's starling, characterized by its usual strident voice,
black feathers, and orange-spotted wing tips; black tail; sand partridge
- "like a partridge hatching what she did not lay" (Jeremiah 17:11); Arabian
babbler, with its long tail that points upwards; and fan-tailed raven,
which most often lives in large flocks, 
the in Israel rare, but in Ein Gedi steady little green bee-eater (Merops
orientalis).
Some birds of prey who are permanent residents of the reserve (Griffon
vultures, Egyptian vultures, eagles, and falcons) nest on top of cliffs.
During migration season, many birds fly over, Ein Gedi and visitors are
treated to the fantastic sight of flocks of scores - even hundreds or
thousands - of storks and birds of prey.
Other birds stay for a period, as for example the spotted fly-catcher
(Muscicapa striata) or the smyrna kingfisher (Halcyon smyrnensis)
The reserve has plentiful supply of food the animal residents require.
Flora
Thanks to the special climatic conditions and the wide range of habitats,
plants from four phytogeographical (phyto=plant) regions grow side by
side in the Ein Gedi Reserve.
- Tropical (Sudanian) plants
- Desert (Saharo-Arabian) plants
- Mediterranean plants
- Steppian (Irano-Turanian) Plants
Ein Gedi boasts the northernmost distribution of some Sudanian flora,
including trees and bushes, such as maerua (Maerua crassifolia), cordia
(Cordia sinesis), and oxystelma (Oxystelmaalpini). 
Other tropical plants growing in the reserve are Sodom apple (Calotropis
procera), balanites (Balanites aegyptiaca), moringa (Moringa peregrina),
commicarpus (Commicarpus plumbagineus), flowering maple (Abutilon hirtum),
nightshade (Solanum incanum), salvadora (Salvadora
persica), jujube (Ziziphus spina-christi), and acacia (Acacia raddiana
and Acacia tortilis).
Saharo-Arabian flora include zygophyllum (Zygophyllum dumosum),
anabasis (Anabasis articulata), ochradenus (Ochradenus baccatus), gymnocarpus
(Gymnocarpus decander) and asteriscus (Asteriscus graveolens).
These species grow primarily on the rock slopes and the desert highlands.
Most of the Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian flora grow near
the streams and springs: squill (Uriginea maritima), cheilanthes (Cheilanthes
vellcu and Cheilanthes fragrans) maidenhair fern (Adiantum), phagnalon
(phagnalon ruprestra), and chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus).
Steppian vegetation includes willow (Salix acmophylla), helleborine
(Epipactis veratrifolia), and globe thistle (Echinops polyceras), as well
as riverbank vegetation such as Euphrates poplar (Populus euphratica),
reed (Phragmites australis and Arundo donax).
The reserve is also blessed with colorful annual flora.
In rain years, these plants cover any areas that are not occupied by perennial
flora, and they add to the variety and lushness of the reserve.
In these years, Ein Gedi is awash with Mediterranean annuals, such as
grounsel (Senecio vernalis), and Heron's bill (Erodium gruinum), growing
alongside Saharo-Arabian species like Aaronsohnia (Aronsohnia faktorovskyi)
and toadflax (Linaria haelava).
Our gratitude to the Authority for Nature reserves and
National Parks for their permission to use the text from their folder
for our "Live" site.
The pictures by Pinhas Baraq
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