The Arabah / Araba ( Arabic : وادي عربة , romanized : Wādī ʿAraba ) or Aravah / Arava ( Hebrew : הָעֲרָבָה , romanized : hāʿĂrāḇā , lit. 'dry area' ) is a loosely defined geographic area in the Negev Desert , south of the Dead Sea basin , which forms part of the border between Israel to the west and Jordan to the east.
19-736: Arava or Aravah is the Hebrew name of a section of the Great Rift Valley between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba/Eilat in Israel and Jordan. Its Arabic name is Arabah. Arava may also refer to: Aravah 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 Jordan Rift Valley , running in a north–south orientation between
38-746: 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 . On
57-716: A population of 6,775. Five major Bedouin tribes comprise eight settlements on the Jordanian side: Al-S'eediyeen ( السعيديين ), Al-Ihewat ( الإحيوات ), Al-Ammareen/Amareen ( العمارين ; see also Palestinian Bedouin ), Al-Rashaideh/Rashaydeh ( الرشايدة ; see also Palestinian Bedouin ), and Al-Azazmeh ( العزازمة ), as well as smaller tribes of the Al-Oseifat ( العصيفات ), Al-Rawajfeh ( الرواجفة ), Al-Manaja'h ( المناجعة ), and Al-Marzaqa ( المرزقة ), among others. The main economic activities for these Arabah residents revolve around herding sheep, agriculture, handicrafts, and serving in
76-435: Is Vulnerable when it is not critically endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future, as defined by any of the following criteria (A to E): A) Population reduction in the form of either of the following: B) Extent of occurrence estimated to be less than 20,000 km or area of occupancy estimated to be less than 2,000 km , and estimates indicating any two of
95-567: 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 . The total Jordanian population in the region is 103,000, of whom 96,000 live in Aqaba (95,048 as of 2021). In 2004, the Jordanian administrative district of Wadi Araba had
114-607: Is reported in the Hebrew Bible to have had mines in this area. Copper mining at the Ashalim site predates his reign in the 10th century BCE. The Arabah, especially its eastern part, was part of the realm of the Edomites (called "Idumeans" during Hellenistic and Roman times). Later the eastern Arabah became the domain of the Nabateans , the builders of the city of Petra . The existence of
133-497: The International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnerability is mainly caused by habitat loss or destruction of the species' home. Vulnerable habitat or species are monitored and can become increasingly threatened. Some species listed as "vulnerable" may be common in captivity , an example being
152-565: The Jordanian Army . Below is a list of Jordanian population clusters in Wadi Araba: Timna Valley Park is notable for its prehistoric rock carvings, some of the oldest copper mines in the world, and a convoluted cliff called King Solomon's pillars. On the Jordanian side is Wadi Rum , famous among rock climbers, hikers, campers, and lovers of the outdoors. There is the Jordanian copper mining area of Wadi Feynan , including
171-856: The caracal ( Caracal caracal ) is found on the valley's savanna 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 Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of both resident and migrating bird species, including sand partridges , garganeys , common cranes , black and white storks , Eurasian spoonbills and bitterns , black-winged stilts , desert tawny owls , lappet-faced vultures , Levant sparrowhawks , sooty falcons , Arabian warblers and babblers , Tristram's starlings , hooded wheatears and Dead Sea sparrows . Furthermore,
190-431: The military macaw . In 2012 there were 5,196 animals and 6,789 plants classified as vulnerable, compared with 2,815 and 3,222, respectively, in 1998. Practices such as cryoconservation of animal genetic resources have been enforced in efforts to conserve vulnerable breeds of livestock specifically. The International Union for Conservation of Nature uses several criteria to enter species in this category. A taxon
209-408: 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". The Israel–Jordan Peace Treaty was signed in
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#1732848288039228-563: The Arava on October 26, 1994. The governments of Jordan and Israel are promoting development of the region. There is a plan to bring sea water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea through a canal ( Red–Dead Seas Canal ), which follows along the Arabah. This (long envisioned) project was once an issue of dispute between Jordan and Israel, but it was recently agreed that the project shall be constructed on and by
247-470: 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 watershed divide between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea. From this crest, the land slopes gently northward over
266-450: The Jordanian side. The Israeli population of the region is 52,000, of whom 47,500 live in Eilat (52,753 in 2021), and just over 5,000 live in 20 small towns north of Eilat, the largest of which is Yotvata , with a population (as of 2019) of 717 (735 in 2021). Eilat is a city , while all other towns are communal settlements of the kibbutz , moshav and community settlement type. Below
285-606: 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
304-447: 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. In the Bronze and Iron Ages , the Arava was a center of copper production. King Solomon
323-477: The next 74 km (46 mi) to a point 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the Dead Sea. In the last section, the Arabah drops steeply to the Dead Sea, which is 417 m (1,368 ft) below sea level. The Arabah is scenic with colorful cliffs and sharp-topped mountains. The southern Arabah is hot and dry and virtually without rain. There are numerous species of flora and fauna in the Aravah Valley. Notably
342-572: The site of Khirbat en-Nahas , corresponding to the one from Timna Valley in the west. Feynan Ecolodge was opened in Wadi Feynan by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in 2005. 30°25′01″N 35°09′05″E / 30.41694°N 35.15139°E / 30.41694; 35.15139 Vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been categorized by
361-625: The southern end of the Sea of Galilee and the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba of the Red Sea at Aqaba – Eilat . This included the Jordan River Valley between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea itself, and what today is commonly called the Arava Valley. The contemporary use of the term is restricted to this southern section alone. The Arabah is 166 km (103 mi) in length, from
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