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50-462: The highest point of the Ougarta Range is Djebel Bet Touaris (elevation 890 m), located in the extreme northwest of the chain. The other major peaks are Djebel Rhennouma (867 m) and Djebel Berga Saida (855 m), both located in the northwest. The remaining peaks have an altitude between 772 m (northwest) and 602 m (southeast). The Ougarta Range is surrounded: The Ougarta Range is named after

100-471: A "central pool of open water surrounded by a ring of water-dependent shrubs and trees…which are in turn encircled by an outlying transition zone to desert plants." Rain showers provide subterranean water to sustain natural oases, such as the Tuat . Substrata of impermeable rock and stone can trap water and retain it in pockets, or on long faulting subsurface ridges or volcanic dikes water can collect and percolate to

150-489: A current or past rest stop on a transportation route, or less-than-verdant location that nonetheless provides access to underground water through deep wells created and maintained by humans. Although they depend on a natural condition, such as the presence of water that may be stored in reservoirs and used for irrigation, most oases, as we know them, are artificial. The word oasis came into English from Latin : oasis , from Ancient Greek : ὄασις , óasis , which in turn

200-456: A fortress under Hellenistic rule and becomes a royal Hasmonean estate. 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

250-505: A metre, which is attributed to the battle for scarce water resources in the very arid region . The sinkholes form as a result of the receding shoreline (with the surface of the Sea having shrunk by about 33 per cent since the 1960s), where a thick layer of underground salt is left behind. When fresh water arrives in the form of heavy rains, it dissolves the salt as it sinks into the ground, forming an underground cavity, which eventually collapses under

300-807: A particular route. For example, the oases of Awjila , Ghadames and Kufra , situated in modern-day Libya , have at various times been vital to both north–south and east–west trade in the Sahara Desert . The location of oases also informed the Darb El Arba'īn trade route from Sudan to Egypt, as well as the caravan route from the Niger River to Tangier , Morocco. The Silk Road "traced its course from water hole to water hole, relying on oasis communities such as Turpan in China and Samarkand in Uzbekistan." According to

350-411: A shovel is needed. Wells may or may not be equipped with pumps. Frequently the pumps are broken and useless, and a rope and bucket are then necessary to obtain water. Most of the wells in this region are less than 100 feet deep, but some are deeper, and 100 feet of rope is not too much to provide. As a rule the rope and bucket at a well, if they were ever provided, soon disappear, and one should never trust

400-534: Is a direct borrowing from Demotic Egyptian . The word for oasis in the latter-attested Coptic language (the descendant of Demotic Egyptian) is wahe or ouahe which means a "dwelling place". Oasis in Arabic is wāḥa ( Arabic : واحة ). Oases develop in " hydrologically favored" locations that have attributes such as a high water table , seasonal lakes, or blockaded wadis . Oases are made when sources of freshwater, such as underground rivers or aquifers , irrigate

450-552: 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. The archaeological mound ( tell ) is known in Hebrew as Tel Goren and in Arabic as Tell el-Jurn or Tell Jurn. The site has been identified with

500-479: 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 Genesis 14:7 Hazazon-tamar is mentioned as being an Amorite city, smitten by Chedorlaomer in his war against

550-480: Is integrated into its desert environment through an often close association with nomadic transhumant livestock farming (very often pastoral and sedentary populations are clearly distinguished). The fertility of the oasis soil is restored by "cyclic organic inputs of animal origin." In summary, an oasis palm grove is a highly anthropized and irrigated area that supports a traditionally intensive and polyculture-based agriculture. Responding to environmental constraints,

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600-423: Is the date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera L. ), which forms the upper layer . These palm trees provide shade for smaller understory trees like apricots , dates , figs , olives , and peach trees, which form the middle layer. Market-garden vegetables, some cereals (such as sorghum , barley , millet , and wheat ), and/or mixed animal fodder , are grown in the bottom layer where there is more moisture. The oasis

650-626: 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

700-775: 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. No traces of Bronze Age settlement have been found at Ein Gedi. 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

750-644: The Hebrew Bible and inhabited on and off till the Byzantine period, two water-powered flour mills from the Mamluk period , etc. Ein Gedi has been subject to a large number of sinkholes appearing in the area, which have even damaged the highway built in 2010 which was supposedly built to a "sinkhole-proof" design. The sinkholes are due to the decline in the water level of the Dead Sea, as of 2021 at an annual rate of more than

800-620: The Jordan River into the Dead Sea , that stopped at Ein Gedi (Ain Jidy). 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. Kibbutz Ein Gedi , founded in 1953, is located about a kilometer from the oasis. It offers various tourist attractions and takes advantage of

850-561: The Western Desert of Egypt ( Kharga , Dakhla , Farafra , Baharyia , and Siwa ) once had "flowing spring and wells" but due to the decline of groundwater heads because of overuse for land reclamation projects those water sources are no more and the oases suffer as a result. Morocco has lost two-thirds of its oasis habitat over the last 100 years due to heat, drought, and water scarcity . The Ferkla Oases in Morocco once drew on water from

900-558: 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. The name Ein Gedi

950-467: 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. In 1838, Edward Robinson reported that the whole area was covered with gardens, mainly cucumbers, all belonging to the Rashaideh tribe . In April 1848, Lieutenant William Francis Lynch led an American expedition down

1000-434: The Dead Sea has been made sweet: Fleeing from King Saul , David hides in the strongholds at Ein Gedi ( 1 Samuel 23:29 and 24:1–2 ) and Saul seeks him "even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats" ( 1 Samuel 24:2 ). 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 2 Chronicles 20:2 Ein Gedi

1050-518: The Ein Gedi Eco Park, which functions as both a zoo and an environmental education center, demonstrating sustainable technologies such as solar cookers , greywater systems, mud buildings, and compost toilets . 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

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1100-480: The Ferkla, Sat and Tangarfa Rivers but they are now dry but for a few days a year. A 1920 USGS publication about watering holes in the deserts of California and Arizona gave this advice for travelers seeking oases: The usual watering places are springs or wells. Springs are frequently clogged with gravel or rubbish or sometimes even with the bodies of dead animals, and it may be necessary to clean them out. For this work

1150-521: The First Jewish-Roman War and had instead become a village inside the toparchy of Jericho . Ein Gedi survived the catastrophic results of the Bar Kokhba revolt and continued to exist until the sixth or seventh centuries. Eusebius described Ein Gedi as "a large Jewish village" in his early fourth-century Onomasticon . In the early third century CE, a synagogue was built in the center of

1200-807: The United Nations, "Oases are at the very heart of the overall development of peri-Saharan countries due to their geographical location and the fact they are preferred migration routes in times of famine or insecurity in the region." Oases in Oman , on the Arabian Peninsula near the Persian Gulf , vary somewhat from the Saharan form. While still located in an arid or semi-arid zone with a date palm overstory, these oases are usually located below plateaus and "watered either by springs or by aflaj , tunnel systems dug into

1250-475: 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. After Ein Gedi was destroyed, the cultivation of balsam around

1300-424: The biblical Hazazon Tamar (חַצְצוֹן תָּמָר ḥaṣṣōn tāmār , "portion [of land] of date palms "), on account of the palm groves which surrounded it. It is also written Hazazon-tamar, Hazazontamar, Hatzatzon-Tamar, Hazezon Tamar, and Hazezontamar. At Mikveh Cave archaeologists found Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) flint tools and an arrowhead. A Chalcolithic temple (ca. mid-fourth millennium BCE) belonging to

1350-466: The chance of finding them there. Open wells are sometimes contaminated in the same way as springs and need to be cleaned out, particularly in little-frequented places where they are unused for months at a time. Ein Gedi Ein Gedi ( Hebrew : עֵין גֶּדִי , romanized :  ʿĒn Geḏi , Arabic : عين جدي , romanized :  ʿAyn Gidī ), also spelled En Gedi , meaning " spring of

1400-533: The cities of the plain . The Song of Songs ( Song of Solomon 1:14 ) 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. 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. Ein Gedi receives

1450-435: The city [ medina ] or village [ ksar ] with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system." The location of oases has been of critical importance for trade and transportation routes in desert areas; caravans must travel via oases so that supplies of water and food can be replenished. Thus, political or military control of an oasis has in many cases meant control of trade on

1500-509: The dull bluish or gray green of the feathery crowns of foliage. It is small wonder that a whole folklore of poetic legends and proverbs has grown up around the date palm in the regions where it flourishes. Many historic oases have struggled with drought and inadequate maintenance. According to a United Nations report on the future of oases in the Sahara and Sahel , "Increasingly   ... oases are subject to various pressures, heavily influenced by

1550-503: The effects of climate change , decreasing groundwater levels and a gradual loss of cultural heritage due to a fading historical memory concerning traditional water management techniques. These natural pressures are compounded by demographic pressures and the introduction of modern water pumping techniques that can disrupt traditional resource management schemes, particularly in the North Saharan oases." For example, five historic oases in

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1600-649: The garden resembles a tropical jungle. Very beautiful are these gardens in the spring, when the apricot and peach trees are in blossom here and there among the palms and the figs and vines are putting forth their leaves. In autumn, when the dates are ripening, the color effects, especially when the tops of the palms are lit up by the last rays of the setting sun, are something that once seen can never be forgotten. The great clusters of fruit, displaying every tint from bright yellow, through orange, vermilion, and maroon, to plum purple and chestnut brown, with their brilliant yellow or rich orange ivory-like stalks, contrast superbly with

1650-607: The ground or carved into the rock to tap underground aquifers." This rainwater harvesting system "never developed a serious salinity problem." In the drylands of southwestern North America, there is a habitat form called Palm Oasis (alternately Palm Series or Oasis Scrub Woodland) that has the native California fan palm as the overstory species. These Palm Oases can be found in California , Arizona , Baja California , and Sonora . People who live in an oasis must manage land and water use carefully. The most important plant in an oasis

1700-563: The level of the Dead Sea at 423 meters (1,388 ft) below sea level, to the plateau of the Judean Desert at 200 meters above sea level. The nature reserve includes two streams flowing year-round and each fed by a perennial spring: Nahal David with Ein David ('David's Spring'), and Nahal Arugot with Ein Arugot ('Terraces Spring'). Two further springs, the Shulamit and Ein Gedi springs, also flow in

1750-412: The local weather patterns and the abundance of natural water to cultivate out-of-season produce. Part of the kibbutz's inhabited area is landscaped as an internationally acclaimed botanical garden , covering an area of 100 dunams (10 ha , 24.7 acres ) and holding more than 900 species of plants from all over the world.It is the only populated botanical garden in the world. The kibbutz is also home to

1800-568: The migration periods in the spring and fall. Mammal species include the Nubian ibex and the rock hyrax . Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, administered separately from the Ein Gedi archaeology park (see above), features several archaeological sites including a rare Chalcolithic shrine , but also Tel Goren, an archaeological mound with Iron Age remains corresponding to Hazazon-tamar, a city mentioned in

1850-688: The potential evapotranspiration of the areas was reduced by 30 to 50 percent within the oasis." The keystone date palm trees are "a main income source and staple food for local populations in many countries in which they are cultivated, and have played significant roles in the economy, society, and environment of those countries." Challenges for date palm oasis polycultures include "low rainfall, high temperatures, water resources often high in salt content, and high incidence of pests." The oases consist of almost unbroken forests of date palms, divided up into many gardens that are separated by mud walls and intersected by innumerable irrigation and drainage ditches… In

1900-518: 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

1950-508: The reserve. Together, the springs generate approximately three million cubic meters of water per year. Much of the water is used for agriculture or is bottled for consumption. 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 Sodom apple , acacia , jujube , and poplar . The many species of resident birds are supplemented by over 200 additional species during

2000-399: The shade of the palms are grown many other kinds of fruit trees—oranges, olives, figs, apricots, peaches, pomegranates, and jujubes—interlaced with large grape vines that often hang in festoons from the palm trunks. Beneath the trees are small plots of garden vegetables, barley, and alfalfa. Neither date palms nor other trees are planted with any regularity, and the growth is often so dense that

2050-664: The surface naturally or via man-made wells. The presence of water on the surface or underground is necessary and the local or regional management of this essential resource is strategic, but not sufficient to create such areas: continuous human work and know-how (a technical and social culture) are essential to maintain such ecosystems. Some of the possible human contributions to maintaining an oasis include digging and maintaining wells, digging and maintaining canals, and continuously removing opportunistic plants that threaten to gorge themselves on water and fertility needed to maintain human and animal food supplies. Stereotypically, an oasis has

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2100-468: The surface. Any incidence of water is then used by migrating birds , which also pass seeds with their droppings which will grow at the water's edge forming an oasis. It can also be used to plant crops. Oases in the Middle East and North Africa cover about 1,000,000 hectares (10,000 km ), however, they support the livelihood of about 10 million inhabitants. The stark ratio of oasis to desert land in

2150-472: The synagogue was declared in 2002 and covers an area of 8 dunams (2.0 acres or 8,000 m ). Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, declared at the end of 1971 and expanded in 1988, is one of the most important reserves in Israel. It is situated on the eastern slopes of the Judean Desert , bordering to the east on the Dead Sea, and covers an area of 14000 dunams (3,500 acres or 14 km ). The elevation ranges from

2200-426: The three strata create what is called the " oasis effect ". The three layers and all their interaction points create a variety of combinations of "horizontal wind speed, relative air temperature and relative air humidity." The plantings—through a virtuous cycle of wind reduction, increased shade and evapotranspiration —create a microclimate favorable to crops; "measurements taken in different oases have showed that

2250-591: The village and oasis of Ougarta , which lies amongst the mountains. Other towns lying next to the range are the village of Zerhamra in the northwest, and Béni Ikhlef and Kerzaz in the southeast. Oasis In ecology , an oasis ( / oʊ ˈ eɪ s ɪ s / ; pl. : oases / oʊ ˈ eɪ s iː z / ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment that sustains plant life and provides habitat for animals. Surface water may be present, or water may only be accessible from wells or underground channels created by humans. In geography, an oasis may be

2300-440: The village. Its remains include a Hebrew and 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. Ein Gedi was destroyed in a fire during the late Byzantine period. According to

2350-577: The water into individual plots, soaking the soil." Oases often have human histories that are measured in millennia. Archeological digs at Ein Gedi in the Dead Sea Valley have found evidence of settlement dating to 6,000 BC. Al-Ahsa on the Arabian Peninsula shows evidence of human residence dating to the Neolithic . Anthropologically , the oasis is "an area of sedentary life, which associates

2400-475: The weight of the surface ground layer. 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 flash floods started pouring into the sinkholes. Huge cave systems called karsts convey water underground between the sinkholes. Scientists in the floodplain area south of Ein Gedi have been using cameras, water testing , videos using drones and satellite monitoring to map

2450-400: The world means that the oasis ecosystem is "relatively minute, rare and precious." There are 90 “major oases” within the Sahara Desert. Some of their fertility may derive from irrigation systems called foggaras , khettaras , lkhttarts , or a variety of other regional names . In some oases systems, there is "a geometrical system of raised channels that release controlled amounts of

2500-556: Was Judean and was established around 630 BCE. The site was destroyed or abandoned after the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 587/86 BCE . In Joshua 15:62 , Ein Gedi is enumerated among the wilderness cities of the Tribe of Judah in the desert of Betharaba , and in Ezekiel 47:10 , it is prophesied that one day, its coastal location will make it into a fishing village, after the water of

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