Engedi
ENGEDI(Ἀγκάδης, al. Ἐνγαδδί, al. Ἠνγαδδί, LXX.; Ἐγγαδέ, Ἐγγαδαί, Ἐγγαδί, Joseph.; Ἐγ-γάδδα, Ptol.: Eth. Ἐγγηδήνος), a city in the wilderness of Judaea ( Josh. 15.62), giving its name to a desert tract on the west of the Dead Sea (1 Sam. 24.2). Its more ancient name was Hazezon-tamar, when it was inhabited by the Amorites. ( Genes. 14.7; 2 Chron. 20.2.) It was celebrated in old times for its vineyards ( Cant. 1.14), and Pliny reckons it second only to Jerusalem for its fertility and palmgroves (5.17). It is misplaced by St. Jerome at the southern extremity of the Dead Sea ( Comment. in Ezek. 47.10), and stated by Josephus to be 300 stadia from Jerusalem ( Ant. 9.1.2). It gave its name to one of the fifteen toparchies of Judaea ( B. J. 5.3). It took its name--Fountain of the wild Goats(still called ‘Ain-Jidiy)--from a copiou spring issuing out of the limestone rock at the base of an almost perpendicular cliff 800 or 1000 feet high, down the face of which was the only approach to the town, by a zigzag path cut in the rock. The city was situated on a small plain between the fountain and the sea, and some faint traces of buildings may still be discovered. Owing to the enormous depression of the Dead Sea, the climate of this spot, shut in on all sides but the east by rocky mountains, has a temperature much higher than that of any other part of Palestine, and its fruits consequently ripen three weeks or a month before those of the hill country. It is now inhabited only by a few Arabs, whose deformed and stunted growth bears witness to the relaxing influence of this almost tropical climate. (Reland, Palaestina, p. 763; Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. ii p. 209, &c.)
[G.W]The capital of one of the districts of Herod's kingdom (Joseph. BJ 3.55; 4.402-4), on the W shore of the Dead Sea. During the time of the Second Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, it was the seat of Bar Kohba, the leader of the revolt. On account of its fertile soil and copious spring, the oasis of Engedi was highly praised in antiquity. Its palm groves were famous (Plin. HN 5.17), and still more important was its grove of balsam (Joseph. AJ 9.7; Plin. HN 12.118), still known in the Late Roman period (Eus. Onom. 86.1.19) when Engedi was still a large village.
The site was excavated between 1961 and 1965. Four main occupation levels were observed, ranging from the end of the Iron Age to the Roman and Byzantine periods. To the Persian period (5th-4th c. B.C.) belongs a large dwelling (24 x 26 m). It contained 23 rooms and storerooms built around central courtyards. Part of the house was two stories high. Some rooms contained industrial installations, probably for the perfume industry. To the Hellenistic period (3d-2d c. B.C.) belong fragmentary remains of a trapezoidal fortress, which occupied the higher part of the mound. In the Herodian period (1st c. A.D.) an oblong fort was built on the mound, with walls 2 m thick. In the 2d c. A.D. a bath of the usual Roman type was built, probably by a Roman garrison which was stationed on the site.
BIBLIOGRAPHYB. Mazar et al. “En-Gedi, The First and Second Seasons of Excavations, 1961-1962,” Atiqot V (1966); id. & I. Dunayevski, “En-Gedi, Fourth and Fifth Seasons of Excavations. Preliminary Report,” Israel Exploration Journal 17 (1967) 133-43.
A. NEGEV