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25-484: The wadi attracts with a number of natural, biblical, and archaeological highlights: a well preserved natural environment with a rich wild bird population. The stream flowing eastwards down the valley that cuts through the limestone of the Judean Mountains , has three perennial springs, each with an Arabic and Hebrew name: 'Ayn Farah/En Prat , the largest one at the head of the valley ; 'Ayn Fawar/En Mabo'a in

50-672: A stalactite cave in Nahal Sorek National Park between Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh and the area surrounding Ofra , where fossils of prehistoric flora and fauna were found. According to the Hebrew Bible , the Judaean Mountains were the allotment of the Tribe of Judah and the heartland of the former Kingdom of Judah . The main freeway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem , which further extends to

75-537: A short distance upstream from the Cave of St Anne. Qubur Bani Isra'in are very large Bronze-Age stone structures, which rise from a rocky plateau overlooking Wadi Qelt. Several aqueducts have been found along the stream, the oldest dating to the Hasmonean period (2nd century BCE). The aqueducts transported water from three main springs, down to the plain of Jericho. The winter palaces of Hasmonean kings and Herod

100-599: Is identified with Wadi Qelt. The stream Chorath or Cherath, mentioned in 1 Kings 17:3 as one of the hiding places of the prophet Elijah , has been identified by some with Wadi Kelt at St. George's Monastery. Other identifications have also been proposed. The Wadi has sometimes been identified with the biblical Perath mentioned in Jeremiah 13:5 . It's possible that the Psalmist had Wadi Qelt in mind when he wrote Psalm 23 . A tradition holds that this

125-545: Is mostly composed of terra rossa soils over hard limestones . The Judaean Mountains are the surface expression of a series of monoclinic folds which trend north-northwest through Israel. The folding is the central expression of the Syrian Arc belt of anticlinal folding that began in the Late Cretaceous Period in northeast Africa and southwest Asia. The Syrian Arc extends east-northeast across

150-716: Is said to have held out in caves in this valley, known formerly as the Pharan brook. Wadi Qelt contains monasteries and old Christian locations. According to tradition, the first monastic settlement of the Judaean desert , the Pharan lavra , was established by St Chariton the Confessor towards the end of the 3rd century in upper Wadi Qelt, an area known to the Greek Orthodox as Pharan Valley. The Monastery of Saint George

175-523: Is the place in the desert where Joachim , the father of the Virgin Mary , has prayed to be blessed with a child and received the promise from God's angel, as narrated in the apocryphal Proto-Gospel of James . A Cave of St Anne , inhabited by hermits until a few decades ago, is connected to this tradition. St. George's Monastery , also connected to the Marian tradition, is built into the wadi cliffs

200-560: Is used by many Bedouin shepherds. Some Bedouin and residents of Jericho are also earning their livelihood near the Monastery of St George, by offering donkey rides to pilgrims and selling them beverages and souvenirs. 31°50′40″N 35°24′51″E  /  31.844316°N 35.414257°E  / 31.844316; 35.414257  ( Wadi Qelt ) Judean Mountains The Judaean Mountains , or Judaean Hills ( Hebrew : הרי יהודה , romanized :  Harei Yehuda ) or

225-587: The Hebron Mountains ( Arabic : تلال الخليل , romanized :  Tilal al-Khalīl , lit.   ' Al-Khalil Mountains'), are a mountain range in Israel and the West Bank where Jerusalem , Hebron and several other biblical cities are located. The mountains reach a height of 1,026 metres (3,366 ft). The Judean Mountains can be divided into a number of sub-regions, including

250-684: The Jordan Valley as a regular road. Highway 1 , passes through the Judaean Mountains, between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem . An Israel Railways line, Jaffa-Jerusalem railway , runs from Beit Shemesh along the Brook of Sorek and Valley of Rephaim to the Jerusalem Malha Train Station . The line has since been largely replaced by the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway , which utilizes tunnels and bridges through

275-706: The Mount Hebron ridge, the Jerusalem ridge and the Judean slopes. The Judaean Mountains formed the heartland of the Kingdom of Judah (930–586 BCE), where the earliest Jewish settlements emerged, and from which Jews are originally descended. The Judaean Mountains are part of a more extended range that runs in a north-south direction. The ridge consists of the Samarian Hills in its northern part, and of

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300-854: The Sinai , turns north-northeast through Israel and continues the east-northeast trend into Syria. The Israeli segment parallels the Dead Sea Transform which lies just to the east. The uplift events that created the mountain occurred in two phases one in the Late Eocene - Early Oligocene and second in the Early Miocene . In prehistoric times, animals no longer found elsewhere in the Levant region were found here, including elephants , rhinoceroses , giraffes and wild Asian water buffalo . The range has karst topography including

325-650: The Arab population. Some evidence suggests that a well-poisoning operation may have unfolded in this area in July of that year. The area was occupied by Israel in 1967 . On December 20, 1968, Israeli lieutenant-Colonel Zvi Ofer , commander of the elite Haruv unit, former Military Governor of Nablus and recipient of the Israeli medal of valour, was killed in action in Wadi Qelt while pursuing Arab militants who had crossed

350-749: The Great stood at the lower end of the valley, where it reaches the Plain of Jericho. A structure within the Hasmonean royal winter palaces, identified by its excavator, Ehud Netzer , as a synagogue, is now known as the Wadi Qelt Synagogue , is believed to be one of the oldest synagogues in the world-- although its identification as a synagogue is contested by many scholars. During the First Jewish war with Rome, insurgent leader Simon bar Giora

375-671: The Jordan. Israel declared the upper parts of the wadi as a protected area under the name Ein Prat Nature Reserve . Much of Wadi Qelt is a popular route for Palestinian and Israeli hikers. It is possible to hike all the way from the town of Hizma to Jericho, a journey of 25 kilometres and an 850m descent. Israeli, Palestinian and foreign hikers use the partially marked paths along the wadi. Palestinians are generally able to visit when coming from Nablus, Ramallah and Jerusalem without having to pass through checkpoints. The wadi

400-615: The Judaean Mountains in its southern part, the two segments meeting at the latitude of Ramallah . The westward descent from the hard limestone country of the Judaean mountains towards the coastal plain is by way of a longitudinal trough of fosse cut through chalk, followed by the low, rolling soft limestone hills of the Shephelah , while eastwards the landscape falls steeply towards the Jordan Rift Valley . The southern end of

425-490: The Judaean Mountains, runs up to 160 km/h (99 mph) between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem-Yitzhak Navon railway station . The Judaean Mountains have been associated with winemaking for thousands of years, as evidenced by the abundance of ancient winepresses , references to viticulture in ancient texts like the Hebrew Bible , and archaeological findings such as the Arad ostraca , written by Judahite soldiers in

450-579: The area is renowned for its boutique wineries . This region's combination of Mediterranean microclimates , terra rossa clay soil , and high-altitude vineyards has also propelled it into the spotlight as a burgeoning center for quality wine production. In recent decades, wines originating from this area have garnered international recognition. in August 2020, the Judean Hills region in Israel received

475-764: The centre; and the single-named Qelt spring a little farther down. In Hebrew the entire stream is called Prat; in Arabic though, each sections has its own name: Wadi Fara for the upper section, Wadi Fawar for the middle one, and Wadi Qelt for the lower section. Wadi Qelt is home to a unique variety of flora and fauna. The 15,000 ha site has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports populations of Eurasian eagle-owls , griffon vultures , Bonelli's eagles , and lesser kestrels . Joshua 15:7, 18:17 mentions Adummim in connection to an ascent leading up from Jericho towards Jerusalem. The ascent of Adummim, or its lower part,

500-585: The country's first official wine appellation. John of Thebes Saint John of Choziba , originally known as John of Thebes , was a monk who was born in Egypt around the year 440–450 CE. He abandoned monophysitism around 480 and moved to Wadi Qelt , a wadi in the Judaean Desert , where he reorganized the existing lavra into a monastery known as the monastery of Choziba . In 516, he became Bishop of Caesarea , but soon resigned and returned to

525-579: The late 7th century BCE. Nevertheless, with the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 7th century, and particularly during the later Mamluk rule in the Middle Ages, a significant decline in winemaking activities occurred, ultimately leading to a complete prohibition of winemaking . In the 1980s, the Judaean Mountains witnessed a notable resurgence in winemaking, driven by Israeli entrepreneurs . Today,

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550-611: The mountain range is at Beersheba in the northern part of the Negev , where the mountains slope down into the Beersheba- Arad valley. The average height of the Judaean Mountains is of 900 metres (2,953 ft), and they encompass the cities of Ramallah, Jerusalem , Bethlehem and Hebron . The northern section of the Judaean mountains is referred to as Jerusalem Hills, and the southern one as Hebron Hills . The Judaean Mountains were heavily forested in antiquity. The range

575-601: The outset of the Arab-Israeli war that followed , the springs of Wadi Qelt, which supplied much of the water for Jericho were a primary target for Israel's biological warfare programme, designed, by contaminating waters with typhus and diphtheria bacteria, to block the advance of the Arab Legion into the area which, in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine , had been destined for

600-453: The road connecting the modern Highway 1 with the old road down the Ascent of Adummim (going to the right one reaches Jericho in the plain below.) The 5th-century Monastery of St Adam was built there "for there he stayed and wept at losing Paradise" ( Epiphanius ). Archaeologists found fine Byzantine mosaics at the former pilgrimage site. Towards the end of the 1948 Palestine war and from

625-473: Was founded by John of Thebes around 480 AD, and it became an important spiritual centre in the sixth century under Saint George of Choziba . Hermits living in caves in nearby cliffs would meet in the monastery for a weekly mass and communal meal. Another Byzantine monastery was excavated at the site known in Arabic as Khan Saliba . Its meager remains are located left at the left side of the T-junction of

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