Judaean Desert

The Judaean Desert stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by natural terraces with escarpments.

Common birds in the area include the fan-tailed raven, blackstart, tristram's starling, apus, hirundo, Arabian babbler, wheatear, and sand partridge.

When David hides in the strongholds at Ein Gedi, Saul seeks him "even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats" (1 Samuel 24:2).

[9] The Essenes, an ascetic Jewish sect, lived in the Judaean Desert on the Dead Sea's northwestern shore, according to Pliny the Elder.

Many modern scholars and archaeologists concur that the Essenes resided in Qumran, an archeological site discovered about 1.5 kilometers (1 mi) from the Dead Sea's northwest shore.

According to Flavius Josephus, early in the conflict, Jewish Sicarii took control of Masada, and from there they launched raids against communities in the Dead Sea region.

Josephus claimed that the siege ended in a mass suicide, when the 960 Sicarii rebels present decided to kill themselves rather than be sold into slavery.

During the latter phase of the Bar Kokhba revolt, Jewish refugees and their families escaped to refuge caves, especially following the fall of Betar in 135 CE.

and her granddaughter Melania the Younger (c. 383–439), Mary of Egypt (c. 344–421), Gerasimus of the Jordan (5th century), Theodosius the Cenobiarch (c. 423–529) and his contemporary Sabbas the Sanctified (439–532), at whose monastery John of Damascus (c.

[13] They are considered to be a keystone in the history of archaeology with great historical, religious, and linguistic significance because they include the oldest surviving manuscripts of entire books later included in the biblical canons, along with deuterocanonical and extra-biblical manuscripts which preserve evidence of the diversity of religious thought in late Second Temple Judaism.

[14][15] Numerous caves in the Judaean Desert have yielded significant archaeological discoveries linked to the Jewish–Roman wars, as they served as shelters for Jewish rebels during that time.

Another survey of this same cave in 2023 uncovered a unique discovery – a rare collection of 2nd century Roman weaponry, including four swords and a pilum.

[18] Finds from the Neolithic, including statues, masks, wooden and bone tools, skulls and reed basketry, were found in a cave at Nahal Heimar.