Kadesh (biblical)

Kadesh or Qadesh or Cades (Biblical Hebrew: קָדֵשׁ, from the root קדש‎ "holy"[1]) is a place-name that occurs several times in the Hebrew Bible, describing a site or sites located south of, or at the southern border of, Canaan and the Kingdom of Judah in the kingdom of Israel.

Moses struck a rock (rather than speaking to it as the Lord commanded) that brought forth water at Kadesh (Numbers 20:11).

Kadesh Barnea is a key feature in the common biblical formula delineating the southern border of the Land of Israel (cf.

Some (e.g., Hezekiah ben Manoah) sought a reconciliatory model, while others (Abraham ibn Ezra and Nahmanides) proposed two separate sites named Kadesh.

The oldest, a small elliptical structure, dates to the 10th century BCE, and was abandoned for some time after its first destruction.

Two ostraca engraved in Hebrew, dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE, have been recovered there, suggesting Israelite occupation.

[21] At the top of the Ain el-Qudeirat site they identified a fortress—built in the last decades of the 8th century BCE and destroyed around 600 BCE—and they cut a sounding into one of its rooms.

[22] Cohen wrapped up his excavation campaign in 1982, soon before Israel's withdrawal from the Sinai as part of the peace agreement with Egypt.