EN-GEDI (en-ge'di), (Heb. ant Arch'ace, kids' fountain).
1. A city of Judah, which gave Its name to a part of the desert to which David withdrew for fear of Saul (Josh. xv :62 ; I Sam. xxiv:1-4). Its more ancient Hebrew name was Hazezon-tamar ; and by that name it is mentioned before the de struction of Sodom, as being inhabited by the Amorites, and near the cities of the plain (Gen. xiv :7). In 2 Chron. xx :1, 2, bands of the NIo abites and Ammonites are described as coming up against king Jehoshaphat, apparently round the south end of the Dead Sea, as far as En-gedi. And this, as we learn from Dr. Robinson, is the route taken by the Arabs in their marauding expeditions at the present day. It has been identified with Ain-jidy of the Arabs, situated at a point on the western shore nearly equidistant from both ex tremities of the lake. This spot was visited by Dr. Robinson, and he confirms the identification. The site lies among the mountains which here con fine the lake, a considerable way down the descent to its shore. Here is the beautiful fountain of Ain-jidy, bursting forth at once in a fine stream upon a sort of narrow terrace or shelf of the mountain, above 400 feet above the level of the lake. The whole of the descent below appears to have been once terraced for tillage and gardens; and near the foot are the ruins of a town, exhibit ing nothing of particular interest, and built most ly of unhewn stones. This we may conclude to have been the town which took its name from the fountain (Robinson, ii. 209-216).
2. The Wilderness of En-gedi is doubtless the immediately neighboring part of the wild region, west of the Dead Sea, which must be traversed to reach its shores. It was here that David and his men lived among the 'rocks of the wild goats,' and where the former cut of the skirts of Saul's robe in a cave (I Sam. xxiv:r-5). On all sides the country is full of caverns. which might then
serve as lurking-places for David and his men, as they do for outlaws at the present day. ENGINE (6n'jrn), a term exclusively applied to military affairs in the Bible. The Hebrew khish-shinv-bone' (2 Chron. xxvi:t 5) is its counter part in etymological meaning, each referring to the ingot/lay (engine, from ingenium) displayed in the contrivance.
The chief projectiles were the catapulta for thrcming darts, and the balista for throwing stones. Both these kinds of instruments were pre pared by Uzziah for the defense of Jerusalem (2 Chron. xxvi :15), and battering the wall is men tioned in the reign of King David (2 Sam. xx : 15) ; but the instrument itself for throwing it down may have been that above noticed, and not the battering-ram. The ram was, however, a sim ple machine,and capable of demolishing the strong est walls, provided access to the foot was practi cable ; for the mass of cast metal which formed the head could be fixed to a beam lengthened sufficiently to require between one and two hun dred men to lift and impel it.
Of the balista: and catapults' it may be proper to add that they were of various powers. For bat tering walls there were some that threw stones of fifty, others of one hundred, and some of three hundred weight ; in the field of battle they were of much inferior strength. Darts varied similarly from small beams to large arrows, and the range they had exceeded a quarter of a mile, or about 45o yards. All these engines were constructed upon the principle of the sling, the bow, or the spring, the last being an elastic bar, bent back by a screw or a cable of sinews, with a trigger to set it free, and contrived either to impel darts by its stroke, or to throw stones from a kind of spoon formed towards the summit of the spring.
C. H. S.