EN-GEDI (lm, kids' fountain ; Sept. 'Ev ya3r1f), 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 Moab ites 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 ex peditions at the present day. According to Jo sephus, En-gccii lay upon the lake Asphaltites, and was celebrated for its beautiful palm-trees and opobalsum (Antiq. ix. I. 2) ; while its vineyards are also mentioned in Sol. Song, i. 14. In the time of Eusebius and Jerome, En-gedi was still a large village on the shore of the Dead Sea. En gedi has always, until recently, been sought at the north end of the Dead Sea. But Seetzen recog nised the ancient name in the Ain-jidy of the Arabs, and lays it down in his map at a point of the western shore, nearly equidistant from both extremities of the lake. This spot was visited by Dr. Robinson, and he confirms the identification. The site lies among the mountains which here confine the lake, a considerable way down the de scent 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 moun tain, above 40o feet above the level of the lake.
The stream rushes down the steep descent of the mountain below ; and its course is hidden by a luxuriant thicket of trees and shrubs belonging to a more southern clime. Near this fountain are the remains of several buildings, apparently ancient ; although the main site of the town seems to have been farther below. The whole of the descent below appears to have been once terraced for til lage and gardens ; and near the foot are the ruins of a town, exhibiting nothing of particular interest, and built mostly of unhewn stones. This we may conclude to have been the town which took its name from the fountain (Robinson, ii. 209-216). THE WILDERNESS OF EN-GEDI is doubtless the immediately neighbouring 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 off the skirts of Saul's robe in a cave (I Sam. xxiv. 1-4). `On all sides,' says Dr. Robinson, ` 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.' He adds that as he came in sight of the ravine of the Ghar, a mountain-goat started up and bounded along the face of the rocks on the opposite side.—J. K.