Wadi Qelt
Wadi Qelt (Arabic: وادي القلط; also: Wadi al-Qult, Wadi el-Qult, Wadi Kelt, Wadi Qilt or Wadi Qult) or Nahal Prat (Hebrew: נחל פרת) is a valley ("wadi"; Arabic: وادي wādī) or stream ("nahal"; Hebrew: נחל) running west to east across the Judean desert in the West Bank, originating near Jerusalem and terminating near Jericho, near the Dead Sea. It is home to a variety of fauna including hyraxes to gazelles, to the Greek Orthodox Monastery Saint George, and to the oldest Jewish synagogue in the world and has been identified with the biblical "prat" mentioned in Jeremiah 13:5.[1]
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[edit] Archaeology
The Wadi Qelt Synagogue was built as part of a Hasmonean royal winter palace and is the oldest synagogue in Israel.[2][3] The site was home to the winter palaces of Hasmonean kings (a Jewish priestly dynasty of the 2nd to 1st centuries BC) and thereafter of King Herod.[4] Parts of the wadi were declared a nature reserve by Israel and given the name Nahal Prat. Wadi Qelt is visited by Israelis and Palestinians alike.
Kubur Bani Yisra’il ("Tombs of the Children of Israel"), are huge stone structures which rise from a rocky plateau overlooking Wadi Qelt.[5]
[edit] History
On December 20 1968, the Israeli lieutenant-Colonel Zvi Ofer (Tzvika 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 in pursuit of militants which had crossed the Jordan.[6]
Wadi Qelt was the site of a number of high profile Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israelis after the 1993 Declaration of Principles peace agreement between Israel and the PLO. These include attacks on Dror Forer and Eran Bachar (shot to death on October 9, 1993), Ori Shahor and Ohad Bachrach (shot to death on July 18, 1995), and Hagit Zavitzky and Liat Kastiel (stabbed to death on April 25, 1997).[7]
Wadi Qelt was the home for the Kibilewitz strain of Balady citron, which was obtained from here by Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld the founder of Edah HaChareidis and a close disciple of Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Wadi Qilt (BiblePlaces.com)
- ^ Oldest Synagogue Found in Israel, March 29, 1998. Associated Press
- ^ Israel's Oldest Synagogue, Archaeology, Volume 51 Number 4, July/August 1998 by Spencer P.M. Harrington
- ^ Jericho - The Winter Palace of King Herod
- ^ The Tombs of the Children of Israel, goisrael.com
- ^ Teveth, Shabtai (1969/1970) The Cursed Blessing. The story of Israel's occupation of the West Bank. Weidenfield & Nicolson. SBN 297 00150 7. Translated from Hebrew by Myra Bank. Page 347.
- ^ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/victims.html.
- ^ Halikhot Sadeh, issue 146, Elul 5765, Page 24; Letter by Rachel Kibilewitz; Letter by Mr. & Mrs. Kelly.
[edit] External links
- Bible Places
- Geocities
- Bible Homeland Palestine
- The Winter Palace of King Herod
- Goegraphic Position
- A Bird in the West Bank City
- Abnormal Interest
- Review by Hertz
- Letters
- Science Direct
- Explore
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- Directions
- The Way by Jericho
- Bible Lieux
- Jericho and Surroundings
- A Naturalist
- Palestina
- the Jericho Road
- Jerusalem and its Environs
- Tourism
Coordinates: 31°50′40″N 35°24′51″E / 31.844316°N 35.414257°E
