'EN GEDI

also spelled Ein Gedi, oasis, archaeological site, and kibbutz (communal settlement) in southeastern Israel on the west bank of the Dead Sea. Because of its spring in an otherwise totally arid country, the site has been inhabited from remote antiquity. Excavations in the 1960s and early 1970s at an adjoining tell (stratified mound) revealed remnants of a sanctuary of the Chalcolithic period (4th millennium BC), and evidences of continuous habitation from the 7th century BC through Byzantine times. The kibbutz, established in 1953, raises dates, bananas, and early vegetables. The area around 'En Gedi, with its unusual tropical vegetation, is an Israeli nature reserve; tourism is popular.