THE WILDERNESS OF ENGEDL 
The country to the west of the Dead Sea is a succession of hills and ravines, covered 
in the early part of the summer with rich vegetation, but soon exhibiting the fiery force 
of the season, and becoming scorched, until all look of vegetation withers away. A 
good deal of the discrepancy in the descriptions of Palestine obviously arises from the 
different periods of the year at which it has been visited. The traveller who sees it 
in spring, sees it glowing with shrubs and flowers; a few months after, the plain looks 
a waste of sand, the hill a pile of burnt rocks, and the mountain-chain the very emblem of 
sterility . 1 
The descent of the pass to the fountain Ain-Jidy (“ Engedi”) is among the most 
formidable even in this country of ravines. The path descends by zig-zags, often at the 
steepest angle practicable for horses, and is carried partly along ledges or shelves on 
the perpendicular face of the cliff, and then down the almost equally steep debris. Much 
of the rock is a compact, reddish limestone, smooth as glass, though with an irregular 
surface. “ My companion,” says Robinson, “ had crossed the heights of Lebanon and 
the mountains of Persia, and I had formerly traversed the whole of the Swiss Alps, yet 
neither of us had ever met with a pass so difficult and dangerous. Of those which I had 
seen, the Gemmi resembles it most; but it is not so high, and the path is better .” 2 
The Artist’s impressions of this remarkable spot fully coincide with those of the 
traveller. “There was a death-like silence around us. We descended into the Wady- 
en-Nar (the Fire Yalley), through which the Kidron has formed for itself a channel. 
Ascending the opposite bank, we proceeded for some time over undulating ground, covered 
with rank vegetation, which, however, was beginning to be parched; and at length came 
in sight of the Towers of St. Saba. It is impossible to imagine a more romantic scene. 
The ravine cannot be less than five hundred feet in depth, perhaps more: the heights 
are wild .” 3 
This was the country to which David fled from the persecution of Saul. The Monks, 
who find a place for everything, point out the Cavern in which the famous future King 
of Israel took shelter. But later authorities indignantly differ, some fixing the scene of the 
memorable encounter of David and Saul near the Convent, others at the pass of Ain- 
Jidy. A dispute of air. The spot may well be conceived beyond all power of modern 
identification . 4 
After a descent of about three-quarters of an hour the fountain which gives the 
name to the district is reached. The Ain-Jidy bursts forth at once a fine stream from 
a narrow shelf of the mountain, still more than four hundred feet above the level of the 
Dead Sea. The course of the stream is soon lost in the profuse vegetation of trees 
and shrubs. 
At the fountain are the remains of several buildings, apparently ancient. The fountain 
1 Roberts’s Journal. 
3 Roberts’s Journal. 
2 Biblical Researches, ii. 208. 
4 1 Sam. xxiv. 1-4. 
