The capital of one of the districts of Herod's kingdom (Joseph. BJ 3.55
on the W shore of the Dead Sea. During the time of the
Second Revolt of the Jews against the Romans, it was
the seat of Bar Kohba, the leader of the revolt. On account of its fertile soil and copious spring, the oasis of
Engedi was highly praised in antiquity. Its palm groves
were famous (Plin. HN
5.17), and still more important
was its grove of balsam (Joseph. AJ 9.7
; Plin. HN
12.118), still known in the Late Roman period (Eus
. 86.1.19) when Engedi was still a large village.
The site was excavated between 1961 and 1965. Four
main occupation levels were observed, ranging from the
end of the Iron Age to the Roman and Byzantine periods.
To the Persian period (5th-4th c. B.C.) belongs a large
dwelling (24 x 26 m). It contained 23 rooms and storerooms built around central courtyards. Part of the house
was two stories high. Some rooms contained industrial
installations, probably for the perfume industry. To the
Hellenistic period (3d-2d c. B.C.) belong fragmentary remains of a trapezoidal fortress, which occupied the higher part of the mound. In the Herodian period (1st c.
A.D.) an oblong fort was built on the mound, with walls
2 m thick. In the 2d c. A.D. a bath of the usual Roman
type was built, probably by a Roman garrison which
was stationed on the site.
B. Mazar et al. “En-Gedi, The First and
Second Seasons of Excavations, 1961-1962,” Atiqot
(1966); id. & I. Dunayevski, “En-Gedi, Fourth and Fifth
Seasons of Excavations. Preliminary Report,” Israel Exploration Journal
17 (1967) 133-43.