Eshkol National Park

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Riverside landscape in the Eschkol National Park

The Eshkol National Park , also HaBzor National Park , is a national park in Israel . It lies in the area of ​​the northern Negev desert and was established in 1966 on an area of ​​around 3000 dunams; In 1986 the national park area was expanded by 61 dunams. The initiative to found the Eshkol National Park came from Yosef (Joe) Yehezkel, a member of Kibbutz Urim .

The park covers about 3.5 km². It is named after the former Prime Minister Levi Eschkol .

geography

The park stretches along the banks of the Nachal HaBsor, an approximately 80 km long wadi that begins at Ramat Avdat, near Sdeh Boker. Its main tributaries, Nahal Be'er Sheva and Nachal Grar, drain the Hebron Hills and the Lahav Hills. Every year around 20 to 30 million cubic meters of water flow into the Mediterranean through the Nachal HaBsor.

In the past the HaBsor Wadi was a wide river bed. Its meter-thick layer of pebbles, which is supplemented every year when it rains in winter, is an important aquifer . A loess soil later formed over the pebbles, which is characteristic of the landscape of the northern Negev.

Flora and fauna

Over 2000 date palms grow in the park, as well as olive trees, Pistacia atlantica , Pistacia lentiscus , buckthorn , tamarisk and acacia . After the rainy season, the ground is covered with flowers, especially anemones.

In the national park there are many nocturnal animals such as badgers, reed cats and herpestes . Visitors are more likely to notice the bird world, including European roller , bee-eater , saker falcon , and eastern imperial eagle . The resident birds include the black winged grouse , racing bird and collared bustard .

Archaeological sites

People have settled on the banks of Wadi HaBsor since prehistoric times; B. in the city of Sharuhe , which is mentioned in ancient Egyptian sources. The Wadi HaBsor is named after a watercourse mentioned in the Bible, the "Bach Besor" (1 Sam 30,9). But this is more likely to be identical to Wadi Grar. Nadav Na'aman identifies Wadi HaBsor with the "brook of Egypt" of the Bronze and Iron Ages, numerous important cities show the importance of this area: Tell Adschul, Tell Jemme, Tell Fara, Tell Abu Hurere, Tell esch-Scheria, Beersheba , Tell Milḥ.

Web links

Commons : Eshkol National Park  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Meet HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park). Identity.
  2. ↑ a b Othmar Keel , Max Küchler : Places and Landscapes of the Bible , Volume 2: The South . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1982, p. 101.
  3. ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Meet HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park). Geography.
  4. ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Meet HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park). Flora.
  5. ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Meet HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park). Fauna.
  6. ^ Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Meet HaBsor National Park (Eshkol Park). History and Archeology.

Coordinates: 31 ° 18 ′ 29 "  N , 34 ° 29 ′ 22.2"  E