| Wadi Gaza / Besor Stream وادي غزة /נחל הבשור | |
|---|---|
 Besor Stream | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Israel,Palestine |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Negev |
| • coordinates | 30°48′46″N34°43′39″E / 30.8129°N 34.7276°E /30.8129; 34.7276 |
| Mouth | |
• location | Mediterranean Sea |
• coordinates | 31°27′50″N34°22′33″E / 31.46389°N 34.37583°E /31.46389; 34.37583 |
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Wadi Gaza (Arabic:وادي غزة,romanized: Wadi Ghazza) andBesor Stream (Hebrew:נחל הבשור,romanized: Nahal HaBesor,Ancient Greek:Ἀβεσσά,romanized: Habessá) are parts of ariver system in theGaza Strip inPalestine and theNegev region ofIsrael. Wadi Gaza is awadi (river valley) that divides the northern and southern ends of the Gaza Strip, whose majortributary is Besor Stream.
Nahal Besor has shown evidence ofepipaleolithic sites abovepaleolithic sediments.[1] Finds of pottery and flints were studied by Ann Roshwalb who found evidence of bothEgyptian and lateNeolithic occupations.[2] ArchaeologistsPierre de Miroschedji andMoain Sadeq suggest that in the late 4th millennium BCE, Egypt's expansion into the southern Levant consisted of a core of permanent settlement with areas of seasonal habitation and Egyptian influence where ancient Egyptians and Canaanites interacted.[3] The permanent core was focused around the wadi, encompassing the settlements atTell es-Sakan (likely an administrative centre) andEn Besor.[4]
In theOld Testament, Besor was a ravine or brook in the extreme south-west of Judah, where 200 ofDavid's men stayed behind because they were faint, while the other 400 pursued theAmalekites.[5][6]
Around the year 390, a group of monks fromScetis aroundSilvanus settled in severalhermit cells along the watercourse. The community would only gather on Saturdays and Sundays for communal prayer and meals, doing various manual works and prayer during the week.[7] In 520, the so-calledmonastery of Seridus was founded a bit further south where the famous hermitsBarsanuphius andJohn the Prophet lived.[8]
During theOttoman period, the area was inhabited by theBedouintribe of'Arab al-Jubarat (عرب الجبارات).[9]
Between 1951 and 1954, theYeruham Dam was built on one of the tributaries of the HaBesor Stream.[citation needed] In 2012, Palestine added Wadi Gaza to thetentative list of World Heritage Sites.[10]
In October 2023, as part of theGaza war, Israel ordered 1.1 million people then living north of the Wadi Gaza bridge to move south.[11]
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The Wadi Gaza Nature Reserve was declared anature reserve by theEnvironmental Quality Authority ofPalestinian Authority in June 2000. It is confined to the course of the Wadi and its floodplain and banks within the Palestinian jurisdiction.[12]
The Gaza section of theCoastal Aquifer is the only significant source of water in the Gaza Strip.[13] The Wadi Gaza runs through a wetland, theGaza Valley, and as of 2012 it is used as a wastewater dump.[14]
In 2022, rehabilitation began to turn Wadi Gaza back into a nature reserve.[15][16]
The stream begins at Mount Boker (nearSde Boker), and spills into theMediterranean Sea nearAl-Zahra in theGaza Strip. Further upstream it was marked asWadi esh-Shallaleh on the 1878Survey of Western Palestine map. The area has several important archaeological sites.[citation needed]
The stream is the largest in the northern Negev, and together with its largest tributaries, theNahal Gerar, and the Beersheba stream, reaches as far east into the desert as Sde Boker,Yeruham,Dimona, andArad/Tel Arad.[6]
The source of Besor River lies at Mount Boker, nearSde Boker and the educational centerMidreshet Ben-Gurion. From there it flows northwest towards the town ofAshalim, where it meets Nahal Be'er Hayil.[citation needed]
From there it flows north towards the ancient town ofHaluza (Al-Khalasa). Then it continues northwest until it meets theBeersheba River a little to the east of the town ofTze'elim.[citation needed]
Near the village ofRe'im, Nahal Besor meets theNahal Gerar river, which is its biggest tributary.[citation needed]
One of the tributaries of the Besor River reacheskibbutz Urim. Tributaries from south to north: HaRo'e Stream, Boker Stream, Mesora Stream, Zalzal Stream, Revivim Stream, Atadim Stream, Beersheba Stream, Assaf Stream, Amar Stream, Sahaf Stream, and Wadi Abu Katrun.[citation needed]
Finally, Bezor Stream flows across the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, and into the Mediterranean sea.[citation needed]
TheGaza–Israel barrier presents a physical barrier which effects the makeup of wildlife in the portion of the wadi in the Gaza Strip by limiting movement. Between 2002 and 2004 a survey of wildlife around the wadi as it passes through the Gaza Strip found that it was devoid of large mammals, though small mammals such asbats,hedgehogs, androdents were common. Wildlife hunting for food is more common in this area than in Israel.[17]
A study conducted in 2001 and 2002 found that the section of the wadi flowing through the Gaza Strip had higher levels of pollutants in summer than winter, when greater rainfall diluted the concentration. There were high levels ofmercury,cadmium, iron and zinc.[18]
Several archaeological sites were excavated by Eann Macdonald in 1929 to 1930 along the Wadi Ghazzeh in lower Nahal Besor that show signs of specialist flint production. Some of these sites were re-excavated in 1969 byJean Perrot.[19][20]
Several importantBronze Age archaeological sites are in this area. Among them areTel Gamma, andTell el-Far'ah (South). A smaller site of Qubur al-Walaydah is located between them.[21]
Taur Ikhbeineh is an Early Bronze Age settlement 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) inland from Gaza's Mediterranean coast. It was occupied in the 4th millennium BC and pottery from the site indicates interactions between Canaanite and Egyptian people. It was located along a probable paleo-estuary of the wadi.[22][23]
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Tell es-Sakan is an Early Bronze Age settlement on the northern bank of the Wadi Gaza, close to Gaza City.[24] It covers an area of 8–9 hectares (20–22 acres) and was inhabited between 3300 and 2300 BC. It began as an Egyptian settlement before it was abandoned around 3000 BC and later inhabited by Canaanites in 2600 BC.[25]
Tell el-Ajjul was established in the Bronze Age and was likely a successor settlement to Tell es-Sakan.[26] It is on the northern bank of the wadi.[27]
Tell Jemmeh (Arabic) or Tel Gamma (תל גמה; Hebrew) is located on the west side of Nahal Besor, nearRe'im and is close to 50,000 square metres (5.0 ha; 12 acres) in size.[citation needed] The site was continuously settled only between the Middle Bronze IIB (c. 1700–1550 BCE) and the Persian period (c. 530–330 BC). During the Iron I (c. 1200–1000 BE) the site was part of thePhilistine territory.[28]
The first archaeological excavations mistakenly identified Tel Gamma as biblicalGerar,[citation needed] and it has since been identified by researchers as the Canaanite city ofYurzah (ירזה), that was cited on the lists of PharaohThutmose III (15th century BCE), as well as inAmarna letters.[28]
Tell el-Farah (South), sometimes referred to as Tell Fara,[29] is on the west side of Nahal Besor, nearEin HaBesor. The tell is 37 hectares (91 acres) in size and 15 metres (49 ft) high and was an important fortified site in the MiddleBronze Age. The earliest major settlement that has been uncovered to date is from the Middle Bronze Age II, lasting from ca. 1650 to 1550 BCE.[citation needed] It was controlled byEgypt in the Late Bronze Age and inhabited byPhilistines into theIron Age. Ahematite seal in the shape of the head of abull was found and identified byFlinders Petrie to originate fromSyria, it showed a bull attacking alion beneath ascorpion.[30]
Flinders Petrie first identified the site as Beth-Pelet (Joshua 15:27) and published the excavation reports under the names Beth-Pelet I - II. It has been linked byWilliam Foxwell Albright to the ancient settlement ofSharuhen, althoughTell el-Ajjul near the estuary of Nahal Besor, andTel Haror to the north, are also being suggested.[31] Nahal Besor has been suggested to be theBrook of Egypt.[32][33]
Besor Stream is subject to annual flooding following heavy rains. Some Palestinians have claimed that Israel is at fault for the flooding, due to the opening of one or more dams opened upstream,[34] and in 2015,AFP posted a video showing flooding, entitled "Gaza village floods after Israel opens dam gates."[35] Several days later, AFP published a story acknowledging that "no such dam exists in Israel that could control the flow of water into Gaza, according to a team of AFP reporters on the ground as well as interviews with Israeli and international experts."[34]
Media related toBesor Stream at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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| Geographic | |
