LANDSCAPES |
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Drawing #27, included with 33 drawings in the Album Mountains in the Aravah |
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This drawing is included in the Album
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| Mountains in the Aravah - along the valley between the Dead Sea and the gulf of Eilat. These are colorful mountains and with fantastic formations.
The Negev - the southern region of Israel. The northern part of the Negev is good sheep country. Its rolling hills surround large broad plains. The southern part of the Negev is the most arid region in Israel. Eilat is mentioned in the Bible and called Eloth and Etzion Geber. An archeological expedition excavated the biblical site of Etzion Geber proving that it had been a fortified settlement from the 10th to the 4th century B.C. The Crusaders built naval garrisons in Eilat but since then the only inhabitants of the region were nomadic bedouin tribes. On march 10, 1949 the Israel Defence Force began a 5 day campaign to reach Eilat, and on March 14, 1949 the whole region was conquered by Israel ending the War of Independence. In those days this region was desolate and the only structure there was a police station with some poor rooms known by the name "Um Rashrash". Nowadays, with the population of 50,000 residents the city of Eilat has become a leading tourist center, offering wide range of hotels, attractions, restaurants and all sorts of entertainments. "And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Etzion Geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the red sea, in the land of Edom" (1st Kings, Chapter 9:26). Mount Sinai is the holy mount where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The Mount is located in the wilderness of Sinai and draws pilgrims for over a thousand years. The Sinai peninsula is an Egyptian territory. "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly." (Exodus, Chapter 19:18,20). "And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up." ( Exodus, Chapter 19 : 18, 20 ). |
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