Arugot

Nahal Arugot, also known as Arugot Stream and in Arabic as Wadi al-Arija, is the southern of the two year-round streams flowing through the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve.[1][6] The reserve sits just west of the Dead Sea shore, accessible via Dead Sea Road 90 approximately one kilometer north of Kibbutz Ein Gedi.[1] Together with the David Stream to the north, Nahal Arugot forms a freshwater oasis within the Judean Desert.

The stream is approximately 40 kilometers long and covers a drainage area of about 200 square kilometers.[2] Rainwater seeps into the groundwater and travels underground before emerging within the reserve; powerful floods occur during rainy winters, while water remains in the stream even during drier seasons.[2] The canyon and oasis environment through which the stream runs sustains dense vegetation — reeds, bulrushes, tall sugarcane, tamarisks, and willows — alongside populations of ibex and more than 200 bird species visible in autumn, including white wagtails, desert partridges, eagles, Dead Sea starlings, and white-tailed wheatears.[2]

Hiking descriptions distinguish a shorter walk to the Hidden Waterfall and back from a longer route reaching the upper pools.[1] A pre-flood account described sections requiring passage through the stream and estimated the long route at roughly two to three hours.[2] Several advanced hiking routes descend to the stream from the desert plateau and from Kibbutz Ein Gedi, each ending at the reserve's entrance booth.[1] The reserve's published schedule lists visiting hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April through September and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from October through March, with the last entrance to the Arugot Stream section at 2:00 p.m. during those winter months.[1]

On May 4, 2025, an exceptionally severe flood struck the Arugot Stream area. The Israeli Meteorological Service recorded rainfall intensities exceeding 30 millimeters in 10 minutes in the Ein Gedi area — a hydrological event estimated to occur with a probability of only 0.5 to 1 percent, or roughly once every 100 to 200 years.[7] The flood caused significant damage to trail infrastructure and altered the landscape of the canyon.

The Nature and Parks Authority undertook approximately three months of restoration work before reopening the Arugot Stream trails.[7] The flood reshaped parts of the terrain: the first pools became deeper, and the route to them was described as suitable for everyone, while the continuation beyond them was designated for experienced hikers only.[7] The upper pools dried out entirely due to terrain changes caused by the floodwaters. Additionally, because of extreme heat conditions, all trail inclines in the reserve remained closed until September 2025.[7]

A separate community bears the Arugot name: the moshav of Arugot in the Southern Coastal Plain, situated within the Malakhi Region.[3] Founded in 1949, it falls under the municipal jurisdiction of Regional Council Be'er Tuviyyah and is affiliated with Tenu'at HaMoshavim, the Moshavim Movement.[3] As of December 31, 2004, the moshav recorded a population of 731 inhabitants.[3]

On the southeastern edge of Gush Etzion, on a hilltop outside Ibei HaNahal overlooking the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea, Arugot Farms was described in June 2020 as a working organic farm under development as a spiritual retreat center.[4] Founders Ari Abramowitz and Jeremy Gimpel, described as American immigrants, rabbis, former Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and longtime friends, relocated their families to the site and invested their life savings in its development.[4]

When they arrived, the site reportedly had no infrastructure, water, electricity, or trees.[4] By June 2020, more than 3,000 fruit trees had been planted alongside olive groves and vineyards, and construction included work on a house of worship and 14 studio apartments.[4] Thousands of visitors from Israel and abroad had already visited the farm while it was still under development, and the founders' long-term vision was to establish a destination centered on music, prayer, art, and meditation.[4]

In October 2022, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman visited Arugot Farms with his son and grandson, hosted by Gimpel, Abramowitz, and Yossi Levitt. Friedman praised the project for "beautifully building the Land of Israel" and urged its founders to continue.[8]

Associated with Nahal Arugot is an archaeological feature known as Metzad Arugot. National Library of Israel catalog entries for photographs taken in August 1963 reference "structures above Metzad Arugot," indicating the presence of a named site in the vicinity of the stream.[9] The site received dedicated scholarly treatment in En-Gedi Excavations II, a volume published in Jerusalem in 2007 by the Israel Exploration Society and the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.[10]

The publication includes a chapter by Barbara L. Johnson covering pottery from the Roman bathhouse, designated Area E, and Metzad Arugot, designated Area B, spanning pages 428 to 454 — a 27-page analysis within the excavation report.[10] A separate National Library catalog entry connects its Nahal Arugot material to the Society for the Protection of Nature and the Nature Reserves Authority.[6]

The word arugot in Hebrew means "beds," referring to cultivated garden beds in Jewish horticultural terminology.[5] Gardens divided into such beds were typically situated near water sources or supplied with cisterns and irrigation channels.[5] The expression is also preserved in medieval Jewish book titles using Arugat ha-Bosem, meaning approximately "bed of spices."[5] As a Hebrew word, arugot therefore carries associations with cultivation and irrigation.

The legal and political status of the land on which Arugot Farms stands has been disputed. Three organizations petitioned Israel's Supreme Court in 2018, claiming the farm was being built on privately owned Palestinian land.[4] According to co-founder Jeremy Gimpel, the court ruled in favor of the farm and determined that the area was Israeli state land zoned for agriculture and tourism.[4] The 2020 report presented these claims and the surrounding territorial status as politically and legally contested. It also placed Arugot Farms within "Enclave #8" on the conceptual map associated with the U.S. administration's 2020 "Peace to Prosperity" plan.[4]