Eshkol National Park (Hebrew: גן לאומי אשכול) is a national park located in Northern Negev, Israel, near Gaza.[1]

Eshkol National Park
גן לאומי אשכול
Blooming flowers & palm trees in the park
Map showing the location of Eshkol National Park
Map showing the location of Eshkol National Park
Location in Israel
LocationSouthern District, Israel
Coordinates31°18′29.05″N 34°29′22.19″E / 31.3080694°N 34.4894972°E / 31.3080694; 34.4894972
Eshkol National Park

History

edit
 
Ein Habesor spring

The 875-acre park offers lawns and shaded picnic areas and boasts at its centre the largest spring in the Nahal Besor/Wadi Ghazzeh basin, known in Hebrew as Ein HaBesor and in Arabic as Ein Shellal. The spring taps the near-surface aquifer, which is fed by the runoff of winter rains.[2]

East of the springs,[3] the mound of Khirbet Shellal dominates the landscape. At Shellal ANZAC troops discovered during the World War I Second Battle of Gaza an elaborate floor mosaic depicting a variety of animals,[4] part of the ruins of a Byzantine church. The mosaic is now displayed in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.[2] Shellal is located some 3 km northeast, and across the valley of Nahal Besor/Wadi Ghazzeh, from the more famous biblical archaeological site of Tell el-Farah (South).[citation needed]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "Besor brook (Nahal Habesor) in the Eshkol National Park". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b "The inauguration of the Anzac Trail in the Negev – May 2012". Archived from the original on 7 February 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  3. ^ Jewish National Fund, The Besor Park and Route
  4. ^ Sketch of the mosaic at Fig. 11
edit