ENGEDI (
):
A town in the wilderness of Judah (Josh. xv. 62), on the western shore of the Dead Sea (Ezek. xlvii. 10). It was the hiding-place of David when he fled from Saul (I Sam. xxiv. 1, 2). Engedi was celebrated for its vine-yards (Cant. i. 14), for its balsam (Shab. 26a; Josephus, "Ant." ix. 1, § 2), and for its palms (Pliny, "Historia, Naturalis," v. 17; see also Shab. 26a), whence it was called also "Hazazon-tamar" (the pruning of the palm-tree; II Chron. xx. 2). According to Josephus ("B. J." iii. 3, § 5), Engediwas the center of a toparchy under the Romans; it was the chief seat of the Essenes, and in the fourth century it was still a large village (Eusebius, "Onomasticon," s.v.). It is identified with the modern 'Ain Jidi (see Robinson, "Biblical Researches," ii. 209, 211, 214).
