Nahal David

Nahal David (נחל דוד)is a perennial stream that flows through the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve in the southeastern Judean Desert.

Etymology
The stream is named after King David, who fled from Saul, including to the area of Ein Gedi where the stream flows: " And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi", "After Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, he was told, “David is in the Desert of En Gedi. So Saul took three thousand able young men from all Israel and set out to look for David and his men near the Crags of the Wild Goats."

Stream Structure
The upper and western part of the stream, near Rujum an-Naqa, is intermittent and shallow. Like all streams in the Judean Desert, when it enters the eastern escarpment, approaches the Israeli Great Rift Valley cliffs, and enters the Ein Gedi Nature Reserve, it breaks into a massive waterfall 184 meters high. In this section begins the diverse canyon segment of the stream. The upper part of the canyon is always dry except during rains and is therefore called the "Dry Canyon." This section contains a cliff with many pools at its base that remain filled with water even in summer. This part of the stream ends at "Window Waterfall," offering a view of the Dead Sea and the Moab Mountains, with two massive cliffs framing the view, giving it its name. At the top of Window Waterfall is "Window Pool," a pool of floodwaters that fills and is suitable for bathing after a major flood. From the pool, one can observe the waterfall's view. Additionally, two more perennial springs are near the stream: the first is "Shulamit Spring," visible as no more than a trickle among a pile of reeds on the path leading from the stream towards the second and more famous spring, Ein Gedi Spring.

In its lower part, the stream's waters flow year-round and it is open to the public for a fee. "Ein David" is the main spring that feeds the stream with its waters. The spring's source is rainwater that falls in the Judean Mountains, percolates into the groundwater, flows eastward underground, and emerges at the top of Shulamit Waterfall, the first and highest waterfall (about 22 meters) in a series of four waterfalls that flow year-round in the stream.