1 Samuel 24:1

Wilderness of En-gedi. This chapter should have begun with verse 29 of the preceding chapter as it does in the current Hebrew text. En-gedi is a beautiful oasis on the shore of the Dead Sea, at the mouth of the Wadi el-Kelb — a steep, tortuous canyon beginning back some 8 miles (12.8 km.) in the white limestone wilderness of En-gedi at an elevation of about 1,200 ft. (368 m.) above sea level. In that small distance the bed of the wadi drops some 2,500 ft. (762 m.) till it reaches the level of the Dead Sea 1,305 ft. (398 m.) below sea level. The precipitous cliffs of the wilderness, about 2,000 ft. (610 m.) high, approach to within 1 1/2 miles (2.4 km.) of the sea, so that they form a formidable palisade to the west of the town. Up in the wadi several hundred feet above the base of a cliff, the beautiful warm spring of En-gedi gushes out from beneath a large boulder at a reported temperature of 83° F. On the sides of the wadi are many caves, both natural and artificial.

The site is known in modern times as ‘Ain Jidi.