What Is Tel Arad National Park?
Tel Arad National Park preserves an ancient Canaanite village where nomadic life settled into urban planning!
What Makes It Beautiful?
As early as 3100 BC, the nomadic peoples of the Negev Desert were congregating in urban centers like Arad, where they could grow crops and trade with other civilizations like Egypt! Their main exports to the Land of the Nile were asphalt from the Dead Sea, used in mummification, and olive oil! It was a prosperous city until 2600 when the site was abandoned and remained that way for 1500 years!
Around 1100 BC, the Israelites resettled Arad, surrounding it with walls and building a huge fortress on the hill at its center! Here, they built a temple, smaller than the temple in Jerusalem, but still home to a Holy of Holies and an altar specially constructed without the use of the metal that was becoming more prominent in the Iron Age. Here, and around the main fortress, archaeologists unearthed some important ostraca, or engraved pottery shards, that help paint a picture of life here and even mention some notable names from the Old Testament!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Pay the entrance fee to help maintain trails, signs, structures, and other visitor services!
- Donate to Israel Nature and Heritage Foundation!
- Be a responsible visitor! Remember the old adages: Pack out what you pack in! Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints!
How Do I Get There?
The entrance to Tel Arad National Park is at the intersection of Route 80 and Israel National Trail, about eight miles west of the modern city of Arad!
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit the Park?
Tel Arad National Park opens at 8:00 AM daily! From Saturday through Thursday, it’s open until 5:00 PM in the summer and 4:00 PM in the winter. It closes an hour earlier on Fridays and holidays.
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