Ein Gedi is Israel's largest oasis off the western shore of the Dead Sea. Inhabited as early as the Chalcolithic period in the fourth millennium BCE, En-gedi is mentioned in the biblical narrative of the pursuit of David by King Saul. Beginning in the 7th century BCE, Ein Gedi was almost continuously settled for some 1,400 years. During the excavations (1961-1965) at Tel Goren, the ancient mound of Ein Gedi, strata were exposed from the end of the First Temple period (late 7th century BCE) until the end of the Second Temple period (1st century CE). No one is better qualified than Hanan Eshel, with his vast experience in the field, wide historical knowledge and superb scholarship, to tell the full story of Ein Gedi,