The spring flows into a natural rock pool, and its output (around 1500 m³ a day) creates a brook that flows all year round.
During the early Bronze Age (3300 – 2200 BCE), as urban society began to develop, city states sprang up in the Benjamin region, along with smaller towns and villages, among them Hurvat En Prat that lies within the nature reserve. During the Middle Bronze Age II (2000 – 1550 BCE) there was another great wave of settlement in the area and new cities were built, foremost among them Jerusalem, which apparently also had an effect on settlement in the area of Fara Stream. In the Iron Age (1200 – 586 BCE), with the settlement of the tribes of Israel, came a wave that can be seen in dozens of settlement sites. This wave of settlement has to do with the development of Judah and Israel. Remains from this period have been found at Khirbet Alamit, identified with the biblical Almon, and also at Hurvat En Prat, where pottery, a large wall, and a burial site from this period were found. Based on these finds, it has been proposed to identify the site with Parah – a town in the estate of Benjamin (Joshua 18:23), and this may have been where Jeremiah went to hide his belt: "Go now to Perath" (Jeremiah 13:3). The stream served as a natural border between the lands of Judah and Benjamin. Some identify it with Nahal Krit, the stream to which the prophet fled from King Ahab: "Depart from here and turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Krit brook, which is east of the Jordan" (I Kings 17:3). Mikhmash Stream, the main tributary of Prat Stream, is identified with the place through which Jonathan led the army of his father Saul to victory over the Philistines. With the destruction of the First Temple and the Kingdom of Judah, the greater part of Jewish settlement was left within the area of Benjamin, and this is where the exiles returned during the return to Zion, laying the foundations for the establishment of the autonomous Persian province of Judah. Prat Stream was included within the province, and later within the Hasmonean kingdom.
Size: 2304px × 3199px
Location: En Prat Nature Reserve
Photo credit: © Florin Danila / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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