The Nahal Sorek,[a] also Soreq, is a river in the West Bank and Israel. It rises south of Ramallah in the Judean Hills, flows westwards into the coastal plain, and empties into the Mediterranean at Palmachim. Its valley is mentioned in the Book of Judges as the home of Delilah.
| Nahal Sorek | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Judaean Mountains |
| • location | Ramallah, West Bank |
| • coordinates | 31°52′53″N 35°11′15″E / 31.88139°N 35.18750°E |
| Mouth | Mediterranean Sea |
• location | Palmachim, Israel |
• coordinates | 31°56′36″N 34°42′30″E / 31.94333°N 34.70833°E |
Names
editThe Hebrew name Nahal Sorek means "wadi of choice vines".[1] The river is known in Arabic by a variety of names, including (in its upper reaches) Wadi es-Sarar and (at its mouth) Nahr Rubin.[2] The former name means "wadi of pebbles",[3] while the latter name means "river of Reuben", in reference to Reuben, son of Jacob, who is said to have been buried on the river's southern bank.
Railway
editThe historic Jaffa–Jerusalem railway, opened in 1892, follows the Valley of Sorek and the tributary Valley of Rephaim as it climbs from the coastal plain to Jerusalem. It was superseded in 2018 by a more direct high-speed line.
Nature Reserve
editThe Nahal Sorek Nature Reserve, created in 1965 and since expanded, spans over 11000 dunams,[4] from the Avshalom Cave Nature Reserve near Beit Shemesh to moshav Nes Harim.
Desalination plants
editNear the mouth of the Nahal Sorek are two large seawater desalination plants, Palmachim and Sorek, the latter being, when used at full capacity, the largest of its kind in the world (as of 2013).[5]
Gallery
edit
View up the Valley of Sorek from Tur Shimon
Overview of the point where the valleys of Rephaim (left) and Sorek (right) converge
Abandoned railway station in the Valley of Sorek
The 13th-century Yibna Bridge, seen from the dry bed of the Sorek
The Sorek near its mouth
The mouth of the river
See also
edit- Nahal Sorek Regional Council, administrative district situated along the Sorek Valley
- Soreq Nuclear Research Center, a research and development institute
- Timnah, Philistine city mentioned in the Bible, identified with Tel Batash in the Sorek Valley
- Zorah, biblical town in Judah, identified with a site overlooking the Sorek Valley
Notes
editReferences
edit- ↑ Brown, Francis; Driver, S. R.; Briggs, Charles A. (1906). A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 977.
- ↑ "روبين – الصرار (نهر)". palestinapedia.ps. Archived from the original on 11 October 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2025.
- ↑ Hopkins, Simon (1995). "ṣarār "pebbles" — A Canaanite Substrate Word in Palestinian Arabic". Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik. 30. Harrassowitz Verlag: 37–49.
- ↑ "List of National Parks and Nature Reserves" (PDF) (in Hebrew). Israel Nature and Parks Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-13. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ↑ Sales, Ben (May 30, 2013) With desalination, a once unthinkable water surplus is possible. The Times of Israel