ZERED, TORRENT VALLEY OF

(Zeʹred).

A torrent valley at which the Israelites camped on their way around the frontier of Moab, at the end of the thirty-eight additional years of wandering from the time of the rebellion at Kadesh-barnea. (Num. 21:12; Deut. 2:13, 14) While some would place this valley at the Wadi es-Sultani in the desert E of Moab, it is generally identified with the Wadi el-Hesa, the southernmost tributary of the Dead Sea. This valley formed the boundary between Moab and Edom, and, over a thirty-five-mile (56.3-kilometer) stretch, it descends some 3,900 feet (c. 1,189 meters), entering the Dead Sea at the SE end. The valley is some three and a quarter to four miles (5.2 to 6.4 kilometers) across at the top. There is evidence there of a series of Edomite fortresses that served to guard the natural approaches to the S of the Wadi el-Hesa.