Timna Park

The park is located approximately 25 kilometers north of Eilat, in the middle of the Red Sea Desert. The horseshoe-shaped park, created by tectonic plate movement tens of millions of years ago, spreads out over an area of 60 square kilometers and is part of the Syrian-African rift.

This extraordinary locale contains within it an astonishing "window" to the geology of the region. On one side are tall, dark, jagged granite peaks. Lying opposite, the softer, rounded red and white sandstone stripes festoon the park. The spectacular landscape of acacia trees and desert plants, along with herds of wandering gazelles and ibex, is displayed against the dramatic backdrop of the mountains.

The Arava Expedition, headed by Professor Beno Rothenberg, has excavated and restored the various sites in Timna Park over the past thirty years.

Solomon`s Pillars were formed by centuries of water erosion on the tall, straight rock face. The red sandstone cliffs have been sculpted into pillar-shaped ridges that jut outwards. A set of steps leads from Solomon`s Pillars to an Egyptian rock carving that shows Ramses III presenting a gift to the goddess Hathor.