{{Short description|River in Israel}} {{Infobox river | name = Nahal Sorek | image = File:Nahal Sorek - panoramio.jpg | image_caption = | source1 = Judaean Mountains | source1_location = Ramallah, West Bank | source1_coordinates = {{coord|31|52|53|N|35|11|15|E|display=inline}} | mouth = Mediterranean Sea | mouth_location = Palmachim, Israel | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|31|56|36|N|34|42|30|E|display=inline,title}} | length = }} The '''Nahal Sorek''',{{efn|{{langx|he|נחל שורק}}; {{langx|ar|وادي الصرار}} ({{transliteration|ar|Wadi es-Sarar}}) or {{lang|ar|نهر روبين}} ({{transliteration|ar|Nahr Rubin}}).}} 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.
==Names== The Hebrew name ''Nahal Sorek'' means "wadi of choice vines".<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Francis |last1=Brown |first2=S. R. |last2=Driver |first3=Charles A. |last3=Briggs |title=A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament |year=1906 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press|page=977|url=https://archive.org/details/bwb_KU-773-325/page/977}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{cite web|title=روبين – الصرار (نهر)|publisher=palestinapedia.ps|url=https://www.palestinapedia.ps/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%86%D9%87%D8%B1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241011160417/https://www.palestinapedia.ps/%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%86%D9%87%D8%B1/|archive-date=11 October 2024|access-date=18 October 2025}}</ref> The former name means "wadi of pebbles",<ref name=Hopkins>{{cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43525653|title=ṣarār "pebbles" — A Canaanite Substrate Word in Palestinian Arabic|first=Simon|last=Hopkins|journal=Zeitschrift für Arabische Linguistik|volume=30|date=1995|pages=37-49|publisher=Harrassowitz Verlag}}</ref> 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== The 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 It was superseded in 2018 by a more direct high-speed line.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== The Nahal Sorek Nature Reserve, created in 1965 and since expanded, spans over 11000 dunams,<ref>{{cite web |title=List of National Parks and Nature Reserves |url= http://parks.org.il/sigalit/muchrazim.pdf |language=he |publisher= Israel Nature and Parks Authority |access-date=2010-09-27 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120313041655/http://parks.org.il/sigalit/muchrazim.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-13 }}</ref> from the Avshalom Cave Nature Reserve near Beit Shemesh to moshav Nes Harim.
==Desalination plants== Near 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).<ref>Sales, Ben (May 30, 2013) [http://www.timesofisrael.com/with-desalination-a-once-unthinkable-water-surplus-is-possible With desalination, a once unthinkable water surplus is possible]. ''The Times of Israel''</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> File:General view of Nahal Sorek as seen from Tur Shimon eastward.jpg|View up the Valley of Sorek from Tur Shimon File:NahalSorekRefaimJaffaJerusalemRailroadRoad386Jan272023.jpg|Overview of the point where the valleys of Rephaim (left) and Sorek (right) converge File:BarGioraRailwayStation2.jpg|Abandoned railway station in the Valley of Sorek File:Mamluk bridge, Yavne008.jpg|The 13th-century Yibna Bridge, seen from the dry bed of the Sorek File:By Ovedc - Nebi Rubin 31.jpg|The Sorek near its mouth File:Soreq026.jpg|The mouth of the river </gallery>
==See also== * 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 == {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Nature reserves of Israel}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorek}} Category:Hebrew Bible rivers Category:Book of Judges locations Category:Rivers of Israel Category:Geography of Israel