topographic depression in southern Palestine extending about 100 miles (160 km) south from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba; it is part of the East African Rift System. Largely sandy desert, it is divided between Israel and Jordan. In the Old Testament, except in Deuteronomy 2:8, the name Al-ʿArabah refers to the Jordan Valley, but eventually the name came to be applied exclusively to the southern area. As the site of important trade routes and the only iron and copper mines in Canaan, Al-ʿArabah was frequently fought over in biblical times by the kings of Judah and Edom.