ISRAEL

ISRAEL / יִשְׂרָאֵל‎ - إِسْرَائِيل

Landscapes.
Arava.
First stamp in a set of 3, issued on 05.11.1974.
Face value: 0.25 Israeli lira.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 31 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 623.
- Scott No. 465A.
- StampWorld No. 622.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 498.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 533.

Arava or Arabah (Hebrew: הָעֲרָבָה; Arabic: وادي عربة) is a desert area south of the Dead Sea basin, which is part of the border between Israel and Jordan. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the area that covered almost the entire length of what is now called the Jordan Rift Valley, between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee and the Gulf of Aqaba, was considered by this name, and included the valley of the Jordan River between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, the Dead Sea itself and what is today commonly called the Arava Valley. Currently, the term is restricted only to this southern section. It is 166 km (103 miles) long, from the Gulf of Aqaba to the southern shore of the Dead Sea. The area is drained by several streams of seasonal course, which in some places form gorges, like the one seen in the stamp.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).