Maaleh-acrabbim

Maaleh-acrabbim (meaning ascent of scorpions or scorpion-hill) was a pass or ascent on the southern boundary of Canaan and the territory of Judah, mentioned in Numbers 34:4 and Joshua 15:3. It formed part of the line running from the southern end of the Dead Sea westward toward Kadesh-barnea and the Mediterranean. The name vividly describes the terrain — a rocky desert pass inhabited by scorpions — marking the harsh wilderness boundary between the Negev and the Sinai approaches.

The site is generally identified with the steep ascent known today as Naqb es-Safa in the northeastern Sinai/Negev region, a formidable rocky grade consistent with the ancient boundary description. It appears in the same geographic line as Kadesh-barnea, the Brook of Egypt, and the Mediterranean coast — the outer boundary of the land promised to Israel.