The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and
semidesert
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
region of southern
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The region's largest city and administrative capital is
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
(pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba ( ar, خَلِيجُ ٱلْعَقَبَةِ, Khalīj al-ʿAqabah) or Gulf of Eilat ( he, מפרץ אילת, Mifrátz Eilát) is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian ...
and the
resort city
A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...
development town
Development towns ( he, עיירת פיתוח, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from E ...
s, including
Dimona
Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...
Mitzpe Ramon
Mitzpe Ramon ( he, מִצְפֵּה רָמוֹן, Ramon Lookout; ar, متسبي رمون) is a local council in the Negev desert of southern Israel. It is situated on the northern ridge at an elevation of 860 meters (2,800 feet) overlo ...
, as well as a number of small Bedouin towns, including
Rahat
Rahat ( ar, رهط, he, רַהַט) is a predominantly Bedouin city in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . As such, it is the largest Bedouin city in the world, and the only one in Israel to have city status.
Rahat i ...
and
Tel Sheva
Tel Sheva ( he, תֵּל שֶׁבַע) or Tel as-Sabi ( ar, تل السبع) is a Bedouin town in the Southern District of Israel, bordering the city of Beersheba. In it had a population of .
History
The first Bedouin township in Israel, Tel ...
and
Lakiya
Lakiya, or Laqye ( ar, اللقية, he, לָקִיָּה) is a Bedouin town ( local council) in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of .
History
Lakiya was founded in 1985 as part of a government project to settle Bedouin ...
Revivim
Revivim ( he, רְבִיבִים, , (rain) showers) is a kibbutz in the Negev desert in southern Israel. Located around half an hour south of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Council. In it had a population of ...
and
Sde Boker
Sde Boker ( he, שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר, lit. ''Herding Field'') is a kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Best known as the retirement home of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ram ...
; the latter became the home of Israel's first
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
,
David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...
, after his retirement from politics.
Although historically part of a separate region (known during the Roman period as
Arabia Petraea
Arabia Petraea or Petrea, also known as Rome's Arabian Province ( la, Provincia Arabia; ar, العربية البترائية; grc, Ἐπαρχία Πετραίας Ἀραβίας) or simply Arabia, was a frontier province of the Roman Emp ...
), the Negev was added to the proposed area of
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
, of which large parts later became
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, on 10 July 1922, having been conceded by British representative St John Philby "in Trans-Jordan's name". Despite this, the region remained exclusively Arab until 1946; in response to the British
Morrison–Grady Plan
The Morrison–Grady Plan, also known as the Morrison Plan or the Provincial Autonomy Plan was a joint Anglo-American plan announced on 31 July 1946 for the creation of a unitary federal trusteeship in Mandatory Palestine.
Following the issuance ...
which would have allotted the area to an Arab state, the
Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...
enacted the
11 points in the Negev
11 points in the Negev ( he, 11 הנקודות or he2, אחת-עשרה הנקודות, ''Akhat-Esre HaNekudot'') refers to a Jewish Agency plan to establish 11 settlements in the Negev in 1946 prior to the partition of Palestine and the establis ...
plan to begin Jewish settlement in the area. A year later, the
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations, which recommended a partition of Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly adopted the Plan as ...
allotted the area to the Jewish State which became
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
.
The desert is home to the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) ( he, אוניברסיטת בן-גוריון בנגב, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has five campuses: the ...
, whose faculties include the
Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research
The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR) constitute one of the academic faculties of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), and are located on BGU's Sede Boqer Campus in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in the heart of the Negev Desert ...
and the
Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies
The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies (AKIS) is an international graduate school situated within the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, which is part of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It is located in Midreshet ...
, both located on the
Midreshet Ben-Gurion
Midreshet Ben-Gurion ( he, מִדְרֶשֶׁת בֶּן גּוּרְיוֹן), also known as Midreshet Sde Boker, is an educational center and boarding school in southern Israel. Located in the Negev next to kibbutz Sde Boker, it falls under the ...
campus adjacent to
Sde Boker
Sde Boker ( he, שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר, lit. ''Herding Field'') is a kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Best known as the retirement home of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ram ...
.
In October 2012, global travel guide publisher
Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books.
History Early years
Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...
rated the Negev second on a list of the world's top ten regional travel destinations for 2013, noting its current transformation through development.
Etymology and other names
The origin of the word ''Negev'' is from the
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
root denoting 'dry'; in the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" '' semiarid
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
Valley defined as "the eastern (biblical) Negev".
In Arabic, the Negev is known as ''an-Naqab'' or ''an-Naqb'' ('the ountainpass'), though it was not thought of as a distinct region until the demarcation of the Egypt-Ottoman frontier in the 1890s and has no single Arabic name.Palestine Exploration Quarterly (April 1941). ''The Negev, or Southern Desert of Palestine by George E. Kirk.'' London. Page 57.
During the British Mandate, it was called "Beersheba sub-district".
Geography
The Negev contains the oldest discovered surface on Earth, with an approximate age of 1.8 million years. During the
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...
, the Negev fluctuated between intervals of relative humidity and intervals of aridity similar to or even more severe than the present day; from around 80,000 to 13,000 years BP, during a time interval roughly corresponding to the Last Glacial Period, the Negev was significantly more humid than today. It covers more than half of Israel, over some , or at least 55% of the country's land area. It forms an inverted triangle shape whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
, and whose eastern border is the
Arabah
The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
valley. The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features. Among the latter are three enormous, craterlike
makhtesh
A makhtesh ( he, מַכְתֵּשׁ (), Hebrew plural: ( – ''Makhteshim'') is a geological landform considered typical for the Negev desert of Israel and the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a ...
im (box canyons), which are unique to the region: Makhtesh Ramon,
HaMakhtesh HaGadol
HaMakhtesh HaGadol ( he, הַמַּכְתֵּשׁ הַגָּדוֹל, ''lit.'' The Big Crater) is a makhtesh, a geological erosional landform of Israel's Negev desert. It measures 5 x 10 km.
A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock su ...
, and
HaMakhtesh HaKatan
HaMakhtesh HaKatan ( he, הַמַּכְתֵּשׁ הַקָּטָן, ''lit.'' The Small Crater) is a makhtesh, a geological erosional landform of Israel's Negev desert. One of five makhteshim in Israel, and seven in the world, it is the third lar ...
.
The Negev is a rocky desert. It is a melange of brown, rocky, dusty mountains interrupted by
wadi
Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water ...
s (dry riverbeds that bloom briefly after rain) and deep craters. It can be split into five different ecological regions: northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau and the Arabah Valley. The northern Negev, or
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
zone, receives of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils. The western Negev receives of rain per year, with light and partially sandy soils. Sand
dunes
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
can reach heights of up to here. Home to the city of
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, the central Negev has an annual precipitation of and is characterized by impervious soil, known as loess, allowing minimum penetration of water with greater soil erosion and water runoff. The high plateau area of
Negev Mountains
Negev Mountains is a mountainous area in the north-western part of the Negev desert, in Israel. Mount Ramon is the summit of Negev Mountains and the highest point in southern Israel, reaching .
Most of the area belongs to Negev Mountains Nature ...
/Ramat HaNegev ( he, רמת הנגב, ''The Negev Heights'') stands between and above sea level with extreme temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets of rain per year, with inferior and partially salty soils. The Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely of rain annually. It has inferior soils, in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives.
Flora and fauna
Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants thrive there, among them '' Acacia'', ''
Pistacia
''Pistacia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It contains 10 to 20 species that are native to Africa and Eurasia from the Canary Islands, all of Africa, and southern Europe, warm and semidesert areas across Asia ...
'', ''
Retama
''Retama'' (also known as ''rotem'', he, רותם) is a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae. ''Retama'' broom bushes are found natively in North Africa, the Levant and some parts of ...
Thymelaea
''Thymelaea'' (English: the Sparrow-worts) is a genus of about 30 species of evergreen shrubs and herbs in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae, native to the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean region, north to central Europe, and east to ...
''. ''
Hyphaene thebaica
''Hyphaene thebaica'', with common names doum palm (Ar: دوم) and gingerbread tree (also mistakenly doom palm), is a type of palm tree with edible oval fruit. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western pa ...
'' or doum palm can be found in the Southern Negev. The Evrona Nature Reserve is the most northerly point in the world where this palm can be found.
A small population of
Arabian leopard
The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is a leopard subspecies native to the Arabian Peninsula. It has been listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 1996 as fewer than 200 wild individuals were estimated to be alive i ...
s, an endangered animal in the Arabian peninsula, survives in the southern Negev. Other carnivora found in the Negev are the
caracal
The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted e ...
Arabian wolf
The Arabian wolf (''Canis lupus arabs'') is a subspecies of gray wolf native to the Arabian Peninsula, the Negev Desert, the Sinai Peninsula, and Jordan. It is the smallest wolf subspecies, and a desert-adapted subspecies that normally lives in ...
, the
golden jackal
The golden jackal (''Canis aureus''), also called common jackal, is a wolf-like canid that is native to Southeast Europe, Southwest Asia, South Asia, and regions of Southeast Asia. The golden jackal's coat varies in color from a pale creamy ...
and the
marbled polecat
The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German word , which means "little worm". The specific name ''pereg ...
."Israel's Unique Wildlife" at the Davidson Institute.
The
Arabah
The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the bord ...
mountain gazelle
The mountain gazelle (''Gazella gazella''), also called the Palestine mountain gazelle, is a species of gazelle widely but unevenly distributed.
Description
Mountain gazelle are one of the few mammals in which both sexes have horns. Males ha ...
survives with a few individuals in the Negev. The
dorcas gazelle
The dorcas gazelle (''Gazella dorcas''), also known as the ariel gazelle, is a small and common gazelle. The dorcas gazelle stands about at the shoulder, with a head and body length of and a weight of . The numerous subspecies survive on vegeta ...
is more numerous, with some 1,000–1,500 individuals in the Negev. Some 350 to 500 Nubian ibex live in the Negev Highlands and in the
Eilat Mountains
The Eilat Mountains ( he, הרי אילת ''Harei Eilat'') are a mountain range within the southern Negev in southern Israel. The ranges of the Timna Valley belong to the Eilat Mountains. Among the central block of mountains, Mount Hezekiah is the ...
Negev tortoise
Kleinmann's tortoise (''Testudo kleinmanni''), also called commonly the Egyptian tortoise, Leith's tortoise, and the Negev tortoise, is a critically endangered species of neck-hiding tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is native t ...
) survives in the sands of the western and central Negev Desert.
Animals that were reintroduced after their extinction in the wild or localized extinction respectively are the
Arabian oryx
The Arabian oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') or white oryx is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus ''Oryx'', native to desert and steppe areas o ...
and the
Persian fallow deer
The Persian fallow deer (''Dama mesopotamica'') is a deer species once native to all of the Middle East, but currently only living in Iran and Israel. It was reintroduced in Israel. It has been listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List since 200 ...
. Also introduced was the Asiatic wild ass, which in the Negev counts about 250 animals.
Like many areas in Israel and the rest of the Middle East, the Negev used to host in the distant past the
Asiatic lion
The Asiatic lion is a population of '' Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujar ...
and the Asiatic cheetah, right until their complete extinction at the hands of humans in later centuries.
Climate
The Negev region is
arid
A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ...
( Eilat receives on average only of rainfall a year), receiving very little rain due to its location to the east of the Sahara (as opposed to the Mediterranean, which lies to the west of Israel), and extreme temperatures due to its location 31 degrees north. However the northernmost areas of the Negev, including
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
, are semi-desert. The usual rainfall total from June through October is zero. Snow and frost are rare in the northern Negev, and snow and frost are unknown in the vicinity of Eilat in the southernmost Negev.
History
Prehistorical nomads
Nomadic life in the Negev dates back at least 4,000 yearsMariam Shahin. Palestine: A Guide. (2005) Interlink Books. and perhaps as much as 7,000 years.
Bronze Age
The first urbanized settlements were established by a combination of
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
ite,
Amalekite
Amalek (; he, עֲמָלֵק, , ar, عماليق ) was a nation described in the Hebrew Bible as a staunch enemy of the Israelites. The name "Amalek" can refer to the nation's founder, a grandson of Esau; his descendants, the Amalekites; or the ...
,
Amorite
The Amorites (; sux, 𒈥𒌅, MAR.TU; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒊒𒌝 or 𒋾𒀉𒉡𒌝/𒊎 ; he, אֱמוֹרִי, 'Ĕmōrī; grc, Ἀμορραῖοι) were an ancient Northwest Semitic-speaking people from the Levant who also occupied la ...
,
Nabataean
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...
and
Edomite
Edom (; Edomite language, Edomite: ; he, Wiktionary:אדום, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian language, Akkadian: , ; Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan (region), Transjordan, located between ...
groups circa 2000 BCE.
Pharaonic
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
Egypt is credited with introducing copper mining and smelting in both the Negev and the
Sinai
Sinai commonly refers to:
* Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
* Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God
Sinai may also refer to:
* Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
Valley, which receives enough rain as to allow agriculture and thus sedentary occupation (the " desert fringe"), is accordingly defined as "the eastern (biblical) Negev".
Biblical reference
According to the
Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...
chapter 13,
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
lived for a while in the Negev after being banished from Egypt (). During the Exodus journey to the Promised Land, Moses sent twelve scouts into the Negev to assess the land and population (). Later the northern part of biblical Negev was inhabited by the
Tribe of Judah
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...
and the southern part of biblical Negev by the
Tribe of Simeon
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon (; he, ''Šīm‘ōn'', "hearkening/listening/understanding/empathizing") was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Book of Judges locates its territory inside the boundaries of the Tribe of ...
. The Negev was later part of the Kingdom of Solomon (in its entirety, all the way to the Red Sea), and then, with varied extension to the south, part of the
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah ( he, , ''Yəhūdā''; akk, 𒅀𒌑𒁕𒀀𒀀 ''Ya'údâ'' 'ia-ú-da-a-a'' arc, 𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃 ''Bēyt Dāwīḏ'', " House of David") was an Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. C ...
.
Iron Age
In the 9th century BCE, development and expansion of mining in both the Negev and
Edom
Edom (; Edomite: ; he, אֱדוֹם , lit.: "red"; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Egyptian: ) was an ancient kingdom in Transjordan, located between Moab to the northeast, the Arabah to the west, and the Arabian Desert to the south and east.N ...
(modern Jordan) coincided with the rise of the
Assyrian Empire
Assyrian may refer to:
* Assyrian people, the indigenous ethnic group of Mesopotamia.
* Assyria, a major Mesopotamian kingdom and empire.
** Early Assyrian Period
** Old Assyrian Period
** Middle Assyrian Empire
** Neo-Assyrian Empire
* Assyr ...
.
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
was the region's capital and a center for trade in the 8th century BCE. Small settlements of
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
in the areas around the capital existed between 1020 and 928 BCE.
Nabateans and Romans
The 4th-century BCE arrival of the
Nabateans
The Nabataeans or Nabateans (; Nabataean Aramaic: , , vocalized as ; Arabic: , , singular , ; compare grc, Ναβαταῖος, translit=Nabataîos; la, Nabataeus) were an ancient Arab people who inhabited northern Arabia and the southern L ...
resulted in the development of irrigation systems that supported new urban centers located along the Negev incense route at
Avdat
Avdat ( he, עבדת, ar, عبدة, ''Abdah''), also known as Abdah and Ovdat and Obodat, is a site of a ruined Nabataean city in the Negev desert in southern Israel. It was the most important city on the Incense Route after Petra, between the 1 ...
,
Mamshit
Mampsis (Medieval Greek: Μάμψις) or Memphis (Ancient Greek: Μέμφις), today Mamshit ( he, ממשית), Arabic Kurnub, is a former Nabataean caravan stop and Byzantine city. In the Nabataean period, Mampsis was an important station on th ...
,
Shivta
Shivta ( he, שבטה), originally Sobata ( gr, Σόβατα) or Subeita ( ar, شبطا), is an ancient city in the Negev Desert of Israel located 43 kilometers southwest of Beersheba. Shivta was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June 20 ...
,
Haluza
The ancient city of Halasa or Chellous ( gr, Χελλοὺς), Elusa () in the Byzantine period, was a city in the Negev near present-day Kibbutz Mash'abei Sadeh that was once part of the Nabataean Incense Route. It lay on the route from Petra t ...
(Elusa), and Nitzana. The Nabateans controlled the trade on the spice route between their capital Petra and the Gazan seaports. Nabatean currency and the remains of red and orange
potsherd
In archaeology, a sherd, or more precisely, potsherd, is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels, as well.
Occasionally, a piece of broken ...
s, identified as a trademark of their civilization, have been found along the route, remnants of which are also still visible. Nabatean control of the Negev ended when the
Roman empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
annexed their lands in 106 CE. The population, largely made up of nomads, although under Roman rule, venerated deities such as Dushara, Allat, and others.
Byzantines
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
rule in the 4th century introduced
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
to the population. Agriculture-based cities were established and the population grew exponentially.
In January 2021, archaeologists from the
Israel Antiquities Authority
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA, he, רשות העתיקות ; ar, داﺌرة الآثار, before 1990, the Israel Department of Antiquities) is an independent Israeli governmental authority responsible for enforcing the 1978 Law of ...
announced the discovery of tombstone dating back 1,400 years with Greek inscription by an employee of the Parks and Nature Authority at Nitzana National Park. On the Christian woman's stone named Maria these words were written: ‘Blessed Maria who lived immaculate life’.
Early-mid Islamic empires
The southern Negev saw a flourishing of economic activity during the 8th to 10th or 11th centuries. Six Islamic settlements have been found in the vicinity of modern Eilat, along with copper and gold mines and stone quarries, and a sophisticated irrigation system and road network. The economic center was the port of Ayla (Aqaba).
10th–19th century Bedouins
Nomadic tribes ruled the Negev largely independently and with a relative lack of interference for the next thousand years. What is known of this time is largely derived from oral histories and folk tales of tribes from the
Wadi Musa
Wadi Musa ( ar, وادي موسى, literally "Valley of Musa (AS)) is a town located in the Ma'an Governorate in southern Jordan. It is the administrative center of the Petra Department and the nearest town to the archaeological site of Petra. I ...
and Petra areas in present-day
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
. The Bedouins of the Negev historically survived chiefly on sheep and goat husbandry. Scarcity of water and of permanent pastoral land required them to move constantly. The Bedouin in years past established few permanent settlements, although some were built, leaving behind remnants of stone houses called 'baika.'
Late Ottoman period (1900–1917)
In 1900, the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
established an administrative center for southern Syria at Beersheba including schools and a railway station. The authority of the tribal chiefs over the region was recognized by the Ottomans. A railroad connected it to the port of
Rafah
Rafah ( ar, رفح, Rafaḥ) is a Palestinian city in the southern Gaza Strip. It is the district capital of the Rafah Governorate, located south of Gaza City. Rafah's population of 152,950 (2014) is overwhelmingly made up of former Palestini ...
. In 1914, the Ottoman authorities estimated the nomadic population at 55,000.
British Mandate
The 1916 Sykes-Picot Agreement between Britain and France placed the Negev in Area B, "Arab state or states" under British patronage. The Negev was taken from the Ottoman army by British forces during 1917 and became part of
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
.
In 1922, the Bedouin component of the population was estimated at 72,898 out of a total of 75,254 for the Beersheba sub-district.Palestine, Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922, October 1922, J.B. Barron, Superintendent of the Census, pages 4,7 The 1931 census estimated that the population of the Beersheba sub-district was 51,082. This large decrease was considered to be an artifact of incorrect enumeration methods used in 1922. An Arabic history of tribes around Beersheba, published in 1934 records 23 tribal groups.
State of Israel
Most of the Negev was earmarked by the November 1947 UN Partition Plan for the future Jewish state. During the 1947–49 War of Independence, Israel secured its sovereignty over the Negev. In the early years of the state, it absorbed many of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries, with the Israeli government setting up many
development towns
Development towns ( he, עיירת פיתוח, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from E ...
Sderot
Sderot ( he, שְׂדֵרוֹת, , lit. ''Boulevards'', ar, سديروت) is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of .
Sderot is located less than a mile from Gaza (the ...
and
Netivot
Netivot ( he, נְתִיבוֹת, "''paths''", ar, نتيڤوت) is a city in the Southern District of Israel located between Beersheba and Gaza. In , it had a population of .
History
Netivot was founded in 1956 and named after the bible: " ...
. Since then, the Negev has also become home to many of the Israel Defense Forces' major bases – a process accelerating in the past two decades.
Demography
As of 2010, the Negev was home to some 630,000 people (or 8.2% of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
's population), even though it comprises over 55% of the country's area. 470,000 Negev residents or 75% of the population of the Negev are
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, while 160,000 or 25% are Bedouin. Of the Bedouin population (a demographic with a semi-nomadic tradition), half live in unrecognized villages, and half live in towns built for them by the Israeli government between the 1960s and 1980s; the largest of these is
Rahat
Rahat ( ar, رهط, he, רַהַט) is a predominantly Bedouin city in the Southern District of Israel. In it had a population of . As such, it is the largest Bedouin city in the world, and the only one in Israel to have city status.
Rahat i ...
.
The population of the Negev is expected to reach 1.2 million by 2025. It has been projected that the
Beersheba
Beersheba or Beer Sheva, officially Be'er-Sheva ( he, בְּאֵר שֶׁבַע, ''Bəʾēr Ševaʿ'', ; ar, بئر السبع, Biʾr as-Sabʿ, Well of the Oath or Well of the Seven), is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. ...
metropolitan area will reach a population of 1 million by 2020, and Arad,
Yeruham
Yeruham ( he, יְרוֹחַם, ''Yeroham'') is a town ( local council) in the Southern District of Israel, in the Negev desert. It covers 38,584 dunams (~38.6 km²), and had a population of in . It is named after the Biblical Jeroham.
Un ...
, and
Dimona
Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...
will triple in size by 2025.
Bedouin
A large part of the Negev
Bedouins
The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...
inhabit small communities or villages. Israel has refused to recognize certain Bedouin villages that were founded after the establishment of the state. Under Israel's 2011-adopted and enacted Begin-Prawer plan – officially the Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev – some Bedouins are being moved to newly created townships. Bedouin villages established after the state without proper approvals are illegal under Israeli law. They are consequently destroyed or threatened with destruction. An Israeli court ruling in 2017 forced six residents to pay the cost of eight rounds of demolition to the state.
Economy and housing
Development plans
Blueprint Negev is a Jewish National Fund project introduced in 2005. The $600 million project hopes to attract 500,000 new Jewish residents to the Negev by improving transportation infrastructure, establishing businesses, developing water resources and introducing programs to protect the environment. A planned artificial desert river, swimming pools and golf courses raised concerns among environmentalists. Critics oppose those plans, calling instead for an inclusive plan for the green vitalization of existing population centers, investment in Bedouin villages, clean-up of toxic industries and development of job options for the unemployed.
A major Israel Defense Forces training base is being constructed in the Negev to accommodate 10,000 army personnel and 2,500 civilian staff. Three more bases will be built by 2020 as part of a plan to vacate land and buildings in Tel Aviv and central Israel, and bring jobs and investment to the south.
Solar power
The Negev Desert and the surrounding area, including the
Arava Valley
The Arabah, Araba or Aravah ( he, הָעֲרָבָה, ''hāʿĂrāḇā''; ar, وادي عربة, ''Wādī ʿAraba''; lit. "desolate and dry area") is a loosely defined geographic area south of the Dead Sea basin, which forms part of the borde ...
, are the sunniest parts of Israel and little of this land is arable, which is why it has become the center of the Israeli solar industry.
David Faiman
David Faiman (born 1944 in the United Kingdom) is a British and Israeli physicist.
Background
Faiman was educated at Willesden County Grammar School and the University of London, and received his Ph.D from the University of Illinois in 1969 ...
, an expert on solar energy, feels the energy needs of Israel's future could be met by building solar energy plants in the Negev. As director of
Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center
The Ben-Gurion National Solar Energy Center at Midreshet Ben-Gurion is the national alternative energy research institute of Israel. It was established in 1987 by the Ministry of National Infrastructures to study promising alternative and clean ...
, he operates one of the largest solar dishes in the world. Technically, however, the Arava is a separate desert with its own unique climate and ecology.
A 250 MW solar park in
Ashalim
Ashalim ( he, אֲשָׁלִים) is a small community settlement in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert about 35 km south of Be'er Sheva and on the eastern side of Nahal Besor, the largest stream in the Negev, it falls under the ju ...
, an area in the northern Negev, the
Ashalim Power Station
The Ashalim power station is a concentrated solar power station in the Negev desert near the kibbutz of Ashalim, south of the district city of Be'er Sheva in Israel. It consists of three plots with three different technologies the station combi ...
, produces 121 Megawatts of power, using solar mirrors and thermal water heating. It is currently the largest in Israel.
The Rotem Industrial Complex outside of Dimona, Israel, has dozens of solar mirrors that focus the Sun's rays on a tower that in turn heats a water boiler to create steam, turning a turbine to create electricity. Luz II, Ltd., plans to use the solar array to test new technology for the three new solar plants to be built in California for Pacific Gas and Electric Company.
Wineries
Vines have been planted in the Negev since ancient times. In modern times, vineyards have been established in the northern Negev hills using innovative computerized watering methods for irrigation. Carmel Winery was the first of the major wineries to plant vineyards in the Negev and operates a boutique winery at Ramat Arad. Tishbi has vineyards at
Sde Boker
Sde Boker ( he, שְׂדֵה בּוֹקֵר, lit. ''Herding Field'') is a kibbutz in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Best known as the retirement home of Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ram ...
and Barkan grows its grapes in
Mitzpe Ramon
Mitzpe Ramon ( he, מִצְפֵּה רָמוֹן, Ramon Lookout; ar, متسبي رمون) is a local council in the Negev desert of southern Israel. It is situated on the northern ridge at an elevation of 860 meters (2,800 feet) overlo ...
Tel Arad
Tel Arad ( he, תל ערד), in Arabic Tell 'Arad (تل عراد), is an archaeological tell, or mound, located west of the Dead Sea, about west of the modern Israeli city of Arad in an area surrounded by mountain ridges which is known as the ...
. Its vineyards are on a hill 900 meters above sea level on the outskirts of
Yatir Forest
Yatir Forest ( he, יער יתיר) is a forest in Israel on the edge of the Negev Desert. The forest covers an area of 30,000 dunams (), and is the largest planted forest in Israel.
History
The first trees were planted in 1964 by the Jewish ...
. Carmey Avdat is Israel's first solar-powered winery.
Environmental issues
The Negev is home to hazardous infrastructures that include
Negev Nuclear Research Center
The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center ( he, קריה למחקר גרעיני – נגב ע"ש שמעון פרס, formerly the ''Negev Nuclear Research Center'', unofficially sometimes referred to as the ''Dimona reactor'') is an Israe ...
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...
, 22 agrochemical and petrochemical factories, an oil terminal, closed military zones, quarries, a toxic waste incinerator at
Ne'ot Hovav
Ramat Hovav ( he, רָמַת חוֹבָב), new official name Ne'ot Hovav (), is an industrial zone in southern Israel and the site of Israel's main hazardous waste disposal facility. Ramat Hovav Industrial Zone is the locus of 19 chemical fact ...
, cell towers, a power plant, several airports, a prison, and two rivers of open sewage.
In 2005, the Tel Aviv municipality was accused of dumping waste in the Negev at the . The Manufacturers Association of Israel established an authority in 2005 to move 60 industrial enterprises active in the Tel Aviv region to the Negev.
In 1979, the
Ramat Hovav
Ramat Hovav ( he, רָמַת חוֹבָב), new official name Ne'ot Hovav (), is an industrial zone in southern Israel and the site of Israel's main hazardous waste disposal facility. Ramat Hovav Industrial Zone is the locus of 19 chemical fact ...
toxic waste facility was established in Wadi el-Na'am because the area was perceived as invulnerable to leakage. However, within a decade, cracks were found in the rock beneath Ramat Hovav. In 2004, the Israeli Ministry of Health released Ben Gurion University research findings describing the health problems in a 20 km vicinity of Ramat Hovav. The study, funded in large part by Ramat Hovav, found higher rates of cancer and mortality for the 350,000 people in the area. Prematurely released to the media by an unknown source, the preliminary study was publicly discredited; However, its final conclusions – that Bedouin and Jewish residents near Ramat Hovav are significantly more susceptible than the rest of the population to miscarriages, severe birth defects, and respiratory diseases – passed a peer review several months later.Sarov, Batia, and peers at Ben Gurion University: "Major congenital malformations and residential proximity to a regional industrial park including a national toxic waste site: An ecological study;" Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source 2006, 5:8; Bentov et al., licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
See also
*
Caliche
Caliche () is a sedimentary rock, a hardened natural cement of calcium carbonate that binds other materials—such as gravel, sand, clay, and silt. It occurs worldwide, in aridisol and mollisol soil orders—generally in arid or semiarid regions ...