Negev

The Negev (/ˈnɛɡɛv/ NEG-ev; Hebrew: הַנֶּגֶב, romanized: haNégev) or Naqab (Arabic: النقب, romanized: an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert area in the south of Israel. It is a big and important place, with its largest city being Beersheba, where many people live. At the south end of the Negev is the Gulf of Aqaba and the popular resort city and port of Eilat.

The Negev has many interesting places to visit, including towns and small communities like Dimona, Arad, and Mitzpe Ramon. It is also home to several communities of Bedouin people, such as Rahat, Tel Sheva, and Lakiya, as well as farms called kibbutzim, like Revivim and Sde Boker.

The Negev is also where the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev is located. This university has special research centers for studying deserts, such as the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and the Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies, found near Sde Boker. The area is changing with new developments like relaxing spa places, places to make wine, and a new international airport. Some famous spots in the Negev include beautiful natural areas like the canyon and pools of Ein Avdat and Makhtesh Ramon, as well as historical sites from old trading routes and a special eco-village called Neot Smadar.

Etymology

The word Negev in Hebrew means "arid land." It came from an old language called Akkadian, where it meant "groundwater." People in the past dug wells and made cisterns to find water in dry places.

In the Bible, the Negev referred to the northern part of what we now call the Negev in Israel. It also sometimes meant "the south" when talking about southern Judah. In Arabic, the area is called an-Naqab, meaning "the mountain pass." It only became a named region when borders were drawn in the late 1800s.

Geography

The Negev is a large desert area that makes up more than half of Israel. It covers over 13,000 km². The desert has a shape like an upside-down triangle. The western side connects to the Sinai Peninsula, and the eastern border is the Arabah valley.

This rocky desert has brown mountains, dry riverbeds called wadis, and deep craters. It can be divided into five ecological areas. The northern part, known as the Mediterranean zone, gets about 300 mm of rain each year and has fertile soil. The western area receives less rain and has sandy soil with tall sand dunes. The central area, home to the city of Beersheba, gets around 200 mm of rain and has soil that does not let water through easily. The high plateau area, called the Negev Mountains or Ramat HaNegev, has very hot summers and cold winters, with only about 100 mm of rain each year. The Arabah Valley is the driest part, receiving only 50 mm of rain annually and needing special care for plants to grow.

Flora and fauna

The Negev Desert has few plants, but some trees and plants grow there, such as Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima, and Thymelaea. In the Southern Negev, you can find the Hyphaene thebaica, also called the doum palm. The Evrona Nature Reserve is the northernmost place in the world where this palm grows.

Some animals that live in the Negev include the caracal, the striped hyena, the Arabian wolf, the golden jackal, and the marbled polecat. There are also a few Arabian gazelle and dorcas gazelle in the area. The Negev shrew is a special mammal found only in Israel. Some animals, like the Arabian oryx and the Asiatic wild ass, were brought back to the Negev after they were no longer found in the wild.

Climate

The Negev region is very dry, especially around Eilat. It gets only about 24 mm of rain each year. This is because it is east of the Sahara and far from the wetter areas to the west. The area can get very hot because it is close to 31 degrees north. The northern part near Beersheba is a bit less dry and is called semi-arid. From June to October, there is almost no rain. Snow and frost rarely happen in the north and never near Eilat.

History

See also: Ancient history of the Negev

Nomadic life in the Negev has existed for at least 4,000 years, maybe even longer.

The first towns were built around 2000 BCE by groups such as the Canaanite, Amalekite, Amorite, Nabataean, and Edomite. Pharaonic Egypt mined copper in the Negev and the Sinai between 1400 and 1300 BC.

The Bible shares stories of important people in the Negev. Abraham lived there after leaving Egypt. During their trip to the Promised Land, Moses sent twelve scouts into the Negev. The area was later home to parts of the Tribe of Judah and the Tribe of Simeon. It became part of the Kingdom of Solomon, and then the Kingdom of Judah.

In the 9th century BC, mining grew in the Negev and nearby Edom as the Assyrian Empire grew stronger. Beersheba became the region’s capital and a trading center in the 8th century BCE. Small groups of Israelites lived around the capital from 1020 to 928 BCE.

The Nabateans arrived in the 4th century BC and built systems to help crops grow in dry areas. They set up towns along trade routes, such as Avdat, Mamshit, Shivta, Haluza, and Nitzana. They controlled trade between their capital Petra and ports in Gaza. The Romans took over the area in 106 AD.

When the Byzantine Empire ruled the area in the 4th century, Christianity spread. New towns grew, and people learned to collect rainwater to grow crops in dry lands. This helped farms grow even in arid areas.

Later, big changes such as cold weather and disease affected the region. Earthquakes also caused some towns to be left behind.

During the Islamic periods, especially from the 8th to 11th centuries, the southern Negev saw growth in trade and mining near modern Eilat.

For about a thousand years, Bedouin tribes lived nomadic lives in the Negev. They moved often because water and land for their animals were hard to find. They sometimes built simple stone homes called 'baika.'

In 1900, the Ottoman Empire set up an office in Beersheba and built schools and a railroad. British forces took control during World War I, and the Negev became part of Mandatory Palestine.

After World War II, the Negev became part of the new State of Israel. Many new towns were built, and it became an important place for the country.

Demography

The Negev is a large area in southern Israel. It covers more than half of the country but has only about 8% of its people. In 2010, around 630,000 people lived there. Most of them, about 75%, are Jews. The other 25%, around 160,000 people, are Bedouin, a group with a tradition of moving around. Half of the Bedouin live in villages that the government does not officially recognize, and the other half live in towns that were built for them by the government a long time ago. The biggest town is Rahat.

People think that by 2025, the Negev will have about 1.2 million people. The area around Beersheba might grow to have a million people, and towns like Arad, Yeruham, and Dimona could get much bigger.

Bedouin

Many Bedouin people in the Negev live in small villages. Some of these villages were built after Israel became a country, and the government does not recognize them. In 2011, Israel made a plan called the Bill on the Arrangement of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev to help move some Bedouin to new towns.

Economy and housing

Development plans

Blueprint Negev is a project started in 2005 by the Jewish National Fund. This big effort wants to bring 500,000 new people to the Negev. It plans to improve roads, create jobs, manage water better, and protect nature. Some people worry that plans like a fake river, pools, and golf courses might hurt the environment. Others think it’s better to improve existing towns, help villages, clean up polluted areas, and create jobs for people who need work.

The military is also building a large training center in the Negev for soldiers and workers. More centers will be built by 2020 to bring jobs and money to southern Israel.

Solar power

Main article: Solar power in Israel

The Negev Desert and nearby areas get lots of sun and have land that isn’t good for farming, so it’s great for solar power. Experts think Israel could get all its power from solar plants in the Negev. One big solar park in Ashalim, called the Ashalim Power Station, uses mirrors and heated water to make electricity. It’s the largest in Israel.

Near Dimona, Israel, the Rotem Industrial Complex uses mirrors to focus sunlight onto a tower, heating water to make steam that powers a turbine. A company called Luz II, Ltd. plans to test new solar technology here for three new plants in California, USA.

Wineries

People have grown grapes in the Negev for thousands of years. Today, vineyards use smart irrigation systems in the northern Negev hills. Carmel Winery was the first big winery to plant grapes there and has a small winery at Ramat Arad. Other wineries like Tishbi and Barkan grow grapes in places like Sde Boker and Mitzpe Ramon. Yatir Winery is located in Tel Arad with vineyards high in the hills near Yatir Forest. Carmey Avdat is special because it runs on solar power.

Environmental issues

The Negev has some dangerous places, like a nuclear reactor, factories with harmful chemicals, and places where waste is burned. There are also old military areas, quarries, and rivers with untreated waste.

In 2005, some factories from Tel Aviv were moved to the Negev. In 1979, a place to store harmful waste was built in Wadi el-Na'am. Later, cracks were found in the ground there. Research showed that people living nearby had more health problems.