The Negev

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The Negev is first mentioned in Genesis chapter 12, in relation to Abram/Abraham’s journey from Haran (which is in modern day Turkey) to Canaan. The Israelites wandered here during their 40 years in the wilderness.

Negev is a translation of the Hebrew word meaning “to be dry” implying the “dry” or “parched regions,”; in the Hebrew Bible, the word Negev is also used for the direction ‘south’.

The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Negev mentioned in the Bible only consisted of the northern most part of the modern Israeli Negev, with the semiarid Arad-Beersheba Valley defined in the Bible as “the eastern Negev”.

Geography
The Negev covers more than half of modern Israel, over 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2), or at least 55% of the country’s land area. It’s shape forms an inverted triangle, whose western side is contiguous with the desert of the Sinai Peninsula, and whose eastern border is the Arabah valley (part of the Great Rift Valley).

Topographically, the Negev parallels the other regions of the country, with lowlands in the west, hills in the central portion, and the Arava valley as its eastern border.

The Negev is a hot, rocky desert, consisting of dusty mountains interspersed by wadis (dry riverbeds most of the year, that flow with water only briefly after rains) and deep craters. The Negev can be split into five different ecological regions: northern, western and central Negev, the high plateau and the Arabah Valley.

1) The northern Negev, or Mediterranean zone, receives 12 in (300 mm) of rain annually and has fairly fertile soils.

2) The western Negev receives 9.8 in (250 mm) of rain per year, with light and partially sandy soils. Sand dunes can reach heights of up to 98 ft (30 metres) here.

3) The central Negev (Home to the city of Beersheba) has an annual precipitation of 7.9 in (200 mm) and is characterized by impervious soil, known as loess, allowing minimum penetration of water with greater soil erosion and water runoff.

4) The high plateau area of Negev Mountains/Ramat HaNegev (Hebrew – The Negev Heights) stands between 1,210 ft (370 metres) and 1,710 ft (520 metres) above sea level with extreme temperatures in summer and winter. The area gets 3.9 in (100 mm) of rain per year, with inferior and partially salty soils.

5) The Arabah Valley along the Jordanian border stretches 110 miles (180 km) from Eilat in the south to the tip of the Dead Sea in the north. The Arabah Valley is very arid with barely2.0 in (50 mm) of rain annually. It has inferior soils, in which little can grow without irrigation and special soil additives.

The Negev has a number of interesting cultural and geological features. Among the latter are three enormous, craterlike makhteshim (box canyons), which are unique to the region: Makhtesh Ramon, HaMakhtesh HaGadol, and HaMakhtesh HaKatan.

Climate
The Negev region is arid, 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.

The northernmost areas of the Negev, including Beersheba, are semi-arid. There is negligible rainfall from June through October. Snow and frost are rare in the northern Negev, and unknown in the southernmost Negev.

The coldest month is January and the hottest month July or August. Average temperatures in the northern Negev range from 12 °C in winter to 26 °C in summer. The central Negev highlands have an average temperature range from 8 °C (winter) to 26 °C (summer), while frost may occur in winter. The southern Negev has average temperatures from 12 °C (winter) to 32 °C (summer). The highest temperatures each year may reach 40 °C in the northern Negev and over 45 °C in the southern Negev (Goldreich, 2003).

The long dry summer season lasts from about May to October. Most rains are usually concentrated in the winter months from December to March. Early rains may occur in the autumn (October, November) and late rains in the spring (April, May). The amount of average annual rainfall ranges from 300 mm in the northern Negev to only 25 mm in the southern Negev (Goldreich, 2003).

Towns and Cities
The region’s largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the city port of Eilat.

Some towns in the Negev region of the Bible include:
Beersheba: The capital of the Negev, this oasis city is mentioned 33 times in the Hebrew Bible. The name means “well of the oath” or “seven wells”. The city was home to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at different times. The role of water is important and the well at the gate of the city illustrates that fact.
A horned altar found there illustrates how Israelites often worshipped wrongly at sites other than Jerusalem, an act condemned by the prophets (see Amos 5:5; 8:14).

Eilat: is mentioned in the Bible both in singular (possibly construct state) and plural form (Eilot). Elath was an Israelite city that existed in the same general area. The original settlement was probably at the northern tip of the Gulf of Eilat.

Ziklag: A provincial town in the Philistine kingdom of Gath. The exact location of Ziklag is unknown.

Avdat: A desert city on the Incense Route (a trade route from southern Arabia, at it’s end, going from south east to north west through the Negev and terminating at the Philistine city of Gaza on the Mediterranean coast).

Haluza: A desert city on the Incense Route.

Mamshit: A desert city on the Incense Route.

Shivta: A desert city on the Incense Route.

Masada: One of the three desert fortresses of Herod the Great at the time of Jesus. It may have been referenced in David’s flight from Saul, but reached its “glory” under Herod and played out a dramatic and tragic demise under the Zealots.

Flora
Vegetation in the Negev is sparse, but certain trees and plants thrive there, among them Acacia, Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima and Thymelaea.¹³ Hyphaene thebaica 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.

Here are some major plant species found in the Negev:
Acacia: The Negev is home to multiple species of acacia, including Acacia tortilis.

Acacia tortilis (aka Umbrella Thorn).
The bark has a rough feel and is grey to black in colour. The tree has a combination of one straight thorn with a small hooked thorn alongside. The thorns are thin and grow in pairs. The flowers form in clusters on old wood. The flowers themselves are creamy, white, balls. The pods are a distinctive pale, gold brown colour and are curled and twisted. The leaves are very small giving the umbrella a soft, feathery appearance.
Acacia tortilis is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree or shrub that grows up to 68.8 feet (21 metres) tall; well-developed multiple boles support a flat-topped or rounded, spreading crown; bark grey to black or dark brown, rough, fissured or smooth; young branchlets densely pubescent or glabrous to subglabrous and red to brown; spines paired, 2 types-long, straight and white, or short, brownish and hooked; they range from 0.7-3.1 inches (1.2 to 8 cm) in length.

Calotropis procera.
A species of flowering plant in the family Apocynaceae; native to Northern and Tropical Africa, Western Asia, South Asia and Indochina (mainland Southeast Asia). It typically reaches a height between 6 feet (1.8 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), and rarely to as high as 15 feet (4.6 m), and grows in sunny to partly-shaded habitats. This species is found in the Negev and represents an extension of African vegetation. Common names for the plant include Apple of Sodom, Sodom apple, roostertree, king’s crown, small crownflower, giant milkweed, rubber bush, and rubber tree. The names “Apple of Sodom” and “Dead Sea Apple” stem from the ancient authors Josephus and Tacitus, who described the plant growing in the area of biblical Sodom. Calotropis procera’s green fruits contain a toxic milky sap that is extremely bitter and turns into a latex-like substance.

Hyphaene thebaica (aka Doum palm, gingerbread tree)
The doum palm is a dioecious (having the male and female reproductive organs in separate individuals) palm and grows up to 56 feet (17 metres) high. The trunk, which can have a girth of up to 35 inches (90 cm), branches dichotomously and has tufts of large leaves at the ends of the branches. The bark is fairly smooth, dark grey and bears the scars of fallen leaves. It is a native to the Arabian Peninsula and also to the northern half and western part of Africa. This palm can be found in the Southern Negev, and the Evrona Nature Reserve is the northernmost location in the world where it can be found. The doum palm fruit-dates are edible. The doum palm flourishes in hot dry regions where little else grows and the tree is appreciated for the shade it provides. All parts of the tree are useful, but probably the most important product is the leaves. The fibre and leaflets are used to weave baskets, mats, coarse textiles, brooms, ropes, string and thatch. The timber is used for posts and poles, furniture manufacture and beehives, and the tree provides wood for fuel. The leaf stalks are used for fencing and the fibre is used for textiles.

Iris mariae (aka the Negev iris or Mary’s iris)
This iris is a perennial with long, slender leaves and lilac-purple to pinkish flowers. The rhizome is short with slender, 3.9-4.7 inch (10-12 cm) long foliage which sits below 9.8 inch (25cm) stems which each holds a flower of pink to pale violet. The petals are satin-textured and lightly marked with fine veining of purple which is only visible close to. In the centre of each petal is a large and conspicuous deep purple signal patch and a purple beard.
A very attractive dwarf species restricted to stable sand dunes and loessial sand in the Negev desert.

Iris atrofusca (aka the Judean iris, Dark brown iris, or Gilead iris, Negev iris)
Closely related to Iris haynei, it has long erect leaves that reach, or even overtop the base of the flower, which is a polished, deep black-brown with a black signal patch and a strong and beautiful scent. It is generally smaller than haynei and has a perianth (the outer part of a flower, consisting of the calyx (sepals) and corolla (petals)) that is as long as it is broad (longer than broad in haynei). The species has long falcate (sickle-shaped) or ensiform (sword-shaped) leaves, a long thick stem and large fragrant flowers that come in shades of purple brown, reddish-black, black-brown, dark brown, dark lilac or dark purple.
Iris atrofusca forms dense, tightly-packed clumps over time.

Rumex cyprius (aka Pink sorrel, Knotweed)
This edible herb is native to the Negev and Judean desert, having pink flower petals, from the Family Polygonaceae. Rumex plants are erect and usually have long taproots. Their fleshy to leathery leaves form a basal rosette at the root. The flowers and seeds grow on long clusters at the top of a stalk emerging from the basal rosette.

Other plants found in the Negev include: Pistacia, Retama, Urginea maritima, and Thymelaea.

Pistacia: a genus of flowering plants (tree) in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. Pistacia plants are shrubs and small trees growing to 16–49 feet (5–15 metres) tall. Well-known species in the genus Pistacia include P. vera, the pistachio, grown for its edible seeds.

Retama: a genus of flowering bushes in the legume family, Fabaceae. It belongs to the broom tribe, Genisteae, having white to yellow flowers.

Urginea maritima: (aka Sea squill, sea onion, and maritime squill) a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae). This plant grows from a large bulb which can be up to 7.9 inches (20 cm) wide and weigh 2.2 lb (1 kg). They are dark green in colour and leathery in texture. They die away by fall, when the bulb produces a tall, narrow raceme (a flower cluster with the separate flowers attached by short equal stalks at equal distances along a central stem. The flowers at the base of the central stem develop first.) of flowers. This inflorescence can reach 4 feet 11 inches – 6 feet 7 inches (1.5–2 metres) in height. The flower is approx 0.59 inches (1.5 cm) wide and has six tepals each with a dark stripe down the middle. The tepals are white, with the exception of those on the red-flowered form. The fruit is a capsule up to 0.47 in (1.2 cm) long.

Thymelaea: (aka Sparrow-worts) is a genus of about 30 species of evergreen shrubs and herbs in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae. Thymelaea passerina (aka Spurge flax, sparrow weed, mezereon, or annual thymelaea) is a species of flowering plant native to central and southern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, the western Himalayas, and Xinjiang in China. An erect annual from 2.5 to 24 inches (6 to 61 cm) tall, it is typically found in steppes and in disturbed areas of soil.

The Yatir Forest in the northern Negev is a large forest with over four million trees, including Aleppo pine, cypress, tamarisk, jujube, carob, olive, fig, eucalyptus, and acacia.

Fauna
A small population of Arabian leopards, an endangered animal in the Arabian peninsula, has survived in the southern Negev but is now likely extinct. Other carnivora found in the Negev are the caracal, the striped hyena, the Arabian wolf, the golden jackal and the marbled polecat.

The Arabah Arabian gazelle survives with a few individuals in the Negev. The dorcas gazelle 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 Negev shrew is a species of mammal of the family Soricidae that is found only in Israel.

A population of the critically endangered Kleinmann’s tortoise (also known as the Negev tortoise) 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 and 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 and the Asiatic cheetah, right until their complete extinction at the hands of humans in later centuries.

It should be noted that a few thousand years ago (during the times of the Patriarchs) many more species of wild animals would have inhabited the Negev.

Biblical events in the Negev
Some important Biblical events in the Negev include:
Abraham and Isaac spent considerable time in the region. Abraham is credited with digging the well at Beersheba (see Genesis 21:30-31).

The Amalekites occupied the Negev (see Genesis 14:7) and they continued to live there until Saul and David finally destroyed them (see 1 Samuel 14:47-48; 15:1-35; 1 Samuel 30:1-30).

The Israelites prepared to enter the Promised Land through the Negev (see Numbers 14:40-45), but instead they were driven back by the Amalekites and the Canaanites (Numbers 14:25-45).

After the Israelites took possession of Canaan (The Promised Land), the Negev was allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon (see Joshua 15:1-63; 19:1-9).

King David and his son King Solomon retained a firm grip over the Negev region during their reigns (see 2 Samuel 24:1-8), but after the kingdom was divided into Judah and Israel, some kings of Judah struggled to maintain control over the region (e.g. 2 Chronicles 28:16-21).

After the Babylonians attacked Judah in 586 B.C., Edom took possession of the Negev and remained there for four hundred years until the Maccabees recaptured it and forced the Edomites there to convert to Judaism. Herod the Great was descended from these Edomites (also called Idumeans), and he maintained various fortresses throughout the Negev during his reign as king.

A much fuller description of the Negev can be found in Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negev]) and other websites.

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