The Negev http://www.thenegev.com Israel Southern Desert and Beer Sheva Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:32:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 en Top natural sites of the Negev http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/top-natural-sites-of-the-negev/ http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/top-natural-sites-of-the-negev/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:52:15 +0000 admin http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/top-natural-sites-of-the-negev/ Dead SeaThere are some off-the-beaten track historical and natural sites that merit a visit. Some of the names worth mentioning are:

  • The Ramon Crater: It is the most interesting landscape in the Negev desert. It is the largest erosion crater in the world, 40 km long, 9 km wide and approximately 300 meters deep.
  • The Zin Valley: This surrounds the beautiful Zin River that snakes along at the bottom of the Valley and includes many Zin springs that have their sources here.
  • The cities to visit include Arad, a modern town; Beer Sheva, one of the earliest towns dating back to biblical times; Eilat, the tourist capital of Negev and Rahat, a Bedouin city.
  • Qumran cavesThe Qumran Caves; this is where the famous 2000 years old dead seas scrolls where found.
]]> http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/top-natural-sites-of-the-negev/feed/ The Negev Facts http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev-facts/ http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev-facts/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:43:43 +0000 admin http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev-facts/ Desert dead seaThe Negev is spread over 6,700 square miles of Israel. It is almost triangular in shape with the city of Beer Sheva at its apex and the resort town of Eilat and at its southern base. The Negev region has an arid and semi-arid climate with a rainfall that averages between 2 to 6 inches, soil that varies from the mountainous to sandy and a climate that swings from the very cold to extreme hot.

The Negev region is primarily inhabited by two kinds of people, the Jews (about 379,000) and those belonging to the Bedouin tribe (around 175,000). Bedouins, which may roughly be translated to mean ‘desert people,’ were the original inhabitants of Negev while the first Jewish settlements can be traced back to the time when Abraham arrived here in the 2nd century B.C., fought with the local tribes and then settled down in the region.

]]> http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev-facts/feed/ The negev http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev/ http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:36:54 +0000 admin http://www.thenegev.com/2007/10/01/the-negev/ thenegev.jpgThe Negev, which means ’south’ in Hebrew, is a desert in Southern Israel where Jesus and his brethren tended their flocks of sheep. This part of Israel is an extremely arid region and is practically off the map as far as popular tourist destinations are concerned. Nevertheless, the Negev has an enchanting and enduring beauty that attracts travelers who are looking for something different.

The Negev is also a sought after destination for the religious tourist who comes here to look at history that goes back thousands of years. Despite the fact that in one of his works Mark Twain described the area as ‘a desolation that not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action…’

The Negev is well on its way to becoming economically viable as well as attractive to tourists.

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