- Features of climate and surface
- People make up for what nature did not add
- The Negev is a real world of contrasts
- Desert landmarks
- Video
Most people associate the heat with a complete lack of life, dry poor soil and a desire to quickly leave such a place, but not the Israelis. The desert landscape occupies about 62% of Israel's area and 10% of the population lives there, which is very small by the standards of the country. The famous Negev desert is considered to be the most uninhabited, but attractive part of the south.
Features of climate and surface
The total area of the area is 12, 5 thousand square kilometers. It has the shape of a regular triangle, the tops of which are the beautiful places of Eilat, Sodom, Beer Sheva. The borders of the sides are the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, the Sinai and Judean Desert, in the north there are the mountain peaks of Moab with bizarre limestone cliffs.
Unusualness manifests itself in the frequent change of landscapes. The northern plateau gives way to the Paran Upland and the Eilat Mountains. The smooth plateau rises 700-800 m above sea level. Ramon is an elevated point (1035 meters). The eponymous crater also claims to be a record in scale. Its depth is 305 meters, width is 9 kilometers and length is 40 kilometers. The age of education is quite solid - 500 thousand years.
Scientists call the cause of erosion and tectonic movements of the lower layers of the soil. Similar phenomena, called makhteshes, can be observed along the entire length of the southern territory. The variety of relief is so great that travelers easily find themselves in different dimensions and times, from ancient biblical to modern times. Suddenly dunes of hot sand alternate with agricultural strips.
People make up for what nature did not add
The persistence and hard work of the indigenous people have borne fruit especially in the northern Negev. First, the Bedouins, and later new settlers, gradually recaptured pieces of land from the sandstones and salt marshes, turning them into paradises of oases.
The use of the latest drip irrigation technologies with dosing of moisture makes it possible to grow high yields of fruits and vegetables in the kibbutz. Dates, tangerines, oranges are filled with sweetness under the hot sun. Radishes, beets flaunt in even long rows in the fields, chrysanthemums, anemones, buttercups are blooming. Man-made olive groves and ornamental tree plantations provide cool shade.
The Negev is a real world of contrasts
It is impossible to predict the amount of precipitation in this part of the world. Rains can occur during different periods of winter and summer. Their number ranges from 60 mm to 200 mm per year. Sometimes the sky is not favorable to the soil and life in such places is completely extinguished, patiently waiting for the resurrecting moisture. One has only to spill drops of water, as nature changes its decoration with lightning speed. Dry sand dunes transform into flowering plateaus with an incredible variety of plants. Botanical guides claim that the Negev contains the seeds of 350 species of fast-growing flowers. For the astonishingly beautiful pankration of Sickenberger, this desert was the only place of growth.
Animals are also widely represented. Llamas, ostriches, giraffes, mountain goats, countless lizards, snakes live in the wild prairie zones. In the vicinity of the villages, herds of sheep and camels graze. The sky is ruled by vultures, eagles, falcons.
Desert landmarks
The inhabitants consider Beer-Sheva (translated as “seven wells”) to be an extraordinary pride. According to the most conservative estimates, the city is 3700 years old. According to the texts of the Bible, the legendary patriarch Abraham settled here. The townspeople to this day show visitors the wells dug by Isaac's hands.
In the very center of the rocky plateau, the mysterious city of Avdat appears before the guests - a witness to an ancient disappeared civilization, the existence of which is attributed to the 3rd century BC. Remains of buildings, places of worship, agricultural terraces tell tourists about the difficulties and delights of life in the old shopping center. Located on the famous "incense" route from Africa to Europe, the polis flourished, played an important geopolitical role, but could not resist the onslaught of time. In 2005 it was included in the UNESCO list of protected monuments.
The Lahav forest, which covers an area of approximately 30 hectares, looks no less interesting under the scorching rays. The central area is equipped for cultural recreation and picnics. Museum in the center of J. D. Alona will talk about the caves of the Judean Plain, which served as a refuge for ascetics and a refuge for rebels at different times. The exposition of the crafts of the hermits, the clothes of the pilgrims is presented.
Active tourists love jeep walks, excursions on ships of the desert along caravan paths. The Negev will not let go without amazing impressions and memories.
