Editing Negev (section)

==History==
{{see also|Ancient history of the Negev}}

===Prehistorical nomads===
Nomadic life in the Negev dates back at least 4,000 years<ref name=Shahinp459>{{cite book |last1=Shahin |first1=Mariam |title=Palestine: A Guide |date=2005 |publisher=Interlink |isbn=978-1-56656-557-8 |page=459 }}</ref> and perhaps as much as 7,000 years.<ref name = Finkelstein>{{cite journal |last1=Finkelstein |first1=Israel |last2=Perevolotsky |first2=Avi |title=Processes of Sedentarization and Nomadization in the History of Sinai and the Negev |journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |date=1990 |issue=279 |pages=67–88 |doi=10.2307/1357210 |jstor=1357210 }}</ref>

===Bronze Age===
The first urbanised settlements were established by a combination of [[Canaan]]ite, [[Amalekite]], [[Amorites|Amorite]], [[Nabataeans|Nabataean]] and [[Edomite]] groups {{Circa|2000 BCE}}.<ref name="Shahinp459"/> [[Pharaonic]] Egypt is credited with introducing copper mining and smelting in both the Negev and the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] between 1400 and 1300 BC.<ref name=Shahinp459/><ref name=Tebes>{{cite web |author=J. M. Tebes |year=2008 |url=http://www.uca.edu.ar/esp/sec-ffilosofia/esp/docs-institutos/s-cehao/otras_public/tebes_monog_sbl.pdf |title=Centro y periferia en el mundo antiguo. El Negev y sus interacciones con Egipto, Asiria, y el Levante en la Edad del Hierro (1200-586 A.D.)'' ANEM 1. SBL – CEHAO |publisher=uca.edu.ar}}</ref>

==={{anchor|Biblical}}Biblical===
====Extent of biblical Negev====
According to Israeli archaeologists, in the [[Hebrew Bible]], the term Negev only relates to the northern, semi-arid part of what we call Negev today; of this, the [[Tel Arad|Arad]]-[[Beersheba]] Valley, which receives enough rain to permit agriculture and therefore sedentary occupation (the "[[desert fringe]]"), is accordingly defined as "the eastern (biblical) Negev".<ref name= BArieh/>

====Biblical reference====
According to the [[Book of Genesis]] chapter 13, [[Abraham]] lived for a while in the Negev after being banished from Egypt ({{bibleverse|Genesis 13:1,3|multi=yes}}). During the [[The Exodus|Exodus journey]] to the Promised Land, [[Moses]] sent [[The Twelve Spies|twelve scouts]] into the Negev to assess the land and population ({{bibleverse|Numbers|13:17}}). Later the northern part of biblical Negev was inhabited by the [[Tribe of Judah]] and the southern part of biblical Negev by the [[Tribe of Simeon]]. The Negev was later part of the [[United Monarchy|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]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/negevchallenge00even |url-access= registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/negevchallenge00even/page/18 18] |title= The Negev: The Challenge of a Desert |first1= Michael |last1= Evenari |first2= Leslie |last2= Shanan |first3= Naphtali |last3= Tadmor |date=8 May 1982 |publisher= Harvard University Press |access-date=8 May 2018 |via=Internet Archive|isbn= 9780674606722 }}</ref>

===Iron Age===
In the 9th century BC, development and expansion of mining in both the Negev and [[Edom]] (modern Jordan) coincided with the rise of the [[Assyrian Empire]].<ref name="Shahinp459" /> [[Beersheba]] was the region's capital and a centre for trade in the 8th century BCE.<ref name="Shahinp459"/> Small settlements of [[Israelites]] in the areas around the capital existed between 1020 and 928 BCE.<ref name="Shahinp459"/>

===Nabateans and Romans===
[[File:Ruins in Negev desert Israe.jpg|thumb|Ancient column with [[capital (architecture) |capital]] in the Negev]]

The 4th-century BC arrival of the [[Nabateans]] resulted in the development of irrigation systems that supported new urban centres located along the [[Negev incense route]] at [[Avdat]] (Oboda), [[Mamshit]] (Mampsis), [[Shivta]] (Sobata), [[Elusa (Haluza)|Haluza]] (Elusa), and [[Nitzana (Nabatean city)|Nitzana]] (Nessana).<ref name= Shahinp459/>{{dubious |New research dates irrigation to the Byzantine period. Nabataeans mainly maintained road stations (Oboda is possibly an urban exception) and hidden wells. |date= May 2024}} This at least was the prevailing theory, until more recent research showed that the earliest form of Nabataean agriculture in the Negev Highlands was only based on spring-water irrigation, with the much more extensive run-off water harvesting techniques using barrages and terraces apparently developing and being used only later, during the 4th-7th centuries AD, after the 3rd-century collapse of long-distance trade.<ref name= TEG12>{{cite journal |last1=Erickson-Gini |first1=T. |title=Nabataean agriculture: Myth and reality |journal=Journal of Arid Environments |date=November 2012 |volume=86 |pages=50–54 |doi=10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.02.018 |bibcode=2012JArEn..86...50E }}</ref>

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]]s, identified as a trademark of their civilisation, have been found along the route, remnants of which are also still visible.<ref name= Shahinp459/> Nabatean control of the Negev ended when the [[Roman Empire]] annexed their lands in 106 AD.<ref name= Shahinp459/> The population, largely comprising nomads, venerated deities such as [[Dushara]], [[Allat]], and others.<ref name= Shahinp459/>

===Byzantine heydays: desert agriculture===
[[Byzantine Empire| Byzantine]] rule in the 4th century introduced [[Christianity]] to the population.<ref name= Shahinp459/> Agriculture-based cities were established and the population grew exponentially.<ref name= Shahinp459/> As shown by the research conducted by [[Michael Evenari]], [[desert agriculture |novel techniques]] were employed, such as [[Surface runoff| runoff]] rainwater collection and management systems, which harvested water from larger areas and directed it onto smaller plots.<ref name="GERF">[https://globalearthrepairfoundation.org/michael-evenari/ "Michael Evenari"] profile at [[Global Earth Repair Foundation]], [[Port Hadlock|Port Hadlock, WA]], 14 March 2022. Accessed 4 Dec 2023.</ref> This permitted the cultivation of plants with much higher water requirements than the given arid environment could provide for.<ref name= GERF/> Evenari researched the ancient mechanisms, rediscovered the ratio of water collection area to cultivation area, and explained the various ancient techniques of [[land amelioration]], such as [[wadi]] [[Fluvial terrace| terracing]] and [[flash-flood]] dams, and the features used for collecting and directing runoff water.<ref name= GERF/> He thought that the creators of this elaborate systems had been the [[Nabataeans]],<ref name= GERF/> a theory proved wrong by more recent studies, which dated the massive agricultural and demographic expansion in the area to the [[Timeline of the Palestine region#Byzantine period| Byzantine period]].<ref name= volcanoes>{{Cite news |url= https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-archaeologists-reveal-secrets-of-ancient-desert-wine-industry-1.9022227 |title= How Volcanoes and Plague Killed the Byzantine Wine Industry in Israel |first= Ariel |last=David|work=Haaretz|date=29 July 2020 |access-date= 2020-08-04}}</ref> The older explanation for the ''Tuleilat el-Anab'', lit. 'grape mounds' phenomenon, has also been discarded: these large piles of rocks probably served two purposes: removing the rocks from the cultivated plots and accelerating the erosion and water transportation of [[topsoil]] from the runoff collection area onto those plots.<ref name= phot>Carl Rasmussen (4 July 2020). Negev Agriculture: [https://holylandphotos.org/browse.asp?s=1,2,9,3718&img=ISNGAGAG11 Tuleilat al-Anab]. "Holy Land Photos" website. Accessed 4 Dec 2023.</ref>

Along with Avdat (Oboda), Mamshit (Mampsis), Shivta (Sobata), Haluza (Elusa), and Nitzana (Nessana), the settlements at [[Rehovot-in-the-Negev]]/Ruheibeh (the second largest by population of the Byzantine-era "Negev towns"<ref name= Nagar>{{cite thesis |last= Nagar |first= Yossi |title= Anthropology of Rehovot-in-the-Negev Population as an Example of a Large Byzantine Settlement in the Negev |date= January 1999 |degree= Ph.D. |publisher=[[Tel Aviv University]] |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307539714 |access-date= 12 May 2024}}</ref>) and [[Saadon]] are also significant for this period.<ref name= Zh>{{cite journal |last1=Korzhenkov |first1=Andrey M. |last2=Mazor |first2=Emanuel |title=Archaeoseismological Damage Patterns at the Ancient Ruins at Rehovot-ba-Negev, Israel |journal=Archäologischer Anzeiger |date=9 May 2017 |pages=75–92 |doi=10.34780/0at4-6147 }}</ref><ref name= guano>{{cite journal |last1=Tepper |first1=Yotam |last2=Weissbrod |first2=Lior |last3=Fried |first3=Tal |last4=Marom |first4=Nimrod |last5=Ramsay |first5=Jennifer |last6=Weinstein-Evron |first6=Mina |last7=Aharonovich |first7=Sophia |last8=Liphschitz |first8=Nili |last9=Farhi |first9=Yoav |last10=Yan |first10=Xin |last11=Boaretto |first11=Elisabetta |last12=Bar-Oz |first12=Guy |title=Pigeon-raising and sustainable agriculture at the fringe of the desert: a view from the Byzantine village of Sa'adon, Negev, Israel |journal=Levant |date=2 January 2018 |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=91–113 |doi=10.1080/00758914.2018.1528532 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

===Decline; causes===
A massive increase in grape production in the northwestern Negev for the requirements of the wine industry was noted for the early 6th century, documented by studying ancient refuse mounds at Shivta, [[Elusa (Haluza)|Elusa]] and [[Nessana]].<ref name=volcanoes/> There is a sharp peak in the presence of grape pips and broken "[[Gaza jar]]s" used to export wine and other [[Levant]]ine goods from the [[Maiuma (city)| port of Gaza]] (see "[[Gaza wine]]"), after a slower increase during the fourth and fifth centuries, and followed in the mid-6th century by a sudden decrease.<ref name=volcanoes/> This was when two major calamities struck the [[Byzantine Empire]] and large parts of the world: the [[Late Antique Little Ice Age]] (536-545), caused by huge volcanic eruptions in the world, with the resulting [[extreme weather events of 535–536]]; and in the 540s the first outbreak of [[bubonic plague]] in the [[Old World]], known as the [[Justinianic Plague]].<ref name= volcanoes/> It seems likely that these two events resulted in a near-cessation of international trade with luxury goods such as Gaza wine, grape production in the Negev settlements again giving way to subsistence farming focusing on [[barley]] and [[wheat]].<ref name= volcanoes/> Repeated earthquakes hit the region during the Byzantine period, with numerous revetment walls added to buildings to support them against collapse; a large 7th-century seismic event led to the abandonement of Avdat and Rehovot-in-the-Negev.<ref name= Nagar/><ref name= Zh/>

This recent analysis of newly-obtained data has proved the previously widely-accepted theory wrong, namely that the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Muslim conquest]], which occurred a century after these events, and specifically the [[Khamr| Muslim ban on alcoholic beverages]], was the cause of the decline of the wine industry in the Negev.<ref name= volcanoes/> In Nessana, the number of grape pips is even seen to increase again during the [[Timeline of the Palestine region#Early Islamic period| Early Islamic period]], probably due to the [[Sacramental wine|needs]] of a local Christian monastery.<ref name= volcanoes/>

This disappearance of the wine industry from the semi-arid northern Negev shows that it was technically possible to sustain it over centuries, but that the grape [[monoculture]] was economically unsustainable in the long run<ref name= volcanoes/> due to its dependence on empire-wide trading networks, which required stability and prosperity over a vast territory.

===Early-mid Islamic empires===

The southern Negev saw a flourishing of economic activity during the 8th to 10th or 11th centuries.<ref name=Avner>{{cite journal | author = Uzi Avner and Jodi Magness | title = Early Islamic settlement in the Southern Negev | journal = Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research | volume = 310 | issue = 310 | year = 1998 | pages = 39–57 | doi=10.2307/1357577| jstor = 1357577 | s2cid = 163609232 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Avner/> The economic centre was the port of Ayla (Aqaba).<ref name=Avner/>

===10th–19th century Bedouins===
{{Main|Negev Bedouins}}
[[File:Palmer map of Northern Sinai and the Negev (with modern borders overlaid).jpg|thumb|In 1871, the first scientifically accurate map of the Negev by [[E. H. Palmer]] was published in conjunction with the Ordnance Survey of Palestine and the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]. The red dotted lines have been overlaid to show the modern borders that apply today.]]

Nomadic tribes ruled the Negev largely independently and with a relative lack of interference for the next thousand years.<ref name="Shahinp459"/> What is known of this time is largely derived from oral histories and folk tales of tribes from the [[Wadi Musa]] and Petra areas in present-day [[Jordan]].<ref name="Shahinp459"/> 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.'<ref name="Finkelstein"/>

===Late Ottoman period (1900–1917)===
In 1900, the [[Ottoman Empire]] established an administrative centre for southern [[Ottoman Syria|Syria]] at Beersheba including schools and a railway station.<ref name="Shahinp459"/> The authority of the tribal chiefs over the region was recognised by the Ottomans.<ref name="Shahinp459"/>  A railway connected it to the port of [[Rafah]]. In 1914, the Ottoman authorities estimated the nomadic population at 55,000.<ref name=census1922/>

===British Mandate===
[[File:Possible Redistribution of Ottoman and Arabian Territory on the Principle of Self-Determination November 1918.png|thumb|A map considered by the British Cabinet in 1918 suggested that the Negev could be included in either Palestine or Egypt.<ref>Map from [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7732547 CAB 24/72/7] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107155625/http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7732547 |date=2016-11-07 }}: "Maps illustrating the Settlement of Turkey and the Arabian Peninsula", forming an annex to: [http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7732546 CAB 24/72/6] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107155628/http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D7732546 |date=2016-11-07 }}, a British Cabinet memorandum on "The Settlement of Turkey and the Arablan Peninsula"</ref>]]

The 1916 [[Sykes-Picot Agreement]] between Britain and France placed the Negev in Area B, "Arab state or states" under British patronage.<ref>{{cite book |first=Gideon |last=Biger |title=The Boundaries of Modern Palestine, 1840–1947 |page=64 |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |year=2004}}</ref> The Negev was appropriated from the Ottoman army by British forces during 1917 and became part of [[Mandatory Palestine]].

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.<ref name=census1922>Palestine, Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922, October 1922, J.B. Barron, Superintendent of the Census, pages 4,7</ref> The 1931 census estimated that the population of the Beersheba sub-district was 51,082.<ref>Census of Palestine 1931, Volume I. Palestine Part I, Report. Alexandria, 1933, p49.</ref> This large decrease was considered to be an artifact of incorrect enumeration methods used in 1922.<ref name=census1922/> An Arabic history of tribes around Beersheba, published in 1934 records 23 tribal groups.<ref>Palestine Exploration Quarterly. (October 1937 & January 1938) ''Notes on the Bedouin Tribes of Beersheba District. by S. Hillelson.'' Translations from ''A History of Beersheba and the Tribes thereof (Ta'rikh Bir al-Saba' wa qaba'iliha).'' by 'Arif al-'Arif.</ref>

===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 exodus from Arab countries|Jewish refugees from Arab countries]], with the Israeli government setting up many [[development towns]], such as [[Arad, Israel|Arad]], [[Sderot]] and [[Netivot]]. 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.