Having left Eilat by the scenic route 12 and climbed up through the Southern Negev Desert. Much of the Negev Desert is vast, brown, dry and seemingly uninteresting, yet these qualities also render it beautiful, fascinating and rich in geological history. And indeed in the spring it is now brown or dry, but covered in flowers. The Negev makes up nearly half the land area of the State of Israel, but the population of the desert communities is less than 20% of the total. After withdrawing from the Sinai as part of the peace treaty with Egypt, the Negev also became the site of numerous military bases.
We headed for Mitspe Ramon, on the northwestern rim of Makhtesh Ramon (the Ramon Crater) - a massive geological feature of the area. The name Ramon comes from the Hebrew "Roma'im" and the Arabic "Ruman," meaning Romans. Though usually referred to as a crater, Makhtesh Ramon is not an impact crater from a meteorite. A "makhtesh" is actually a so-called "erosion cirque" (also known as a steephead valley or box canyon), formed by erosion rather than volcanic activity. The Hebrew word "makhtesh" literally means "mortar" (as in pestle and mortar), and is used for the geological formation because of its similarity to that grinding bowl. It is geological landform unique to the Negev desert of Israel and the Sinai peninsula of Egypt. It has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley which is usually drained by a single wadi. The valleys have limited vegetation and soil, containing a variety of different formations of colored rocks. Makhtesh Ramon is the world’s largest makhtesh.
Riva at Mitspe Ramon, with the makhtesh behind her
A makhtesh is formed in the following manner. Where a hard outer layer of rock covers softer rocks, erosion removes the softer minerals relatively quickly, and they are washed away from under the harder rock. The harder rock eventually collapses under its own weight and a crater-like valley structure is formed. In Negev and Sinai makhteshim, the hard rocks are limestone and dolomite, while the inner softer rocks are chalk or sandstone. The center of the Negev is dominated by northeast-southwest anticlinal ridges, and the crests of four such ridges host five makhteshim: Makhtesh Ramon, Makhtesh Gadol, Makhtesh Katan, and two small makhteshim on Mount Arif, south of Makhtesh Ramon.
Makhtesh Ramon is 40 km long, 2–10 km wide and 500 meters deep, and is oval-shaped. The only settlement in the area is the small development town of Mitzpe Ramon (meaning "Ramon Lookout") located on the northwestern edge of the crater. Today the crater and surrounding area forms Israel's largest national park, the Ramon Nature Reserve.
Hundreds of millions of years ago, the Negev desert was covered by an ocean which slowly started to recede northwards leaving behind a hump-shaped hill. The hump was slowly flattened by water and climatic forces until, approximately five million years ago, the Arava Rift Valley was formed, with rivers changing their courses, carving out the softer rock beneath the harder overlying rock in the area, as described above. The crater bottom continued to deepen at a much faster rate than the surrounding walls, which gradually increased in height. As the crater deepened, more layers of ancient rock were exposed with rocks at the bottom of the crater being up to 200 million years old. Thus Makhtesh Ramon is a geologists’ paradise with fossils, rock formations and volcanic and magmatic phenomenon. Although not itself volcanically formed, the makhtesh contains a black hill in the north, Giv'at Ga'ash, which was once an active volcano. Also, vertical dikes of magnum which squeezed upward through fissures can be seen at various spots through the makhtesh. Today, the makhtesh is 500m deep with the deepest point being Ein Saharonim (Saharonim Spring), which also contains the makhtesh's only natural water source, and sustains much of the wildlife in the makhtesh, including onagers and ibex.
Nubian ibex (Capra ibex nubiana, יעל × ×•×‘×™), which enter Mitspe Ramon town centre from the makhtesh looking for easy pickings
The tribe of Simon settled in the Negev and King David firmly established Israelite rule over the desert. Solomon subsequently built a string of fortresses along the roads. The fall of the kingdom of Judea was followed by the rise of the Nabataeans beginning in the fourth century BCE. As traders, they traveled in caravans from Arabia and made their capital Petra, in what is now southern Jordan. They eventually controlled trade in perfumes and spices and built numerous fortresses along the branch of the Spice Route cutting across the Makhtesh Ramon towards Gaza on the Mediterranean. Inside the makhtesh, Khan Saharonim is the remains of a Nabataean caravanserais or way station. Part of the Nabataean's success in the harsh desert environment was due to their ingenuity in conserving water. The Nabateans built dams, terraces, cisterns and reservoirs that were very efficient in collecting rain water and irrigating crops. Elements of this water system survive in the ruins of many of the Nabatean cities, including Avdat, which will be the subject of future posts.
Mitzpe Ramon, situated at an elevation of 860 meters overlooking the Ramon Crater, was founded in 1951 as a camp for the workers building the road to Eilat. The town's first permanent residents, immigrants from North Africa and Romania, settled there in the 1960s, and it became the southernmost of the Negev's development towns. Conditions in the early years were harsh, with limited food supplies and practically no modern day amenities. Ice blocks and provisions were delivered once a week by a supply truck, and there was a single school with one classroom for all ages.
Today its economy is often tourism based, with many B&Bs and small businesses reflecting interest in ecotourism, Jeep trekking, interest in Nabatean ruins, mountain biking and hiking. There is also a luxury boutique hotel, a Jazz club and festival, and the Ilan Ramon Museum and Memorial, part of the Makhtesh Ramon visitor center observatory overlooking the makhtesh, which commemorates Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, who died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. The economy is also connected with nearby army bases, an observatory of Tel Aviv University, and Jerusalem Marble, one of a few major suppliers and overseas exporters of Jerusalem stone, which inaugurated a state-of-the-art factory in Mitzpe Ramon in 2000.
After the Ramon crater we continued to Avdat, one of the ancient Nabataean cities in the Negev.