I can’t resist a national park, or a great geological formation. So you can imagine my delight when, on the very first day of our recent Yahel seminar to the Negev, I got a glimpse of both.
A makhtesh is a geological formation unique to the Negev and Egypt’s Sinai peninsula. It appears similar to a crater, but differs in its creation. While craters are formed by impact from a meteor or volcanic eruption, a makhtesh is formed through erosion. In fact, in Hebrew the word “makhtesh” refers to a mortar grinder, similar to the grinding effect that created Makhtesh Ramon.
our first view of the makhtesh, from David Ben-Gurion's gravesite
On the first day of the trip we headed straight to Sde Boker, which is a small kibbutz in the central Negev. The kibbutz gained fame as the former home of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Ben-Gurion’s dream for Israel included development of the Negev, so after resigning from his post as Prime Minister he moved to Sde Boker to live out his dream as a pioneer of the desert. This vision persists today, as Israeli policy centers around developing the Negev, and various NGOs including the Jewish National Fund, a major land developer in Israel, pursues a $600 million development plan called “Blueprint Negev”.
David Ben-Gurion's grave at Midreshet Ben-Gurion
After that, we headed straight to our hostel in Mitzpe Ramon, a small settlement on the northern end of the makhtesh. The town was established in the 1960s by North African and Romanian immigrants, becoming one of the first “development towns” to settle the Negev. These towns became popular midway through the 20th century as places of refuge for Holocaust survivors and Jews fleeing hostile Arab nations. They were established to fulfill Ben-Gurion’s dream of settling the Negev, and remain highly controversial. Many immigrants did not have any choice but to move to the Negev (in fact, many were tricked) and were forced to find ways to survive in the desert on their own. Mitzpe Ramon survives primarily on tourism, but battles intense poverty and economic stagnation. Fortunately, there is now a small student activist community, which we were fortunate to get a brief tour of.
At the top of Camel Mountain as Nir, our tour guide, gives us an overview of Mitzpe Ramon
The next day we hiked the maktesh! It was stunning, absolutely majestic. We spent hours exploring the ridges among the makhtesh floor with our guide, Tomer, as he introduced us to some of the plants native to the area. We were all astounded at the ability of the plants to adapt to some of the most extreme conditions on the planet. And speaking of miracles, we were delighted to find a small creek, called a wadi, at the end of our hike. There were ruins nearby, which indicates an ancient trade route through the makhtesh. I kept thinking how lucky the traders were to have views like that on their way to work…
Our day ended with Kabbalat Shabbat at the hostel, followed by a relaxing Shabbat at the makhtesh. I was bummed we only got one day to hike, but intend to go back to the soon! I don’t agree with everything Ben-Gurion said, but he sure was right about the power of the Negev.
Here are some shots from the hike: