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NEGEB

(Heb. negeḇ)

The southern area of ancient Palestine. Unlike the biblical term (apparently from the Semitic root “dry”) the modern designation “Negev” refers to the southern half of the modern state of Israel — from Beer-sheba southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. Only the northern portion of this region was extensively settled in biblical times; therefore the biblical term essentially refers to the Beer-sheba drainage basin.

The environment of the Beer-sheba region consists of a semi-desert environment with an average annual rainfall of 200 mm. (7.9 in.), which allows for only subsistence agriculture. This region included urban centers, fortresses, and village settlements throughout most of the biblical era. Archaeologists have uncovered numerous Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age sites, leading many to argue that the Negeb must have had a significantly wetter climate prior to ca. 2500. South of the Beer-sheba basin lies the Negeb “highlands.” Here, annual rainfall ranges from 150–50 mm. (5.9–2 in.). This is below the minimum necessary for agriculture. The settlements in this area were associated primarily with forts or caravansaries to protect the trade routes. Two commodities in particular played a role in the highlands trade: copper and incense/spices.

The Patriarchs, whom many would place in the Middle Bronze Age, are reported to have sojourned in the Beer-sheba area. While MB remains have been uncovered at other Negeb sites, Beer-sheba has yet to reveal any significant MB remains. The wilderness wanderings center around the oasis of Kadesh-barnea, which lies on the western edge of the Negeb highlands. The Hebrews are also reported to have fought the Canaanites at Arad and Hormah (Num. 21:1-3; 33:40; Josh. 12:14). However, there has been little evidence found of any LB settlement in either the Beer-sheba basin or in the highlands; in the south, 13th-century copper mines have been excavated at Timna.

With the monarchy, Negeb activity increased. Saul and David fought the Amalekites (1 Sam. 14–15; 30), and Solomon established a naval outpost at Ezion-geber (1 Kgs. 9:26). In the 8th century, Uzziah reinvigorated the Negeb, reestablishing the Ezion-geber trade. Transshipment of copper and other goods from Ezion-geber required the establishment of royal forts to safeguard the routes (2 Chr. 26:10). A latter 7th-century building boom can be attributed to either Manasseh or Josiah. In its final years, Judah increasingly lost control over the Negeb to the Edomites. Edomite names, ostraca, and cult sites appear throughout the Negeb (e.g., Qitmit).

Archaeological evidence from the Persian and Hellenistic period is almost totally absent. Written sources discuss the presence of the Nabateans, but few remains of these tent-dwelling people have been found. By the turn of the eras, the Nabateans had come into their own as spice traders and merchants. The Petra-ʿAvdat-Gaza road was built, along with caravansaries to guard the frankincense and myrrh route. Nabatean cities and forts were constructed, trade flourished, and agricultural projects were even introduced. Ultimately, the Romans annexed the Negeb and its highlands to Palestina Tertia. In the Byzantine era, the area experienced its greatest flowering. Cities expanded, churches were built, monasteries founded, and settlement increased.

Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, “The Negeb and the Southern Borders,” in The World History of the Jewish People, 4/1: The Age of the Monarchies: Political History, ed. A. Malamat (Jerusalem, 1979), 290-307; J. R. Bartlett, Edom and the Edomites. JSOTSup 77 (Sheffield, 1989); I. Beit-Arieh, ed., Horvat Qitmit: An Edomite Shrine in the Biblical Negev (Tel Aviv, 1995); R. Cohen, “Negev: Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Sites in the Negev Hills,” in NEAEHL 3:1135-45; “Negev: Middle Bronze Age I and Iron Age II Sites in the Negev Hills,” in NEAEHL 3:1123-33; “Negev: The Persian to Byzantine Periods,” in NEAEHL 3:1133-35; N. Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, rev. ed. (Philadelphia, 1968).

Lynn Tatum

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

NEGEB

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)