Who was Maria, who lived an immaculate life 1400 years ago?
Ancient Greek burial stone discovered while clearing paths for nature park in Israel's Negev Desert
Negev Desert
Ancient grotto projects Ivo Bisignano’s human forms
The ancient caves at Beit Guvrin in southern Israel opened for the first time in 25 years with an art exhibit by sculpture Ivo Bisignano.
One Of The World’s Oldest Mosques Excavated In The Negev
The rocky brown soil of the Negev desert suggests an empty environment, but recent excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority have brought to light an ancient mosque from the 7th-8th centuries CE there. It’s one of the earliest known mosques in the world, a surprising find in the area. Dr. Jon Seligman and Shahar Zur, […]
Ecoppia cleans solar panels for more energy
Solar parks in the desert face two major challenges: a lot of dust on the photovoltaic panels and not enough water to clean them. Dust can cause up to a 40% decrease in efficiency of the panels. So there is huge interest to avert this problem. Normally teams of humans come in with squeegees to […]
Incredible video captures rare footage of Wadi Zin flash flood in Israel
Flash floods are very dangerous; they come quickly, often catch people by surprise, and their force is formidable. This is especially true of Israel’s Wadi Zin, a deceptively dry riverbed most of the time. Visitors to the Dead Sea captured rare footage of a recent flash flood – a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Negev Energy Wins Bid for Israel’s Largest Concentrating Solar Power Plant
Spain’s super solar giant Abengoa has teamed up with Israel’s Shikun & Binui Renewable Energy (SKBN) to build a concentrating solar power plant in the Negev desert. When the company announced their win of the BOT tender of the Ashalim plant, they also claimed it will be the largest of its kind in the country.
A Meteor, UFO or Starlings? Check Out This Super Nature Show in Israel
When I lived on a roof in Tel Aviv with my boyfriend Elad more than a decade ago, I would spend some evenings watching the Cypress trees sway and pray in the wind, and above them flocks of starlings painting the sky with their moves like tea leaves in a cup. Without a television it […]
Sidreh Weaves Bedouin Tradition Into Their Future
A few short decades ago, the ladies of Lakiya had a very different life. Their traditional Bedouin clans lived in encampments throughout the Israeli Negev Desert, herding animals. When their families were relocated to government-built towns, the women became aware of how their illiteracy, and their society’s rule against mingling with men who are not […]
Will Dark-sky Ecotourism Spread to the Mideast?
Israel’s Negev Desert, Jordan’s Mount Nebo, Medaba and Wadi Rum are a few dark sky destinations for stargazing. Paris is known as the city of lights. So is Medina Saudi Arabia, Be’er Sheva Israel and Las Vegas, Nevada. We shouldn’t overlook Baltimore Maryland, Varanasi India, Quanzhou China and Milford Pennsylvania. Each of these cities is also […]
It Took 15 Years to Build This and That’s a Good Thing
Remember the good old days when it took decades to build major monuments? Historians estimate that 30 years passed before the back-breaking pyramids of Giza came to glory, for example, and more than a century after construction began in 1882, La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is still not finished. Although laborers might disagree, there’s something […]
Isrotel Beresheet is a 5 Star Stone-Clad Hotel Overlooking Ramon Crater
I’d love to tell you more about the architects responsible for the 5 star Isrotel overlooking Ramon crater, but it’s impossible to get them to return calls and there’s no information online. As for the communications person, either she wasn’t given the skinny on the design or her English is as good as my Hebrew […]
Is Urbanizing the Solution to Israel’s Housing Crisis?
Forest in central Israel, as seen from Ein Karem Some architects and economists are proposing Israel solve its affordable housing crisis by turning central Israel into a “megacity,” similar to Hong Kong, and moving the nation’s lush nature reserves and agricultural lands to the Negev and the Galilee. Supporters of this solution insist it would […]
Solar War Flares Up in Israel
Two solar energy companies are part of a larger conflict and dilemma in Israel: should solar panels be installed on limited open space or on rooftops? There is a small war going on in Israel and it has nothing to do with a nuclear Iran or local terror cells. This war is over the sun. Two companies […]
Climate Change Might Not Get Our Wine
This man singlehandedly produces up to 5,500 bottles of delicious red wine each year, despite living in a frequently drought-stricken region Dave Levitan from Onearth, one of our favorite environmental blogs, traveled to Israel to meet with a hardy winemaker in the Negev desert and came away gushing. No, not from all the red wine […]
Architectural Symposium to Discuss Green Habitable Environments in the Negev Desert
“Active Matters” symposium will discuss how desert living can become more eco-friendly. Environmentalists agree that dense urban living is more eco-friendly (just ask Tel Aviv city architect Yoav David), but desert life is a little if-ier. Living in a sprawling desert, far from water and other resources, could be taxing on the environment since it […]