On 2003_01_28 - towards the closing of our Desert-Peace-Process - I walked north to the other side of the only east-west road.
The road stretches 30km from Israel's Officer-Training-School to the Egyptian border. All the land to the north is "Firing Zone".
I yearned to re-visit the ruins of a town, hidden north of the ridge.
I never met anyone who discovered this town or knows about its identity.
That's why I made up a fantasy about it being "our" town 2100 years ago.

MAKHTESH RAMON The Ramon-Crater in Israel's Negev Desert in the region of the Nabatean Kingdom 2100 years ago is probably the result of erosion. The phenomenon on Planet Earth is so rare, that geologists use the Hebrew term, which means "mortar", for similar phenomena even in other countries. "My" small desert town Mitzpe-Ramon meaning "View of Ramon" lies between three seas: Red, Dead, Mediterrenean

The search for and quotation of Information about the Nabatean Culture
was stimulated by my experience in July 2002
with the deeply saddening conflict
between the two parties to whom - in 1996 - I had "bequeathed"
the scientific model of a hosting business in the Desert
as a step towards the realization of my Desert Vision.

View from "my Nabatean town" to the ridge of the Ramon- Crater and the only town between Beersheva and Eilat: Mitzpe- Ramon

This Information belongs to both Appendices:
DESERT VISION and ISRAEL&ISMAEL

not only because of the connection "Israel&Ismael&Desert" in the past,
but much more so because of what I envision for the future
as expressed in the "Partnership Ideology in four sentences":

(1)

E-volving,  Un-folding  the  "SPS"  resources of the Desert
              S  P  A  C  E            P  U  R  I  T  Y          S  I  L  E  N  C  E         
    [as opposed to the cities' crowdedness, pollution & noise],
will be the gigantic challenge , which will help Jews and Arabs
to   bring   about     E Q U A L I T Y     in     S E L F - E S T E E M .

(2)

Since 1974, my peace-work [started in 1958] has been based on:
Transforming a negative dependency into a positive dependency.

(3)

A positive dependency or PARTNERSHIP is based on 3 conditions:
COMMON INTEREST / MUTUAL TRUST / EQUALITY in SELF-ESTEEM.

(4)

After 28 years of having PRACTICALLY tested this theory ,
I know, that  EQUALITY in SELF-ESTEEM can only be realized,
if the adversaries, forced into mutual dependency by destiny,
will   engage   in   COPING   TOGETHER   with   a   CHALLENGE
which is SO BIG , that it  DWARFS  the GAP in  SELF-ESTEEM.

View from "our Nabatean town" to "Succah in the Desert" and the ridge of the Ramon-Crater

I quote, what I started to learn about the Nabateans on the Internet:

The Nabateans: Jordan & The Negev "... the Nabataeans, one of the most resourceful people of the Classical world. This Arab tribe mastered the desert as no others, and when they settled down, their cities became model centers of agriculture and horse breeding. Their ingenious water management systems, still studied to this day, permitted them to build magnificent cities, with the most magnificent, Petra, as their capital. Its rose-colored caverns reveal fabulously carved tombs, sanctuaries and temples in a style uniquely Nabataean, making it one of the marvels of the ancient world. We will follow the route of the Nabataean frankincense and spice traders, whose camel caravans plied the desert between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean, bringing not only their merchandise but, more importantly, cultural and spiritual ideas from Asia to Mediterranean Europe during the Roman period... "

Petra, the jewel in the crown

"Our adventure continues in the Negev along the ancient Nabataean trade routes used to transport frankincense and spices from southern Arabia to Gaza and Alexandria. This 2,384-kilometer route was punctuated by 65 camel way stations, some of which we will visit. Using 4-wheel-drive vehicles, we begin at the Moa fortress and stop at the fortified way stations of Katzra and Nekarot. We will examine Nekarot’s well-hidden cisterns, evidence of how crucial concealed water was to the Nabataeans’ survival, before entering the Ramon Crater and following a route still marked with Roman milestones to visit Saharonim, our last caravan stop of the day. Saturday we rejoin the caravan route, visiting sites along the Egyptian border, including half-buried Rehovot, Halutza, with its series of defense towers, and Nitzana and Shivta, surrounded by remnants of Nabataean farms and immense dams. We will study their amazing irrigation methods at an ancient farm ...

From "my Nabatean town" a wadi runs north and passes a spacious cave high up in the hills. It's where I used to hide, when I needed to understand my life, like Eliyah. [IKings 19]

Those Mysterious Nabateans
by Clarence H. Wagner, Jr.
The account of the Nabatean trip of a family is inserted in a series about


"Visit Israel without Leaving your Computer"

"One of the mysteries of Israel is the lost civilization of the Nabateans, whose glorious history developed for about 1000 years, from about 200 BC to the 7th century AD and the advent of Islam. Their wealth, architectural and engineering skills, and ability to live in the desert on the fringe of civilization have both challenged and earned the admiration of modern-day archaeologists and scientists. "Not only were the Nabateans able to collect water and grow crops in the barren desert well before the time of Jesus, but they managed to accumulate enormous wealth and construct lavish cities in Israel's southern Negev desert. "Who Are They? "No one knows where the Nabateans came from and why they disappeared. They left no written records at all. What is known about them is derived from non-Nabatean historical sources, a few inscriptions and archaeological remains. "Some contend that the Nabateans are the descendants of Nabaioth, Ishmael's firstborn son (Gen. 25:13). It is plain, however, that the Nabateans were a Semitic people related to the Arabs.

"During this early period, the Nabateans built their first four cities in the Negev along the path of the spice route that crossed the desert to the Mediterranean: Avdat, Shivta, Halutza and Nitzana. They organized themselves from a nomadic people into a kingdom that derived its wealth from trading in the much sought after exotic spices, e.g. frankincense, myrrh and other fragrances so much desired in the Greek and ultimately in the Roman Empires. ... "They got along well with the Hebrews during this time as they both had a common enemy, the Hellenistic empire based in Syria (the Selucids). The Nabateans even gave shelter to the Maccabees who rose up against the Selucids (I Maccabees 5:25; 9:35). However, after an alliance of 70 years, both the Israelite and the Nabatean Kingdoms sought to expand their territory and war broke out between these former allies. "Israelite (Hasmonean/Maccabean) King Alexander Yannai conquered Gaza, the main Nabatean trade port, in the year 100 BC. But, if Yannai expected to benefit from the spice route by controlling the end of the route in Gaza, he miscalculated because the Nabateans developed new routes, which excluded the Negev, and the Negev trade route was temporarily abandoned.

Since the assumed reincarnation of Avi and me obviously deals with our lives during the period of this alliance,
I stop quoting here the information pertaining to the later development and disappearance of the Nabateans.
If you are interested, go to the link of this article and to other websites about the Nabateans.

The account of that family's Nabatean trip closes with:

"In the valleys around the Nabatean cities,
one finds evidence of the unique Nabatean desert farming techniques
that controlled the runoff of water with earth and stone dams
behind which they planted their crops.
Large wine presses in Shivta attest to the abundance of agriculture
possible with this adapted method for desert farming.
Israelis today, learned from the Nabateans and continue to use their methods."

[This sentence - with too tiny a nucleus of truth in it - makes me feel bitter~~~]

View from "My Nabataean Town" to the ridge of the Ramon-Crater and the Observatory

Another - scientific site -
defines a different time period for the Nabateans
400 BC-100 AD

"Before Alexander’s conquest
a thriving new civilization had emerged in southern Jordan.
It appears that a nomadic tribe known as the Nabateans
began migrating gradually from Arabia during the sixth century BC.
Over time, they abandoned their nomadic ways
and settled in a number of places
in southern Jordan; the Negev desert in Palestine and in northern Arabia.
Their capital city was the legendary Petra, Jordan’s most famous tourist attraction.

"Although Petra was inhabited by the Edomites before the arrival of the Nabateans,
the latter carved grandiose buildings, temples and tombs out of solid sandstone rock.
... Building an empire in the arid desert also forced the Nabateans
to excel in water conservation.
They were highly skilled water engineers
and irrigated their land with an extensive system of dams, canals and reservoirs..."

"to excel in water conservation" I'm inserting a second example of the species called "Ribas" in Hebrew. I took this photo, as the others, on 2003_01_28, at a time too early to be spring around here. But even if the season would have fitted, the sudden appearance of this lush leaf amidst many square miles of dry, stony land is always stunning. How deep into the earth must its roots reach, to be able to produce such a rich heart.