Our Terraced Past (Part 6) – Negev Desert, Israel

Figure 1: Negev Desert - Remains of building — Figure 1: Negev Desert – Remains of a building – Patterns are still visible on the masonry

Negev Desert, Israel

This area came to my attention after watching a freerunning/Parkour video on YouTube that was filmed there (viewable here) which showed what appeared to be the remains of civilisation that today is considered a ‘desert’ and devoid of archaeological significance. Further investigation of Google Maps and other Internet sources soon made it clear to me that we are looking at the remains of the same terraced style of architecture that we see everywhere else across the world.

When we think of buildings today we tend to imagine rectangular/box-like structures. The civilisation(s) that were responsible for these structures apparently didn’t build structures in this style which perhaps impedes our ability to see them for what they truly are today. Their scale is also far larger.

Let’s start with some Google Maps images of the Negev Desert to demonstrate what these structural remains look like from above (click images for greater detail):

Figure 2: Negev Desert - Google Maps - Remains of terraced structure — Figure 2: Negev Desert – Google Maps – Remains of terraced structures

Figure 3: Negev Desert - Google Maps - Remains of terraced structures — Figure 3: Negev Desert – Google Maps – Remains of terraced structures

Figure 4: Negev Desert - Google Maps - Remains of terraced structures — Figure 4: Negev Desert – Google Maps – Remains of terraced structures

The following image shows a good example of how Google Maps can be seen to obscure characteristic features of some sites (shadows are important for defining features from above):

Figure 5: Negev Desert - Google Maps - Characteristic feature obscured with light contrast — Figure 5: Negev Desert – Google Maps – Characteristic feature obscured with light contrast by Google Maps

Figure 6: Negev Desert - Google Maps - Remains of square/diamond-shaped apex — Figure 6: Negev Desert – Google Maps – Remains of square/diamond-shaped apex

Here are some pictures from the ground which show these structural remains:

Figure 7: Negev Desert - Old (in the background) vs New (in the foreground) — Figure 7: Negev Desert – Old (in the background) vs New (in the foreground)

Figure 8: Negev Desert - Remains of pyramid on top of huge structural remains — Figure 8: Negev Desert – Remains of pyramid on top of larger structure

Figure 9: Negev Desert - Remains of a building — Figure 9: Negev Desert – Remains of a building

Figure 10: Negev Desert - Structural remains — Figure 10: Negev Desert – Structural remains

Figure 11: Negev Desert - Structural remains — Figure 11: Negev Desert – Structural remains

Figure 12: Negev Desert - The huge blocks can still be seen — Figure 12: Negev Desert – The huge blocks can still be seen on this pyramidal structure

Figure 13: Negev Desert - Mangled remains — Figure 13: Negev Desert – Mangled remains

Figure 14: Negev Desert - Rainbow over pyramidal terraced structure remains — Figure 14: Negev Desert – Rainbow over pyramidal terraced structure remains