It’s a magical world, Hobbes ol’ buddy. Let’s go exploring! Calvin & Hobbes After our stay in Mitzpeh Ramon, we descended down the switchbacked road into the makhtesh (see last time for more information), following highway 40 south towards the Red Sea. What strange sights would we see in this giant, geological, dinosaur footprint-shaped crater? First, we stopped at the “Carpentry”. Ascending a wooden walkway, we gazed at the unique hill, made of strangely shaped pieces of rock. Given their shape and color, they look like sawed-off logs, giving the place its name. Next, a short hike or drive to […]
Tag Archives: Makhtesh Ramon
Life on the Edge
[God’s] splendor was like the sunrise;rays flashed from his hand,where his power was hidden. Habakkuk 3:4 In my last post, I wrote about the Maktesh Gadol, a later crater-like hole. It is one of three large makhteshim (plural of makhtesh). The largest of these geological giants (which I’ve written about before here and here) is called the Makhtesh Ramon. It’s about 25 miles long, 1-6 miles wide and over 1000 feet deep. On its northern ridge, the town of Mitzpeh Ramon sits, overlooking this awe-inspiring landscape. We spent the night in this little town on our way south, staying at […]
The Great and Terrible Wilderness
Then, as the LORD our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful desert that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea. Deuteronomy 1:19 The Negev began to look lush and green as we continued south into the Negev highlands. The farther south we went, the fewer plants we could see growing. No one survives in this region unless they’re prepared. Driving a car makes life much easier, especially with the air conditioning cranked up. The ancient Israelites had no such luxury. This […]
The Dry South
What a desolate place this is. C-3PO, Star Wars: A New Hope Continuing my long weekend journey, Sunday was our journey south to the dry land of the Negev. Negev is Hebrew for dry and south, which accurately describes the region. The first part of the Negev is what we can call the Biblical Negev, which is a set of basins immediately south of the regions mentioned last time. This region is just past the rainfall line, receiving less than the amount needed to grow grain. Instead, shepherding works better. The ancient city of Arad was in the eastern Negev. […]