History is a complex and globally interwoven subject. There are many reasons why different cultural groups have chosen particular geographic locations to live.To answer this question about history well, let us consider the following sub-questions…

Have these arid and semi-arid regions been widely used by humans in the past?

Absolutely. The Middle Eastern semi-arid and arid areas have been so fertile and favored by climate and nature, that they have in fact become one of the cradles of civilization in spite of mostly arid or semi-arid climate. The area is called the “fertile crescent” and has been the home of many high civilizations in the course of history (Fig. 1). Much of that fertility is based on deep layers of loess-soil, which forms highly productive, drought resilient savannas, grasslands or woodlands under proper conditions and careful management. The Fertile Crescent was for millennia the hunting and grazing area for nomadic tribes, and served as the first site of advanced agricultures, cultivating various grains (wheat, barley) and domestication of many dryland fruit trees and animals.

First towns, agriculture and animal domestication happened in this area over 10000 years ago. This period was likely somewhat more humid than the present. However, the main climatic framework with a rapid precipitation gradient from the Mediterranean coast to the Arabian Desert and significant annual variations in precipitation posed the necessary challenges to promote the development of dryland farming technologies and settlement evolution. Domestication of drought resistant fruit trees and animals, development of drought adapted crops, construction of towns and grain storage facilities, and development of water technologies induced growth of agriculture, trade and first civilizations that rapidly spread across all of the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Fig. 1: The Fertile Crescent at maximum defined extent, with the names of some ancient civilizations found there.

The major progress towards modernity is associated with the Natufian culture that settled the area between the Central Negev and Southern Turkey 13000 – 9500 years ago and are considered the founders of agriculture and modern settlements.

Fig. 2: Extent of the Natufian culture across the Middle East, with settlements and archaeological finds spread between the Central Negev (Rosh Zin), Jordan and Southern Turkey.

Was the Middle East a barren desert when Western explorers arrived in the 19th century?

10,000 years of over-exploitation, mismanagement, wars and unrest have turned the Middle East into a huge barren desert. During this period the area experienced the bloom of multiple civilizations that invented everything from beer, wine, the wheel, modern irrigation and drainage, advanced metallurgy, modern mathematics and geometry, etc. But the area also was caught in the triangle of powers between Persia-Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece and as such subject to cycles of conquest, occupation, taxation and over-exploitation that did not permit the stable development and maintenance of adequate land management technologies, though those were well known to the local inhabitants. In the middle of the 19th century Mark Twain described the sub-humid Galilee as follows:

Of all the lands there are for dismal scenery, I think Palestine must be the prince. The hills are barren, they are dull of color, they are unpicturesque in shape. The valleys are unsightly deserts fringed with a feeble vegetation that has an expression about it of being sorrowful and despondent. The Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee sleep in the midst of a vast stretch of hill and plain wherein the eye rests upon no pleasant tint, no striking object, no soft picture dreaming in a purple haze or mottled with the shadows of the clouds. Every outline is harsh, every feature is distinct, there is no perspective–distance works no enchantment here. It is a hopeless, dreary, heart-broken land.

Small shreds and patches of it must be very beautiful in the full flush of spring, however, and all the more beautiful by contrast with the far-reaching desolation that surrounds them on every side. I would like much to see the fringes of the Jordan in spring-time, and Shechem, Esdraelon, Ajalon and the borders of Galilee–but even then these spots would seem mere toy gardens set at wide intervals in the waste of a limitless desolation.

Twain would be surprised today finding the same areas filled with lush olive groves and vineyards, and rich woodland and forests covering most of the Galilee, with clear streams flowing in many wild valleys. Further to the South in the semi-arid and arid Northern Negev he might find rich Mediterranean woodland, or productive agroforestry savannas (Fig. 3) where hundred years ago plain desert was prevalent.

This recovery work is far from being done, with the Northern and Central Negev yet offering huge areas for restoration and rehabilitation to productive savannas and woodlands. Figure 4 shows the status of the Wadi Attir site before project start which was completely degraded former farmland with massive soil erosion.

Fig 3: Arid to semi-arid natural vegetation in the area is often highly productive, diverse Mediterranean woodland (or maquis), with oak, Pistacia, carob, Ziziphus and many edible herbs and grains, as evident in a few properly managed reserves and private farms. It is the aim of Project Wadi Attir to restore such fertile and diverse arid vegetation in parts of the restored project locations.

Fig. 4: the desolation of long-term degraded dryland at project Wadi Attir; this over-exploited plot without any perennial plants, completely degraded soils and rampant erosion is the result of 10000 years of over-exploitation and mismanagement.

The fact that such degradation can be restored within a few years to initiate a long process towards full ecosystem recovery is barely known, but well described and demonstrated by the Wadi Attir advisory team. Long-term success towards full rehabilitation has been demonstrated by analysis of a woodland area north of the Wadi Attir site, demonstrating 10-fold biological productivity, zero soil erosion and full exploitation of precipitation to the benefit of enhanced plant growth and diversity.

Fig 5 shows two small areas near Hura where restoration was initiated 25 years ago that have in the meantime recovered to highly productive woodland or savanna, while maintaining and increasing the areas typical biodiversity. Application of those technologies to all of the Negev would create sustainable opportunities to thousands of farmers while restoring biodiversity, and sequestering carbon to counter global warming.

Fig. 5: Everything but desert: the Yattir Farm area north of Wadi Attir, recovering since 20 years, reveals the full productivity and biodiversity potential of this arid ecosystem.

Were these areas originally rich in wildlife and edible plants, therefore attracting significant populations of hunter gatherers?

Indeed, in the Levant, there are more than a hundred kinds of cereals, fruits, nuts and other edible parts of plants, and the flora of the Levant during the Natufian period was not the dry, barren, and thorny landscape of today, but woodland similar to some of today’s restored vegetation characteristic for the arid to sub-humid areas of Israel, the highly productive Mediterranean woodland or Maquis, with oak, Pistacia, Carob and many edible herbs and grains (Fig. 3). Furthermore, herds of large grazers including various gazelles and antelopes, onagre, deer, wild boar, Ibex, wild goats and sheep, and even the majestic Aurochs (Fig. 6), apparently complemented by members of the African Megafauna, were populating the woodlands and plains of the area, supported by the gallery forests and numerous springs found along the many temporary riverbeds descending from the more humid highlands.

Fig. 6: The Aurochs, likely the largest wild animal to inhabit the Middle East and Europe, is unfortunately extinct. This is also the predecessor of all domesticated cattle, and in fact it has been possible to restore the original wild species by back-breeding from various cattle breeds.

Those facts indicate that significant numbers of hunting-gathering tribes populated the Northern Negev far before the rise of civilization. Early human ancestors appear to have already passed through the area millions of years ago and traces of human activity spanning hundreds of thousands of years can be found across Israel, from the Carmel Mountain caves to the Negev rock art.

The Wadi Attir area seems to have attracted those early inhabitants by the presence of flint deposits (Fig. 7) that were used for the preparation of tools and weapons.

Fig. 7: Stone Age tools and pottery remains are abundant along the slopes of the Wadi Attir valley.

Similarly, the Attir stream was likely a major migratory route for seasonal migrations from the more humid Judean highlands (in summer) to the vast plains of the Negev (in winter) used by man, livestock and wildlife.

How long have large numbers of settlements and towns existed in these areas?

The Northern Negev was, for the last 8,000 years, dominated by the two thriving historical townships of Arad and Beer Sheba. Hura and the Project Wadi Attir area are located strategically between these two, and near the younger thriving settlements of the Judean Mountains (Fig. 8).

Israel and Palestine form the geographical center linking three continents. The area is the only through-road from the Nile Valley Africa to Asia Minor, and from there, to the vastness of Asia and Europe. The Hura area is strategically located, whereby roads from the rich coastlands cut inland towards the ancient settlement of Beer Sheba, and from there to Arad or the fertile highlands of Judea, Hebron or Jerusalem, bypassing the hostile Negev Desert.

Fig. 8: Schematic annotation of the Project Wadi Attir area (green rectangle), indicating major historical settlements and possible roads (red), major dry river systems (blue), and the 200 mm isohyet (zone of equal average precipitation of 200 mm per year) in green. Clearly, the Wadi Attir site has been strategically placed at the intersection of major roads, and near major river systems entering the fertile loess plains, in a precipitation zone sufficient for grazing, field crops and dryland agroforestry.

The map in Fig. 8 presents a typical picture of semi-arid and arid drylands that have been widely exploited by humans and wildlife due to their specific topography. The blue lines represent major dry river systems that drain the nearby hills and provide large amounts of water to the dryer lowlands. These river systems and their aquifers provide the essential water resources in the form of various springs and waterholes throughout the year to permit survival during the long and often hot dry-season. The translation of Beer-Sheba means seven wells (in the Beer Sheba river), that were so reliable that early settlers were able to maintain a major town uninterrupted for over 6000, possibly 8000 years. Similar towns existed all across the Negev lowlands, as noticeable by the many tells found along major dry riverbeds such as the HaBesor or the Grar-streams.

Were advanced techniques for dryland agriculture already developed thousands of years ago?

Yes indeed. The rapid spread of agriculture and civilization and associated growth in populations likely lead to profound land degradation already thousands of years ago, as the Judean Mountains limestone bedrock is highly sensitive to erosion and complete topsoil-loss as described by the Greek philosopher Plato 2400 years ago in his dialogue Critias:

Soil has been carried to the bottom of the sea. Earthy high mountains, that in the past carried tall forest and large pastures, have become rocky lands and look like the bones of a sick body. In the past rain water was utilized and did not run on the barren land to the sea as it does now. It infiltrated and stored into the soil and it was distributed in springs, fountains and river streams.

The semi-arid landscape shown in Fig 9 may lie degraded already thousands of years. As a consequence of such degradation mechanisms, the inhabitants of the Middle East rapidly designed and applied technologies such as terracing and agroforestry (Fig. 10), or the exploitation of runoff water and ground water for intensive farming. This allowed ecosystem recovery and settling of large populations in the areas of Israel and Palestine, estimated at up to 2 million inhabitants. Especially during periods of political stability, e. g, the kingdoms of Judea, and the Byzantine period, strict management guidelines, land tenure and stable economies assured sustainable resource exploitation also in the Negev, and most historic artifacts at Wadi Attir are indeed from the Byzantine Period.

Fig. 9: Profoundly degraded landscape in the semi-arid Judean Mountains, kept in its desert state by ongoing grazing and collection of any fuel biomass found.

Those terraces and reclaimed farmlands were planted with olives, grapes, almonds, carob, figs and many other dryland fruit trees (Fig. 10), intercropped with wheat or barley to provide highly sustainable and resilient agricultural productivity.

Fig. 10: Stone terraces planted with agroforestry species such as almonds, olives, and carob, intercropped with wheat or barley were the basis of survival for millions of inhabitants in the Levant in biblical times.

Further south in the arid drylands, various technologies of water harvesting, damming and terrace construction have been employed for millennia to cultivate the same crops by large scale and wide spread harvesting of runoff water such as systems identified all across the central Negev highlands. At the Wadi Attir site intermediate forms of agriculture were applied apparently to great effect. The Attir Stream flowing several times every winter was apparently dammed partly to create temporary reservoirs that allowed intensive irrigation of agroforestry terraces built parallel to the river (Fig. 11), and the high density of farms in the area indicates that this form of agriculture was highly successful as well as sustainable, as long as being properly maintained by regular repair and restoration work.

Fig 11: The riverbanks of the Wadi Attir stream reveal a clear indication as to the sophisticated use of this dry river system for agricultural purposes during the Byzantine period. A natural rock barrage (right side in the wadi) was likely exploited for creating temporary water pools used for irrigation. Stone-enforced terraces along both riverbanks (remnants are visible along the river bed) were likely used for intensive irrigated agroforestry plantations for growing traditional Mediterranean dryland trees such as figs, grapes, almonds, olives, and pomegranates, as well as field crops and vegetables.

Try this quiz and test your knowledge of the question:

Why have arid and semi-arid areas, such as the one near Project Wadi Attir, been widely used by humans in the course of history?

Utilizing the information presented in this section, do you best to answer the following questions to test your knowledge of this topic question.