Agriculture and Nomad-State Relations in the Negev Desert in the Byzantine and Early Islamic Periods
The Negev is an arid desert, where the natural conditions do not allow for subsistence on agriculture. Nevertheless, remnants of ancient agriculture, particularly a tremendous network of terraced wadis, are scattered over an area exceeding 3000 km2. According to recent studies, the well-preserved re...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago Press
1995
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 1995, Volume: 297, Pages: 29-53 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Negev is an arid desert, where the natural conditions do not allow for subsistence on agriculture. Nevertheless, remnants of ancient agriculture, particularly a tremendous network of terraced wadis, are scattered over an area exceeding 3000 km2. According to recent studies, the well-preserved remains of agricultural systems point to two waves of settlement. One wave was in the Byzantine period (fifth to seventh century C. E.), when settlements were dispersed along a strip extending 50 km south of the Beer Sheva Valley. The second wave, in the Umayyad period (seventh to eighth century C. E.), extended about 30 km beyond the Byzantine settlement. The expansion of agriculture in the midst of the wilderness can be attributed to two developments. One was imperial policy during the Byzantine and Umayyad periods, which encouraged agricultural settlements on the frontier. The other was an anticipated process known to occur among seminomads living on the margins of permanent settlements. In this process, the seminomads gradually shifted from nomadism to spontaneous settlements, which culminated in sedentarization by the state. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8062 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/1357388 |