$$News and Reports$$

Feb. 22, 2018
​​​​​​​On February 15th, 90 ZIWR faculty, students and staff members had the wonderful opportunity to spend a day together outside the Institute, taking advantage of the beautiful sites our area has to offer. 

The field trip, planned by our very own ZIWR recreational committee, started with a visit to the ruins of the Nabatean city of Mamshit, a forty minute drive from our Institute, near the city of Dimona. Mamshit was established in the 1st century BCE, and is considered to be the smallest and best preserved Nabatean town in the area. The archeological site was declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2005, and boasts large groups of buildings with courtyards, terraces and churches.

After that, the group went down to the dry bed of the Mamshit River, located right nearby, for a three kilometers hike. There we had a chance to examine the Nabatean system of dams that was used already in the 1st century BCE to provide the town with water to drink and for its agricultural needs. The dams in the Mamshit River are the largest in the Negev.


 Nachal Mamshit 2.jpg

The field trip ended with lunch at Salima’s Bedouin tent next to Yerucham; while resting and eating traditional pita cooked on the fire, the ZIWR crew had a chance to hear stories of Bedouin life and the complicated relations to water in the desert by Salima herself, who also answered questions about traditional Bedouin lifestyle and told us about her effort to empower women in her society.

The field trip was the ideal setting for all of the ZIWR to come together for a day filled with interesting sights and companionship. Special thanks to the ZIWR recreational committee for their work: Reut Yahav-Spitzer, Almog Gafni, Roi Ram and Shaked Stein, and to Prof. Amit Gross for his guidance.
(Pictures courtesy of Dr. Yair Kaufman)