Jordan Kastrinsky

The Nabataean story is built into our modern landscape. Their terraces, dams, and way-stations are preserved today in archaeological parks like Avdat National Park, Shivta, Mamshit, and Haluza, where Israel has chosen not to pave over the past but to curate it. Walking those sites, visitors see how Nabataean engineering underlies later Jewish, Byzantine, and Arab rural life, turning the Negev into a living classroom about continuity rather than replacement.

Gaza, often viewed today solely through the lens of its modern Palestinian identity, has a rich and complex Jewish history spanning thousands of years. Though now devoid of Jewish life, the city was once a significant center of Jewish thought, trade, and mysticism. From biblical narratives to the heights of Jewish scholarship in the Ottoman period, Jews lived, worked, and worshipped in Gaza for centuries. However, conquests, political shifts, and violence systematically erased this presence.

Explore the Negev's captivating journey from biblical times to modernity. Uncover its rich cultural tapestry shaped by diverse civilizations