Bedouin Tent in the Negev

Last weekend I went on Shabbat Beyachad where we all went to Mamshit, a Bedouin tent in the Negev desert.

We started Friday morning at a hot springs resort in the Negev. Than had a camel ride in the dessert and a real "Bedouin Hafla" and hospitality. We got to listen to the Bedouin way of life in Israel as it is today.

The Negev Bedouins (Arabic: Badawit an-Naqab) are traditionally pastoral semi-nomadic Arab tribes indigenous to the Negev region, who hold close ties to the Bedouins of the Sinai. Due to their lifestyle, the Negev Bedouins have remained largely unaffected by changes in the outside world until recently. Their society was often considered a "world without time".^[6] The Bedouin engaged primarily in nomadic herding, raiding and sometimes fishing. They also made income by transporting goods and people across the desert.^[4]
Today there are around 160,000 Bedouins living in the Negev, though the number is increasing fast; at 5.5%, their birthrate is amongst the highest in the world.^[11]

Before the founding of the State of Israel, Prime Minister to-be David Ben-Gurion saw Mamshit as the capital of the future country, which dovetailed with his dream of settling the Negev Desert. The reconstructed city gives the visitor a sense of how Mamshit once looked. The city covers ten acres and is the smallest but best restored city in the Negev Desert. Entire streets have survived intact, and there are also large groups of Nabatean buildings with open rooms, courtyards, and terraces. The stones are carefully chiseled and the arches that support the ceiling are remarkably well constructed.