Borot Lotz and Beyond

The day dawned cold and early and we shivered out of our sleeping bags, ate a simple breakfast, and broke camp before beginning to explore the region.

*Warning: brace yourself for some Historical Geography geekiness.*

Borot Lotz:

"Built by the Israelites almost 3000 years ago, the water holes of Lotz continue to collect rainwater flowing off the mountains. During the season, flora of all kinds cluster around them en masse. Seventeen Israelite cisterns have been uncovered to date, along with fascinating remains from a 3000-year-old-house... It all began when King Solomon opened up trade with the Queen of Sheba. Solomon constructed fortresses along the main roads to protect merchant caravans."

Israel's Southern Landscapes by Aviva Ben-Am and Yisrael Shalem, p.161

"Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at the Corner Gate and at the Valley Gate and at the Angle, and fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness and cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil."

2 Chronicles 26:9-10

The couple hours spent exploring in this location where possibly my favorite part of the trip. We saw remains of 4-room houses, terracing, cisterns, and even a threshing floor, in the antiquities department.

We saw flowers of all sorts, sizes, and shapes in the flora department. We saw birds, bugs, and some pretty stinking cool fossils in the fauna department. Basically, it was lots of my favorite things, all wrapped up in one beautiful location.

Unfortunately, we had places to go and people to meet and were unable to linger long. Instead of heading back the way we came, we took a right on to the "main" road and headed for the Egyptian border. This is when the sketchy part of the journey began.

We had not gone far before we came to an army base. In fact, over the course of this trip, I came to the conclusion that the whole southern part of Israel is just one big army base. You can't drive 20km without passing a base, or a sign saying "Warning, firing range to your right. Stay on the road" or some such indication of the military presence. The road to Borot Lotz has and army base at either end of it, and is thus, I believe, only open on Shabbat. Fortunately for us, it was Shabbat.

At any rate, as we approached the base near the Egyptian border, we saw that there was a gate that was closed. Then we saw a soldier approaching. We asked if we could go through and told him we were going to Nessanna. He opened the gate and let us through, so we continued on our way, admiring the fantastic views of Egypt.

The road was narrow and windy, climbing into heights and falling back to the plain. It also had a tendency towards having barbed wire instead of patches where the sides of the road had been washed out. We saw one other civilian vehicle in the roughly 1.5 hours spent on the road, so it seems that it is not often frequented. We stopped at a couple lookout points, including Har Horsha, from which the oasis of Kadesh Barnea was visible.

We passed another army base and were nearly within sight of our goal when we came to another gate. It was secured by an odd juxtaposition of a fence post, a barrel, and some wire. Not locked. This time, there was no one around to open it, so we just let ourselves through, in the process knocking down a sign (facing the other side of the gate) which I'm pretty sure said something like "No Entrance." We were exiting, though, so it was of no concern to us.

We had not gone much farther when we spotted an IDF vehicle coming down the road towards us. They saw us too and wave at us to stop. They asked where we had come from and if we had crossed the barrier. We weren't sure of what barrier they meant, so we replied that yes, a soldier had let us through. They seemed satisfied with this answer and we all continued on our ways. Shortly after this again we saw a few soldiers off to the side of the road with their guns, making us fervently hope that it was indeed still a Shabbat and they weren't practicing in their firing ranges.

It was with a considerable amount of relief that we finally reached the main road by Nessanna/Nitzana.

Unfortunately, with our time constraints we could do more than wave at that Nabatean ruin as we passed. A little further on we came to Shivta (by another army base/firing range) where we were able to stop for a short visit. It has three churches, all of which are remarkably well preserved.

After Shivta we raced east and northward, in an attempt to pick up my sister and her friend near Jericho by 3pm. We stopped at a couple lookout points and saw the Zohar Fortress from afar. It has now been added to my list of places to visit. The more I see, the more I see there is to see.

After picking up people we headed south again, searching for a camp site. We found one near the little crater. We watched the sun set over the desert hills before setting up the tent and finding wood for a fire. The evening joys included s'mores and Bedouin tea. Can't beat camping! We fell asleep to the sound of Perelandra being read, accompanied by our rowdy Israeli neighbors singing and talking late into the night.

Map of the routes of the day: