RAMON CRATER CLOSE TO SDE BOKER BEER SHEVA AND NOT FAR FROM EILAT AND PETRA

If you ever plan to travel to Petra via the Ramon Crater then don't miss out on all there is to see and experience in the Ramon crater in Israel. The history, geology, climate and weather changes and wild life of both places have a lot of similarity and part of what you learn about the crater you will recognize in Petra. Take a few days or more to explore the Ramon crater and its environment. It is worth your while.

The Ramon Crater is one of two bigger craters in Israel. The other one is the Mahtesh Hatsera off road 25 which passes Dimona, and there are 5 small craters or mahteshim of the Ein Yahav area which are less visited and less big than the Mahtesh Ha Gadol or Ramon crater.

This last crater has something very unusual and it is hard to describe the awesome experience you get when visiting this 40 km long and 10 km wide crater like box canyon in the desert at Mitspe Ramon a Negev town in Israel.

The crater has the kind of quiet that you could listen to for hours and which takes away all overload of stress or thoughts. You feel as if you have become part of long past desert life. The atmosphere is so calming and quieting that it's hard to put in words. You have to come, see and experience it for yourself. View the Ramon Crater here

GEOLOGY OF THE ARAVA RIFT VALLEY AND THE RAMON CRATER.

How did this wonder of nature come into existence? The Mahtesh crater has not come into existence because of a meteor crash into the earth's surface but through eons of erosion and vulcanic activity. This particular geological landform cannot be found anywhere else in the world except for Israel and the Sinai desert. It reminds one of a box canyon or a steephead canyon but is much bigger. It has steep walls an entrance and a dead end. In a regular steephead or box canyon a stream erodes permeable rock from within. It takes thousands of years of erosion before a layer of impermeable rock on top of the permeable rock finally collapses and forms a steep valley where the stream runs across the impermeable floor.

The crater's formation, however, is the result of many more factors than just erosion by a stream. Once in the far past, the Negev desert apparently was covered by an ocean. Slowly, the ocean receded northwards and left fossilized shells behind that varied in size from 1 cm to 1.80 meter in diameter. These shells can be found all through the Negev and I saw them in mountains at the Dead Sea, close to the remains of Sodom a Canaanite city of Abrahams time. It is believed that 5 million years ago was the time that the Arava Rift Valley was formed, by rivers changing course, carving out the inside of the crater which was of permeable and therefore of softer rock than the impermeable rock overlying. The crater floor deepened at a faster pace than the surroundings and thus increased in height. The more the crater was cut out of its surrounding rock the older the exposed layers were. It is believed that the rocks at the bottom date back 200 million years. It can be a cool feeling if you stand on the crater's overhanging rock edge and see nothing below you but the bottom of the crater 500 m deep and at its deepest point at Ein Saharonim where you find the Saharonim Spring. This is the center and only natural water source for wildlife in the Makhtesh which is the wild Asian asses called Onagers and the Nubian Ibex.

Har Ramon mountain is situated in the South, Har Ardon at the north-eastern end, and the two mountains - Har Marpek "Elbow" and "Har Katum" Chopped" are located along the southern wall.

RAMON CRATER ISRAEL HAS AMMONITE FOSSILS

One of the biggest store houses for spiral Ammonite fossils in the Middle East is in the hills to the north-eastern edge of the large crater or Ha Mahtesh. These fossils ranging from snail size to the size of tractor wheels date back to the Dinosaur times

Unfortunately, the tractor wheel size fossils have been dug out and moved to museums all over the world. A diversity of rocks and clay hills in the most fascinating red and yellow colors can be found in the crater. In the north of the crater is a no longer active black volcano called Givat Ga'ash which erupted thousands of years ago. Cooled off lava turned into basalt and can be found all around the volcano. There is also limestone covered by basalt which can be found in the black hills in the southern part of the crater. Some very characteristic rocks are Shen Ramon (Ramon's Tooth) a rock consisting of hardened magma which later emerged through cracks in the crater floor's surface, and today contrasts as a sharp-black rock with the cream colour of the southern wall of the crater. Another characteristic of the crater's geology is the Minsara or Carpentry Shop. This is more toward the centre of the crater . It is a low black hill which has prismatic rocks and rectangular formerly cooled off liquid sand prisms. It is the only place in the world where prisms made of heated sand turned into liquid and in the process of cooling off became rectangular and hexagonal prisms. It seems that prisms in cooling off lose space in the middle but these prisms by exception didn't

RAMON CRATER ISRAEL WEATHER AND CLIMATE CHANGES.

Remnants of prehistoric periods show that the Negev highlands were rainier than they are now. Hunters were attracted to the region, as can be seen by the remains of a 50,000- year-old hunting camp close to Sde Boker. Human settlement has been found going back 10,000 years at Mount Harif, Mount Horsha and near the Ramon park. Climatic changes caused inhabitants to leave the Negev, but people returned in the Middle Bronze Age (2200–2000 BCE). This is seen in the remains of oval shape dwellings, which is believed to have been a kind of village

RAMON CRATER HISTORY

Israelite rule was strengthened in the Negev in the Iron Age. A network of fortresses was built near settlements along the Negev's roads. At the same time also the Lotz Cisterns and Hamat Cistern were created for the water supply.
From the fourth century BCE, the Nabateans were in control of the Spice Route, which passes through the crater. They brought spices and expensive perfumes from Arabia to Petra through the Negev to Gaza port.The ruins of the cities the Nabateans include forts, guard towers to guard the portion of the Spice Route that go through the Ramon Crater. In the crater you can still find the Neqarot Fort, the Sha'ar Ramon station and the Mahmal Fort ruins.

During the Byzantine period (the fourth to the sixth centuries) the Negev became an important center for the Byzantine Christian religion. Many churches and study centers attracted pilgrims as well as monks. In the 7th century, the Arabs conquered the Negev. Nowadays the Negev and the Ramon Crater are home to Beduin tribes which you can visit in their tents.

Traditional Beduin Dancing Of Jordan Israel

RAMON CRATER WILD LIFE

The Negev highlands include the spotted leopard, hyena, Dorcas gazelle, wolf, red fox, Blanford's fox, caracal, Ruppell's fox and hyrax. Rodents, such as the fat sand rat, the garden dormouse, and the golden spiny mouse. Bio Ramon is where you can go see 40 species of desert animals including snakes, rodents porcupines, lizards, scorpions and turtles in sumulated environments. You have six characteristic habitats in Bio Ramon including typical plants, rock formations and landscapes.

TOURISTS ATTRACTIONS RAMON CRATER Today Mitzpe Ramon has become an all-season tourist destination, and at the same time a haven for artists and those tired of city life. They have turned the the city's industrial zone in a commercially blooming area with galleries, stores, restaurants and even a small planetarium.

To my surprise, the town has a lot of Tel Aviv influence and people who have a big city mentality have started developing all kinds of services and clubs for visitors and locals. A local Jazz club was started by Gadi Lybrock a former Tel Aviv resident. Top musicians from Tel Aviv come to Mitspe Ramon frequently to entertain the residents of the desert. Gadi is also the first one to start renting out rooms to visitors and taking people on Jeep tours. Kids that grow up in this environment have no fear of the wild animals in the desert such as snakes and scorpions. they even run bare foot and amazingly enough never get stung. Experiencing this amazing nature is best achieved by renting a room or apartment. In general the prices will be pretty high, but if you are looking for something abit up from a hosterl and down from hotel prices go to Beit Daniella and HAVE A GOOD NIGHT'S REST AT GADI'S ROOMS APARTMENTS