THE ROMANIZATION OF THE NEGEV, ISRAEL - GEOGRAPHICAL-CHANGES AND CULTURAL-CHANGES IN THE DESERT FRONTIER IN LATE-ANTIQUITY

In the Negev desert, a large-scale settlement system developed and flo urished in late antiquity. These settlements became sedentary and agri culturally based and reached their climax during the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries CE under the Roman Byzantine Empire. During this per iod, major geographical and cultural changes took place, changes which had an effect on almost every aspect of life in the Negev: settlement pattern, social and political organization, local economy, architectu re, language and even religious life were all influenced by the Roman Byzantine Empire and its civilization. The paper examines the extent t o which the process of sedentarization in the desert was an internal, immanent one, motivated by forces within the desert; or an external on e, driven by the Roman Byzantine Empire. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limit ed.