Unraveling the Mysteries of the Negev Desert: Could These Graves Point to Ancient Israelites?

Rachel's Tomb, about thirty years ago, in the early morning. Worshippers of the Vatikin minyan gather around the podium, listening to the Torah reading. The Torah reader recites the verses from Parashat Pekudei. Rabbi Daniel, one of the rabbis at Rachel's Tomb Yeshiva, flips through a Chumash parallel to the familiar verses, until his eyes catch the verses: "Whenever the cloud rose from above the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out; but if the cloud did not rise, they did not set out until the day it rose. For the cloud of Hashem was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels."

Rabbi Daniel sighed unconsciously. The Torah describes here, in the final words of the book of Exodus, the miraculous event that accompanied the Israelites' forty-year journey, the trek across the vast and formidable desert under the guidance of Hashem's cloud leading their way. He recalled his disappointment late last night, after the study sessions at the yeshiva. He read yet another book on the archaeology of the Sinai Desert, the tenth book on the subject. Again, he encountered the claim that had troubled him, written in a very dismissive manner: the author reviews archaeological findings in the Sinai Desert from ancient periods, concluding, "If the Israelites indeed wandered the desert for forty years, they left not a grain of evidence behind, in a most peculiar manner."

He was familiar with the answers provided on the subject thus far. He knew that nomads do not always leave behind remains, especially if they do not need to launder clothes because the cloud did it for them, they do not need to prepare food because they gathered manna, and they do not need to engage in crafting or commerce because their needs were provided, allowing them to study Torah in peace. Yet, he still wished to finally discover a lead.

Then, suddenly, the data mixed in his mind. He remembered some intriguing points he had read in that book, findings left behind by a mysterious group that archaeologists refer to as the "Nawamis Culture." The Nawamis Culture left numerous traces in two main regions: in southern Sinai, around the area of Saint Catherine, and near Kadesh Barnea, close to southern Israel. These remains span many years, but there is no water source in the area. The source of sustenance for these people remains a puzzle for archaeologists. Numerous milling stones were found. As is known, milling stones are used for grinding grains, but there is no possibility of crops in such dry soil, and no farming tools like a plow or sickle were found. There are also no traces of wheat grains.

In the southern settlement area, near Saint Catherine, many animal bones and some shells presumably taken from the Red Sea were found. The place was abandoned in an orderly fashion (sites abandoned due to war or natural disaster often still contain complete pottery). No traces of towns were found, only traces of encampments.

The book's author, an archaeologist named Heyman, asks in wonder: "How did people survive in such a barren location? What brought them to lodge there for many years? Why is there no evidence of their food, and why did they not camp in closer areas with crops and water that were uninhabited at the time? This is a settlement distribution of significant power for which there is currently no historical explanation!"

"Isn't it obvious," thought Rabbi Daniel, "that these are the remnants of the Israelites? The two main regions of their journey were Mount Sinai (widely identified with Saint Catherine) and Kadesh Barnea. The Israelites could subsist there because they ate the manna; they did not need to plow or harvest. Indeed, they would grind the manna with mills (The people went about, gathered it, and ground it in mills, crushed it in a mortar, cooked it in a pot, and made it into cakes, Numbers 11:8)."

Why hadn't this simple idea occurred to researchers? The reason lies in dating. Archaeological sites are dated based on the type of tools used by ancient peoples, but these sites lacked tools from the time of the Exodus from Egypt. However, this matches people who rely on the cities of their time, as nomadic practices go—they purchase tools in the cities, they move from city to city, and, importantly, they need tools for food preparation. But the Israelites needed none of this. They received their sustenance ready-made and did not require any tools for farming or the various stages of food preparation.

Upon returning home, Rabbi Daniel pulled the book again, and read carefully the data about the Nawamis Culture. He marveled at the amazing correlation. The archaeologist writes: "Many times a site was prepared for settlement, but abandoned before use. No explanation has been found for this recurring phenomenon," but anyone who knows the Torah regarding the Israelites' journey would not be surprised: "When the cloud was over the Dwelling for many days, the Israelites carried out Hashem's bidding and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was over the Dwelling only from evening until morning, and when the cloud rose in the morning, they would journey; sometimes it was by day and night and when the cloud lifted, they set out," (Numbers 9:19).

The structures left by the enigmatic culture, according to researchers, are called "Nawamis." The archaeologist writes: "One of the striking aspects of all the Nawamis is the construction quality... the building is sophisticated, requiring knowledge and indicative of a developed building tradition... the west-facing openings suggest their origins may have been in Egypt. The uniformity in the shape of the Nawamis throughout Sinai is impressive. It indicates a shared tradition among all members of this society... Despite this uniformity, certain variations can be found from one field to another... Each field served as a burial site for a different social group, like a tribe." This description perfectly matches the Israelites, who were not nomadic by nature but had become accustomed to complex construction works in Egypt and were divided into tribes.

And what about the vast burial fields? This astonished archaeologists: they were all empty! Thousands of graves, and they were all empty? Where are all the deceased who were supposedly buried in them? Rabbi Daniel found the answer in halacha. It is mentioned in the Talmud that they would gather their ancestors' bones to bring them to family burial. Likewise, the Israelites returned and gathered the bones of those who died in the desert to bury them in a family burial plot in the Holy Land!