Rocks of Ages: Developing Rock Art Tourism in Israel

Joshua Schmidt is a research fellow in the Zinman Institute of Archaeology at the University of Haifa and a visiting scholar in the Department of Geography at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Schmidt is a cultural anthropologist working in multiple fields across the Negev and was the IMPART project coordinator and primary investigator. ; Natan Uriely is a Full Professor in the Department of Hotel and Tourism Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His research focuses on various issues within the sociology of tourism including tourist typologies, the tourist experience, guest-host interactions, tourism management, sustainable tourism development and public policy. ; Davida Eisenberg-Degen is an inspector with the Southern District of the Israel Antiquities Authority and associated with the Archaeology, Bible and Near Eastern Department of Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She is a prominent expert in Israeli desert rock art with a particular focus on the Byzantine, Early Islamic Umayyad and Abbasid and Bedouin periods. ; Sara Levi Sacerdotti is a specialist in the analysis and evaluation of public policies within various territorial settings. She currently oversees project development for the Fondazione 1563 per l’Arte e la Cultura, an academic-based cultural foundation specializing in the support for joint international research in the humanities. ; George Nash is an Associate Professor. Based at the Geosciences Centre at IPT in Portugal, George has undertaken extensive research and fieldwork in the Negev region of southern Israel.

Foreword – Steven A. Rosen ;



Preface ;



Part I: The Dynamics of Negev Rock Art Tourism ;


Rock Art in the Negev – IMPART ;


Negev Highlands Tourism – Dan Gur and IMPART ;


Quantitative Analysis of Negev Tourism Data – Sara Levi Sacerdotti and IMPART ;


Qualitative Analysis of Negev Tourism Data – Sara Levi Sacerdotti and IMPART ;


Establishing a Benchmark for Open-Air Rock Site Management – Sara Levi Sacerdotti and IMPART ;


Notes from an Ethnographic Field Survey of the Negev Highland Bedouin – Joshua Schmidt ;



Part II: Ramat Matred Surveys ;


Ecological Survey at Ramat Matred – Ron Frumkin ;


Archaeological Survey at Ramat Matred – Davida Eisenberg-Degen ;


The Rock Art and Archaeological Surveys at Ramat Matred – Ifat Shezaf ;


GIS Visualization of the IMPART Surveys (Figures 10.1 to 10.10) – Eli Cohen-Sasson ;



Part III: Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations ;


Conclusions – IMPART ;


Recommendations – Joshua Schmidt and IMPART ;


Epilogue – IMPART ;


Afterword – Liora Kolska Horwitz ;


Bibliography