Mount Harif () is a mountain at an elevation of located in the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

desert in southern Israel. The mountain is located in the central part of the

desert, about southwest of the city of

Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...

, northwest of the city of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

, at the border with

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. The mountain is the second highest peak in the Negev desert, after the peak of Mount Ramon. An IDF military base is situated on the mountain due to its strategic location on the border with Egypt. Remains of a prehistoric settlement have been discovered in the past in the site. A cluster of 17 water cisterns exist approximately 5 km east of the mountain which were estimated to have been built during the reign of king

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, and were active apparently until the

Babylonian exile The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile was the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were forcibly relocated to Babylonia by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The deportations occurre ...

. Some of the water cisterns still fill up with water during the winter seasons. On 21 September 2012 IDF forces, whom were safeguarding civilian workers constructing the Israel–Egypt barrier, were ambushed by three heavily armed militants who opened fire at them and managed to kill one soldier and lightly injured another.

References

External links

מסלולי טיול – מניצנה להר חריף – תאור המסלול
- published on the website of

Midreshet Ben-Gurion Midreshet Ben-Gurion (), also known as Midreshet Sde Boker, is a community settlement and an educational center in southern Israel. Located in the Negev next to kibbutz Sde Boker, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ramat HaNegev Regional Coun ...

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