HaMakhtesh HaGadol (, ''lit.'' The Big Crater) or simply Makhtesh HaGadol or Makhtesh Gadol, is a

makhtesh A makhtesh ( (), Hebrew plural: ( – ''Makhteshim'') is a geological landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley, which is usually ...

, a

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

al landform of Israel's

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. It measures 5 x 10 km.The Makhteshim Country and the connected Great Rift Valley Segment
/ref> A makhtesh has steep walls of resistant rock surrounding a deep closed valley. One of five makhteshim in Israel and seven in the world, HaMakhtesh HaGadol is the second largest, and is drained by one river,

Nahal Hatira Nahal () (acronym of ''Noar Halutzi Lohem'', lit. Fighting Pioneer Youth) is a program that combines military service with mostly social welfare and informal education projects such as youth movement activities, as well as training in entrepr ...

. Makhtesh Gadol was discovered and named before

Makhtesh Ramon Makhtesh Ramon (; ''lit.'' Ramon Crater/ Makhtesh; ; ''lit.'' The Ruman Wadi) is a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located some 85 km south of Beersheba, the landform is the world's largest "erosion cirque" (steephead valley ...

, which is the largest known makhtesh. This can lead to confusion and Makhtesh Gadol is therefore currently often named as Makhtesh Yeruham or Yeruham Crater. HaMakhtesh HaGadol is near

Yeruham Yeruham () is a local council (Israel), town in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel, in the Negev desert. It covers , and had a population of in . It is named after the Hebrew Bible, Biblical Jeroham. Until early 2011 th ...

, Israel's first

development town Development towns (, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and other new immig ...

, established in the early days of the state. The location was chosen because the region was thought to be rich in natural resources.

See also

References

Further reading