Agriculture as a Pathway for the Sedentarization of the Jubarat Bedouin in the Northern Negev, in Pre-State Israel

This study examines the self-sedentarization of the Jubarat Bedouin in pre-state Israel. They cultivated barley in the environs of Tell el-Hesi, in the northern Negev, from at least the late 19th century until 1948. The barley trade provided the Jubarat with economic incentives that encouraged settlement. This process was characterized by a decline in the size and number of Bedouin tent camps and a rise in stone and mudbrick structures. By the end of the British Mandate, the Jubarat had become farmers but continued to self-identify as Bedouin. Some tribespeople diversified into afforestation, pomology, and viticulture. Relative political stability under Ottoman and British rule also facilitated the Jubarat’s socio-economic transition. However, neither empire directly or indirectly imposed settlement or agriculture upon the Bedouin. The results of this research challenge the stereotype that “true” Bedouin do not engage in agriculture. This research also highlights issues with the research of Kark (1984, 1998) and Levin et al. (2010). In addition, it explores the archaeological implications of the Jubarat’s transition to agriculture and sedentism. Jubarat agriculture was part of a broader trend of cultivation practiced by Negev Bedouin from at least the 1830s to 1948.