Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies The Albert Katz International School for Desert Studies is a faculty within the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research and part of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. It is located in Midreshet Ben-Gurion in the centre of the Negev desert in Israel and was established in 1999. The school offers Master's degrees (both MA and MSc) in Desert Studies, with subjects including physics, ecology, water management, biochemistry, architecture and social science, all with a desert slant. Over 100 students attend the school, and mostly live in specially built housing designed to be
Incense Route – Desert Cities in the Negev 300 BC to 200 AD, four towns which prospered in the Negev Desert were Avdat, Haluza, Mamshit, and Shivta. These were linked directly with the Mediterranean terminus of both the Incense Road and spice trade routes. During the peak period of prosperity the route included cities, Qanat irrigation systems, fortresses, and caravanserai The east–west "incense route", which operated from 400 BC to 200 AD, brought economic progress to the Nabataeans; the trade diminished when Romans occupied Petra which was then Jordan's capital of the Nabataean Empire. The Nabataeans had occupied this territory in the 6th century BC following the Edomites